Scruton’s housing vision is finally being realised

The government’s white paper on planning reform makes frequent reference to Roger Scruton and his Building Beautiful Commission – on which I worked as Scruton’s research assistant. If Scruton had lived to read the white paper, he would have found much to like, especially its commitment to building the homes the country needs. But he would have insisted that the proposed reforms can only succeed if the government gets the details right in its plans to win the consent of local people. Consent based on drastically raising the aesthetic standards of new buildings and by enabling communities to share in the benefits of development.

The starting point of the reform proposals is the wholly correct claim that we need to build more homes. House prices in much of the South East are now three or four times higher than build costs. This has led to a precipitous fall in homeownership among young people, preventing them from settling, marrying and starting families.