December 2007
A new CABE report reveals that although new homeowners like their homes, almost half miss a sense of community spirit.
A sense of place is based on an Ipsos MORI survey of over 600 residents from 33 new housing developments. It points to a quality blindspot which suggests that housebuilders - and planners - need to work much harder to create a sense of place.
Paradoxically, while 91% are satisfied with their individual home, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the wider development.
Forty five per cent believe that their neighbours “go their own way, rather than doing things together and trying to help each other”. Forty per cent think there is not enough public open space and 48% want more play space (perfect places for neighbours to get to know each other). Over a third of residents believed the neighbourhood was unsafe for children to walk, cycle or play in. Almost a third of home owners think their neighbourhood does not have a distinct character.
These new resident survey findings are consistent with the problems in terms of layout, character, and public space identified by design professionals in CABE’s first national Housing Audit, completed in February 2007.
Wayne Hemingway, designer and chair of Building for Life (the national initiative to champion high quality homes and neighbourhoods), is supporting CABE’s call for a public debate about what makes a great place to live.
"Every new development should have the elements that help to foster a sense of community and belonging, but instead people find themselves living in anonymous estates without all the elements that make life easy."
This is not about a failure of national government policy: there is a perfectly good policy framework in place, which puts a strong emphasis on the quality of residential design and layout. It is housebuilders and planners who need to take more responsibility for creating a sense of place within new housing developments. Basingstoke or Bridgwater? You should be able to tell.
The Callcutt Review (November 2007) reported that customer satisfaction with the quality of new homes fell by 10% between 2000 and 2006, from 87% to 77% (based on research from the Housing Forum and the Home Builders Federation).
The Review called for a new annual independent survey. CABE believes this should seek views on the neighbourhood, not just the house, and it should be conducted two years after the scheme is built, to reflect a considered view.
According to the Ipsos MORI survey, 18% of residents who lived in a development for longer than one year were dissatisfied, compared with 10% who had lived there for less than a year.
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