𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A royal intervention has today hiked pressure on the Government’s to ensure its New Towns plan does not repeat the “bland” and “repetitive” architectural misfires of the past. The Duke of Gloucester has waded into the housing debate, backing a hard-hitting report that calls for a return to traditional “beauty” and “character” and warns against a repeat of “state failure” which saw “poorly and cheaply designed” housing erected.

As the Government scrambles to build 1.5million homes to solve the nation’s housing crisis, the Duke – himself a chartered architect – warned that the “British economy” is suffering because of a lack of suitable roofs.

In a foreword to Policy Exchange’s latest report, the Duke writes: “There is little doubt that one of the drawbacks to the British economy is the lack of suitable housing in most of the country.”

He noted residents “may have complained of the blandness and repetition of the design with little variation or flair and consequent lack of appeal.”

The report fires a warning shot at Whitehall, describing how past attempts at building new towns resulted in “windswept pedestrian plazas” and “Brutalist architecture often abounded”. It claims there is little in the Government’s present proposals to “stop the next generation of new towns looking more like Peterborough than Poundbury” – the Dorset housing expansion championed by King Charles.

Report author Ike Ijeh states: “New towns won’t work simply because they’re ‘new’. They won’t magically erase the structural problems that exist within English housing or planning and if done badly, they have the potential to amplify them.”

To avoid architectural disaster, the think-tank is calling for a “New Towns Commissioner” to be appointed for a decade to oversee developments. It also wants a dedicated “City Architect” for every new new town to “define, steer and enforce a clear design vision”.

Policy Exchange has “colour-coded” the current proposals, slapping “concerning” red and “neutral” yellow grades on key areas of the Government’s strategy. While some elements are “encouraging,” the key areas of concern are housing supply, quality and design, funding and political timescale.

The Duke of Gloucester writes: “This analysis warns of the pitfalls and the paths to success, and hopes that the right choices are made in the years ahead given the demonstration of what has worked in the past and may grow well in the future.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Our landmark new towns programme will help to build thousands of new homes across the country so we can restore the dream of homeownership. We’re keeping all action under review to make sure that we build high quality homes and infrastructure so we can create strong communities in our new towns.”