Do you think we are building enough new homes in Watford?

With so many people struggling to afford a roof over their head, unable to move out of their parents’ home or buy their first property, few people dispute that we have a housing crisis in the UK. A big debate is how we respond to this.

Conservative Ministers believe we should be building more homes in places like Watford. At the end of last year, Watford was once again on a list of places that has failed to meet the Government’s housing target. Along with 58 other councils, the Government has demanded that Watford produces an action plan to explain how we will build more properties. There will also be a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ to punish us for not meeting the housing target.

This month, the Conservative Prime Minister announced plans to ‘turbocharge’ development in urban areas. Once again, we hear this government arguing that we should concentrate new homes in already developed areas, such as Watford.

I believe we should be building new towns not endless new tower blocks in already congested towns and cities. These new towns could be planned with the schools, health facilities and transport need to support the communities that move into the area.

This will only happen if MPs are prepared to argue for fundamental changes to the UK’s planning system. We need local communities and councils to have more say and for growth the happen in all parts of the country – not just urban areas in the South East of England.

  • Peter Taylor is the elected mayor of Watford