last updated 13th October 05
by 4ecotips.com

Pathfinders for more eco-friendly homes

Environmentalist and leading housing specialist, Professor Michael Benfield, says: "Grant more planning permissions for self-builders and Britain will gain exemplar sustainable housing projects embracing all the ingredients of best practice." Addressing the Greener Homes and Buildings conference he said that doing so enable the nation to make great strides toward solving Britain's affordable housing crisis.

Professor Benfield, also a recognised timber frame engineer, argued passionately for a substantial increase in the grant of planning permissions for self-builders.

"Everything points to the fact that if more building plots were made available we could see a doubling or tripling of the present 20,000 or so 'self builder' projects undertaken in the UK every year. Self evidently such an increase in self-build activity would make a huge dent in our need for affordable, as well as sustainable housing."

Supported in his argument by other members of the conference's panel of experts, Benfield claimed that many self builders were, in fact, the "path finders" for sustainable development, prepared to "invest their own time, effort and money in using all of the materials, methods and ideas considered here today," to build their own, truly ideal homes.

It was pointed out that on the continent many more people built their own homes than in Britain, with, for example, local authorities in parts of Germany being required to allocate up to 40% of all building land for private, one-off houses.

Responding to the implied criticism that town planners and their profession were to blame for mounting environmental and housing problems, Professor Benfield pointed out that local authority planners were subject to the 'whims and wishes' of their elected members - the councillors and committee members - who were their bosses and told them what to do.

Benfield says: "Given the urgency and importance of the problems faced a serious and meaningful programme should be initiated to educate these members in the issues and what is necessary to address them, possibly making this a statutory requirement for all planning committee members."