How to get more housing in Winchester

Winchester is short of both housing and land.

There are 4,500 people on the housing waiting list in Winchester, some 10% of its entire population.

I strongly believe that the only long term solution is to build upwards rather than outwards - by building well designed blocks of flats.

There are many well designed and attractive blocks of flats across the Winnall and Highcliffe areas - in the private sector or owned by the council or not for profit housing trusts.  Some are up to seven stories.

Over the last 40 years the number of people living in the average home has dropped dramatically and flats are very suitable for people living on their own or without children. 

Building flats allows more internal space than high density two story homes. Many such homes built in Winchester over the last thirty years are tiny, very cramped and have limited parking space.

We don't have to built ugly, poorly designed, 1960s style tower blocks . Many of them would not pass today's much more rigorous building standards and would certainly not fit in with the character to Winchester.


But a thoughtful approach could produce attractive designs and decent homes for the huge and growing number of people without  somewhere of their own to live.







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