The media has documented the UK’s housing crisis on many occasions. With both journalists and politicians raising the issue, could new garden villages be the answer?
What is a Garden Village?
Simply put, garden villages are pieces of brownfield land that can be used for new housing communities. Usually, a garden village will contain anywhere between 1,500 and 10,000 homes. They typically have access to their own facilities, including schools for minors, grocery shops, and easy access to public transport if they need to leave the village. It’s the perfect style village for young families and first-time buyers looking to get onto the property ladder.
While you can’t definitively describe a garden village because each community can develop and establish its own identity, it must be a settlement that is outside of an existing town or city and does not have close attachments. The government in Britain is publicly supporting 17 locations for garden villages across the country. They have set aside £6 million to fund 14 new garden villages, with a further £1.4 million available to support another three garden towns elsewhere.
Locations in which garden villages are set to be established include:
- Lancaster
- Cumbria
- Cheshire East
- Merseyside
- Derbyshire
- Stratford-on-Avon
- Lincolnshire
- East Northants
- Essex
- Oxfordshire
- Devon
- Runnymede
- Surrey Heath
- Cornwall
- and Hampshire.
Garden towns are similar set-ups to garden villages, but they are more prominent. The locations for new garden towns include Aylesbury, Taunton and Harlow, and Gilston. Its thought that these towns will provide up to 200,000 extra homes.
What are the Regional Implications of Garden Villages?
With so many new homes set to be provided by the large garden towns and villages projects, the need for manual work in the locations affected is sure to rise. This will give the economy a boost thanks to the new jobs that will be created. In turn, it will lead to regions having a more significant population as new homes are bought.
However, there is a popular misconception that this will cause resources for nearby residents to be strained. Resources such as school places for children and making doctor appointments are often said to be affected, but this won’t be the case. As mentioned earlier, garden villages have their own facilities, such as schools and general practices. This will also create more jobs in the actual area of development.
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More traffic on the road may cause added issues, but garden villages should be built with their own transport links to allow residents to commute in and out of the area.
What will these Garden Villages Look Like?
We know that there will be sufficient greenery around the new builds, with most homes likely to have their own gardens. New garden furniture will also be needed due to the new space, but what are the current trends?
Timber decking is very popular at present as it can provide ample space to sit in and socialize and doesn’t take a great deal of attention to keep looking fresh and tidy.
Hot tubs are another garden craze that’s sweeping the nation. In recent years, more and more people are buying quirky items for the garden. A businessman in North Wales recently needed to double the size of his hot tub showroom to keep up with demand, and these are a delightful addition to any garden space, especially those gardens with a great view.
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