Colin Wiles
Colin Wiles is an independent housing consultant, and former housing association chief executive. He currently chairs the eastern regional committee of the Chartered Institute of Housing, and is also a member of the National Housing Federation’s regional committee.
Recent activity
Blog Posts (64)
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Licensed premises
A simple licensing scheme for private rented properties could help to improve standards and tackle rogue landlords, writes Colin Wiles.
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London must grow
If London is to stop exporting its population it will need to grow outwards, argues Colin Wiles.
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To the lighthouse
King’s Cross, once one of the seediest districts of London, is undergoing a dramatic transformation, writes Colin Wiles.
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Laughter is the best medicine
Comedy sessions for older people in sheltered housing and extra care schemes could save money in the long run, says Colin Wiles
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Planning - it's time to act
Everyone involved in housing strategy and supply should engage with the new planning framework, writes Colin Wiles.
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Comments (38)
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Comment on: London must grow
Anon - If you are asking about brownfield land, I used a conservative figure of 30 per hectare on the assumption that not all of it would be developed for housing - it would include open space, schools, shops, employment uses etc. But even if your figure of 320,000 is correct it is still far short of the 800,000 homes that London needs. I accept that densities would cover a broad range according to proximity to urban centres and development would require adequate transport infrastructure to avoid car dependency. The figures in the London Plan for population growth are already out of date.
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Comment on: Ill behaviour
Good blog Jules. I don't hold with the "Broken Britain" thesis. For a start only a tiny minority of young people participate in last year's riots. Most of the young people I meet are decent, upstanding citizens with fewer hangups than our genration had/has! The concept tarnishes the vast majority of decent, hardworking people, including the millions living in social housing. A more credible argument for Broken Britain, and the symptom of a dysfunctional society, would the fact that 80% of the Cabinet are millionaires and 70% went to public schools, but hey, that's me getting political!
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Comment on: We'll need more tanks...
Jono - the report about eastern England is here - you're right, I should have said pro rata or to date, but it's barely rained in the last few days so I'm assuming the 25% figure will be about right. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17151399
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Comment on: The National Trust responds...
mrkfm - the NPPF does have flaws, in particular it optimistically imagines that homes will be built in the absence of national and regional targets. But it is a step in the right direction if it allows more land to be released for housing and the brownfield first policy is revised. Melvin and Anonymous - as I've said before, 10% of England is built upon - only 1.1% of it is covered by domestic buildings, so half as crowded as Holland. A considerable amount of agricultural land is unused or set aside, I haven't seen the latest figures but in 2007 nearly 5,000 sq km was vacant; we would need only 850 sq km to build 3 million homes. Traditionally, the EU has produced more food than we are able to consume - hence butter and beef mountains. Agriculture contributes less than 1% to GDP and is massively subsidised.
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Comment on: The National Trust responds...
Ben I understand your point now. My calculation of 1.3% refers to unprotected countryside. If you look at all countryside (i.e. 90% of England) then 3 million homes would require around 0.6% of one percent, and this would include residential roads. It's an obvious point, but roads are linear and connect virtually every house in the land, whereas new homes would be in compact settlements so the impact would be much less. I recommend everyone to get on Google earth to see how empty England is in reality.
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