This should be the ultimate aim of all the housing and planning initiatives of this government – whether through “cutting red tape”, “kickstarting” the construction industry with publicly funded incentives, talking about far in the future new towns, or promising unfeasible numbers of new homes.
Hunt’s original plans for the basement, 82ft deep, with a sort of indoor ferris wheel for displaying the cars and an infinity pool on the roof, have been scaled back, but its volume is still equivalent to many ordinary homes.
In other promising housing crisis news, the architects Gensler are designing the conversion of a 33-storey office building in Midtown Manhattan, formerly the headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, into homes.
But Cyngor Gwynedd, by charging a 150% council tax premium on second homes, and requiring planning permission to use a property for holiday lets, has succeeded.
“Botched second homes crackdown,” declaimed the Daily Telegraph, “wipes £30k off house prices.” But I imagine that the many residents of Gwynedd who struggle with expensive housing will be delighted.
