Could car parks be used to build new homes?

Thousands of new properties could be built on car parks in Britain, without losing vital parking facilities, according to new research from real estate firm JLL.

The firm suggests that 400,000 new properties could be built on 10,500 surface car parks in towns and cities around the country. This could be enough to home about a million people.

Car Parking Space

For the majority of cases, JLL believe it to be possible to build homes without the loss of public parking facilities.

Nick Whitten, residential research associate director at JLL, said: ‘A trend towards urban living has disproportionately put a strain on the UK’s town and city local authorities to allocate sites for residential development, typically in areas where land is rarely available. It is crucial that more residential sites are created in urban locations where housing is needed most.’[1]

‘The Government has indicated that it is actively exploring solutions to the UK housing crisis through innovative measures to boost supply. Crucially, more than half of the car parks identified by JLL are in public ownership under the control of local authorities. This gives Government a direct stake in the potential for delivery on these sites, he continued.[1]

Could car parks be used to build new homes?

Permissions

In order to negotiate planning hurdles, the Government could introduce a planning permission in principal for residential development on car parks. It could utilise new rules as outlined in the Housing and Planning Act 2015.

Mr Whitten went on to observe that policies for car free urban centres are getting more and more common. Technological advancements could see the demand for ubran parking fall.

Concluding, he said: ‘Demand for city centre living is expected to increase , putting further pressure on the provision of sufficient housing.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/car-parks-across-uk-used-build-new-homes-research-suggests/