£20K housing – a lifestyle revolution

“Home buyers are forced into unaffordable,
car based lifestyles.”

A plot of land big enough for a house costs roughly £500 at agricultural prices. In the York area, for example, a plot’s value becomes £50,000 once the planners’ give building the go ahead. There is no difference in the land: just its name on a certificate in a council office. This is an unearned bonus to the land owner, which starts the process of building expensive dwellings designed for unsustainable lifestyles.

More often than not, new houses are built with little regard to public transport links or cycle routes to town and with little in the way of local facilities, such as corner shops or local greengrocers, home buyers are forced into un-affordable, car based lifestyles.

A new low-impact affordable economy

York Plotlands believes that the cost of living can be greatly reduced loosening the hold the rat-race economy has over us, freeing us for simpler, pleasanter and more sustainable lives. The first step in our vision is low cost housing. Our aim is to reduce the price of starter homes to under under £20,000: a tenth of the the average cost of housing in York today.

Conventional housing development perpetuates a car based society where neighbourhood facilities, such as local shops or bus services have little place. Construction with bricks and mortar causes enormous carbon emissions. We advocate siting affordable houses of modern sustainable wooden construction in pleasant semi-rural surroundings located near transport hubs and cycle routes. This will create a framework for affordable, sustainable living.

The first step towards cheaper housing in York

Our approach addresses the housing crisis. In planning terms we advocate a plotland approach. This allocates plots of land to individuals, managed by local plans that see that these are available at reasonable prices. There are, of course, many political barriers – from lobbying by vested interests. However, three circumstances make York a good place to start:

— The York local plan is under consideration.

— The Government have asked planning authorities to keep registers of people who want plots of land to build their own homes.

— York is a pleasant compact city surrounded by agricultural land with a well developed cycle network with bus terminals on the periphery.

So let’s sign up to book our place for a plot of land in York to build on and demand that this is provided at reasonable cost near routes with sustainable transport.

Now sign up for your plot

Register for a sustainable plotlands build in York, the city council has provided a handy guide on how to proceed at York Council’s Self build and custom built housing.

If you’re not a current resident sign anyway – York is rather a nice place to live.

Let us know when you have done it on yorkplotlands@townplan.org or leave a comment here. Do leave a comment anyway and email us to join our association.

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