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Prescott land-saving plan too risky for developers |
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Developers are turning against John Prescott's plan to build homes on recycled industrial land in towns and cities - so-called brown field sites - according to research by property consultants Savills.
 Many companies opt for greenfield sites - hitherto untouched land - because the risks are lower and the returns higher, despite a widening price gap between rural and urban areas which has seen a 226% rise in greenfield land values in eight years. Savills say many developers prefer greenfield sites, despite the huge rise in land values, because they are straightforward and produce better returns at lower risk. In high-demand areas, such as the east of England around Cambridge, land costs more than £2m an acre.
Mr John Norquist, former Mayor of Milwaukee and current head of the Congress for the New Urbanism, also warns against the "infection" of sprawl around British cities and criticises the "architectural establishment" for its obsession with iconic buildings (the so-called "wow factor"), to the exclusion of serving peoples' everyday needs.
Full story in The Guardian.
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