


1. Council of Mortgage Lenders, 'First-time buyers - are they really getting older?', 4 August 2009, CML News and Views, Issue Number 15, Graph of First Time Buyers acting without family assistance, posted on www.cml.org.uk 2. Michael Ball, Robert Blanchette, Anupam Nanda, and Peter Wyatt, Housing markets and independence in old age: expanding the opportunities, Reading, Real Estate and Planning, Henley Business School, May 2011, p 28, posted on www.henley.com 3. James Woudhuysen and Ian Abley, Why is construction so backward?, Chichester, Wiley-Academy, 2004 4. National Housing Federation campaign microsite, Don't mention the housing crisis, posted here 5. Ian Abley, 'Planning Gain is a loss', 1 January 2010, posted here 6. Ian Abley, 'Predicting the future of British house building', 10 November 2009, posted here 7. Ian Abley, 'Britain can't so easily stop the Dependency Culture', 31 October 2010, posted here			250 New Towns - The Saturday club for people with big plans to build We are a Saturday club devoted to mapping 250 locations in Britain that might each accommodate a 21st century new town. The club is for everyone who wants many more houses to be built now. Our aims are: 1) To promote development and prosperity for a growing population 2) To re-establish a universal Right to Build on all Freehold land 3) To lower costs of Owner Occupation, so all forms of tenure cost less 250 New Town Locations Media coverage for the 250 New Towns Club Next Meeting... To be confirmed Get planning now... The 250 New Towns Club is a creative meeting point where enthusiasts connect with experts to discuss where and how we could live in Britain. There are professional designers working alongside amateur artists and people willing to draw, model, or map a place to live. All are welcome, and please don't keep the club a secret. Bring friends. The club is for: Young people wondering when or where they might buy a house Families wanting more living space on a tight budget Older households wanting to live somewhere better in retirement Architects and engineers with ideas lacking planning approval Geographers with a sense that landscape changes Farmers with land they want to sell for development Estate Agents who see that there are too few homes being built Mortgage Lenders looking to the future Planners with imagination and expertise to offer the public House Builders wanting more business Contractors with the vision to organise novel projects Manufacturers of every kind of Construction Product Of course rental housing is always needed. Of course we will be fully involved with the construction industry. Above all, the 250 New Towns Club is for would-be First Time Buyers. The average age of a First Time Buyer in England, acting without financial help from their family, is now 36 and getting older. Anyway, 80 per cent of First Time Buyers now rely on family money. (1) Young working people wanting to buy a home of their own can expect to have to wait until early middle age. Many now face living in overcrowded and entirely avoidable domestic conditions. The situation is not good for the elderly population either. Housing equity accrued from owner occupation over a lifetime is vital as a means to purchase Retirement Housing. Many old people have been living in public or private rental housing, and have no equity. Of those used to living in owner occupied housing on which they have paid off a mortgage, almost 30 per cent of purchasers of Retirement Housing had to use sources of funds in addition to the sales value of their previous home. Michael Ball says that '... this suggests that children and other members of a family may be financially helping out, as well as providing the more commonly identified incidental and informal care and companionship'. (2) The inflating private housing market is far from a retirement plan for all. Meanwhile house prices remain inflated, and the construction industry could be innovating ways to meet the scale of housing demand. (3) The National Housing Federation says it’s time for every Member of Parliament in the country to mention the housing crisis and urge the Government to safeguard the provision of social rented and affordable homes. (4) However it is Government that controls the planning system which inflates the price of even poor quality building land allocated for development. This has frustrated house building while Government has extracted a small supply of social rented and affordable homes from a local negotiation over "planning gain". (5) The NHF want to mention the housing crisis, and we want to clearly recognise Government itself as the obstacle to building. The British economy struggles to directly fund rental housing, but the contemporary failure to build is more than a matter of tenure. (6) Government is unwilling to return the freedom to build to Britain's land owners. MPs prefer to sustain the 1947 national denial of development rights that underpins the planning system today. The 250 New Towns Club doesn't argue against a rental sector, but we want to move beyond the forced funding of rental housing from too little housing built for owner occupation. The Saturday club is for the many parents wondering where their children will live, or when they will leave the parental home. Not all parents can help finance their children to buy a home. Not all children want to be highly indebted, or paying rent. (7) Browse this website for details about the new town projects of interest to you. Drop into the club at any time. Suggest new town locations to add to the developing index. To find out more download the programme for the next club meeting, and the reports from club members: Downloads... Aims of the 250 New Town Club - Discussion Draft 02 12.02.2011 Aims of the 250 New Town Club - Discussion Draft 01 06.11.2010 Discussions... The awesome mendacity of Eric Pickles 31.03.2011 Zero Eco-Towns 28.03.2011 Britain can't so easily stop the Dependency Culture 31.10.2010 People and Places: A 2001 Census atlas of the UK 27.09.2004 Venues... We are not tied to one venue, and will move around the country to visit locations. Please check the programme for the venue and times. Please invite us to your venue. The venues do not take registrations. Please contact us direct. Registration... To be emailed with times for particular presentations and discussions please register by emailing Ian Abley on abley@audacity.org. We hope you will volunteer to make the 250 New Towns Club into an effective network. There is much to do. Ian Abley, Tony Pierce, and James Stevens are the initial club organisers. As the club grows members are developing a democratic constitution, which will be based on a branch structure. Charge... A charge of £5 is usually made for materials and unavoidable expenses no matter when you arrive. We can only accept cash on the day. Contact... If you are interested in joining, supporting, or sponsoring the 250 New Towns Club at our forthcoming events, please contact: Ian Abley, 8 College Close, Hackney, London, E9 6ER Mobile: 07947 621 790 e-mail: abley@audacity.org Previous Meetings... 03 6 November 2010 - Planning a Nuclear Fusion future 02 9 October 2010 - Affording living space on expensive land 01 18 September 2010 - Welcome to the 250 New Towns Club Future Meetings... To be confirmed


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