Let them build homes near stations, but let them be beautiful too
Rules to allow thousands of new homes near stations is cause for celebration. Nevertheless, the government must avoid creating ‘anywhere developments’: areas that are well connected but where residents are loath to stay, writes Kitty Thompson
Ask anyone who thinks seriously about how cities and towns work and they will tell you the same thing: transport connectivity is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure a new neighbourhood needs in order to thrive.
Despite decades of government investment in public transport, it has remained surprisingly difficult to build new homes next to England’s train, Tube and tram stations.
Yesterday, this madness finally ended.
What the new planning rules mean
The government’s changes to the National Planning Policy Framework have put transport connectivity at the heart of the answer to the question of where we should build new homes.
Now, if you live within walking distance (10 minutes) of a well-connected station (a service of at least four trains or trams per hour throughout the daytime) in one of England’s 80 most economically productive places, building next to the station has just become much easier. This change is even regardless of whether the station is in the green belt or not. In fact, it has not just become much easier, it has become a ‘default yes’ to development.
This has the potential to deliver hundreds of thousands more homes to the exact locations that people want to live. Namely, near to the stations that are realistically and easily commutable to the places offering economic opportunity locally. As a result, this could prove to be one of the biggest single changes to England’s spatial planning policy since 1947.
The number of houses this policy delivers, however, will depend on the density of the housing stock provided within that 10-minute walk to the station. The government has specified a density of at least 35 dwellings per hectare for well-connected stations, rising to 45 dwellings where the service is at least twice as frequent as the minimum level.
While this policy change has effectively banned very low-density development near stations, the minimum density figures could and should have been far more ambitious. Well-designed terraced homes, like the kinds we see and admire across central London, can comfortably achieve densities of up to 80 homes per hectare. So, raising the dwellings per hectare to at least 40 and 50 respectively could have delivered a lot more gentle densified homes on the ground.
And density is not just about fitting more homes onto a piece of land. Done well, it gives neighbourhoods the critical mass required to support the businesses that make places feel alive. More people can mean enough customers for a local pub, café or newsagent to thrive, as well as enough demand to support the station’s regular service.
The risk of ‘anywhere developments’
Although density determines how many homes fit on the land, it does not determine the look and feel of the neighbourhoods that will hopefully start springing up. Taking beauty and placemaking seriously, as the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) did back in 2023, ensures that the neighbourhoods built are places people want to spend time in.
Without it, the government risks creating a string of ‘anywhere’ developments: places that are technically close to a station but give residents little reason to explore in the evening or stick around during the weekend.
Unfortunately, having already removed most references to beauty beyond the natural environment in the last NPPF, this framework contains just one remaining reference to ‘beautiful’ buildings and places. That is not enough to guarantee that the new houses that pop up alongside stations are ones that people will want to call home.
The government has made a bold and welcome decision about where England should build. Now it needs to be just as ambitious about what we build.
Kitty Thompson is head of policy and campaigns at the Create Streets Foundation