黑洞社区

Veteran developer Sir Stuart Lipton has said he will launch a housing business next year in order to shake up an industry that he says is in 鈥渃risis鈥� and builds 鈥渟hocking鈥� homes.

Lipton told 黑洞社区 that Lipton Rogers, the developer he set up with long-time partner Peter Rogers five years ago, will team up with mixed-use developer First Base, run by Lipton鈥檚 son Elliot, to build homes on brownfield sites in and around London.

Read: Interview - Sir Stuart Lipton talks to 黑洞社区

鈥淚f people had better homes, they wouldn鈥檛 be going around knifing people鈥�

Stuart Lipton 

The new firm is looking at low-cost housing where it will build a mixture of one-, two- and three-bed flats on sites with space for a minimum of 250 homes.

The new venture will stick to flats only, built in blocks of between eight and 15 storeys.

The developer behind what will be the City of London鈥檚 tallest tower when finished next year, 22 Bishopsgate, said he has been moved to act because the housebuilding industry is in crisis and has no meaningful competition.

鈥淭o me housing is in a crisis,鈥� he told 黑洞社区. 鈥淗ave you seen what housebuilders are building in the suburbs and provinces? They are reincarnating Victorian workhouse houses. Shameful.

鈥淚f people had better homes, if they had better conditions, their aspirations would be greater, their medical bills would be less, their educational standards would be higher and they wouldn鈥檛 be going around knifing people.鈥�

He also waded into the Help to Buy row, siding with critics that the government initiative, designed to help people onto the housing ladder, has artificially increased the profits of housebuilders.

鈥淭he government buying private jets for housebuilders is rather naive,鈥� he said in a reference to the 拢75m bonus pocketed by Persimmon鈥檚 outgoing boss Jeff Fairburn, who was forced to quit earlier this month because of the ongoing row over the amount of money he was handed.

鈥淭he [Help to Buy] money is going into housebuilders鈥� profits; it鈥檚 not reducing costs. The majority of the big names just want to make money. The houses they are putting up are shocking. They don鈥檛 work 鈥� every week there鈥檚 another horror story.鈥�

And he said housebuilders were more interested in protecting their double-digit margins than building more homes. 鈥淭he system is bust. The government hasn鈥檛 got the guts to do anything about it. The government wants to restrict supply, so values don鈥檛 diminish, nimbys don鈥檛 get offended, so that new hospitals, schools and infrastructure isn鈥檛 required.鈥�

He said he hoped his entry into the market would stir up competition. 鈥淭here is no competition [in housing]. Why is housing different to my phone or computer? With every product the cost has diminished and the product is far superior. The Romans did a better job 鈥� they had better materials, better designs and they lasted.鈥�