Postcard from abroad

Lucy here! I’m currently enjoying a visit to the UK and in between visiting family and lolling on beaches, I’ve been fascinated by how the balance between retaining/maintaining historical values and providing for today’s residents is struck in this dynamic and diverse nation.

For example, Bosham, a small settlement on the south coast of England, near Chichester. It has a history dating back before 1066! It is a beautiful village, nestled around a broad harbour. A focal point on the landscape is the church, the spire of which you can see in the photo below. Housing is generally made up of large detached and semi-detached family homes and smaller terraced cottages, most of which would be well over 150 years old. However, at the head of the harbour is a new build - a large family home probably valued well over £1 million. Compared to its neighbours it’s super-modern, but to my mind the scale, materials, and proportions all seem to work. I wonder what kind of a journey it had through the planning process!

How anybody actually affords to live in these villages (or indeed most of the UK!) is another question, and something I’m keen to explore - what is the seemingly intractable problem of housing affordability doing to UK communities? Something to think about in between icecreams!