Overview: 'Intermediate density' may be the way forward'

Over the past six years, one aspect of house building in the South-east, where demand is highest, has done a complete about-turn. Pressure to change from low-density to high-density development has been so successful that last year flats accounted for 46 per cent of all new homes and detached houses only 19 per cent.

In 1997, according to the latest figures from the House Builders' Federation, the situation was almost exactly the reverse - the proportion of new detached homes was 47 per cent and apartments 14 per cent. Elsewhere in the country, the trend is similar, if not quite so marked.

But in the middle of any rejoicing about a policy well-pursued comes a voice of warning. Are there too many flats in unsuitable locations? What about the needs of families? And surely if sustainable communities are the goal they must include a range of different types of homes?

Richard Donnell, head of residential research at FPDSavills, has been watching this change in direction with growing alarm. While acknowledging how essential it was to move away from the low-density buildings that gobbled up so much land, he now wonders whether the pendulum has swung too far.

"We need to think of the social consquences of building large blocks of flats," he says. "It is all very well having beautifully manicured grass and communal areas but what about facilities to keep children out of mischief?

"We could learn from the social rented sector here. And there is the cost. Outside of central London I am not sure whether people will be prepared to pay service charges for car parking, communal cleaning and to have the lawns cut."

Donnell also believes that it is a mistake to assume that those key workers who are struggling to afford a home are all young and single. "Many of them are families and they are not being catered for, as some London boroughs are now recognising."

At the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Cabe), a body that is influential in the design and viability of new developments, the policy makers would like to see planners taking more account of what is happening in the local markets.

John Rouse, Cabe's chief executive, is particularly worried about the growing number of poor quality, in-fill schemes made up solely of apartments. The kind of home that often suits young, busy, urban professionals simply does not work in many places.

Crest Nicholson, a developer with Cabe awards under its belt, believes that "intermediate density" is an answer.

"If they build to a height of three to five storeys instead of eight, then they can produce a mix of houses and flats," explains Stephen Stone, Crest Nicholson's chief operations officer and an architect himself. "It may mean losing garden space but that can be compensated for by imaginative roof terraces."

The developer is getting ready to market a scheme in the centre of Birmingham with flats and three- and four-bedroom houses; prices from £200,000. What used to be a sink estate, with 100 per cent of the properties rented, is now a development that looks like it will attract as broad a social mix as there are property types. It should also bring a new lease of life to nearby primary schools and shops - surely contributing factors for sustainability.

Unless planning trends change direction again, the fear of those such as Richard Donnell is that we could end up creating new housing and social problems - the Sixties all over again. It doesn't look like there are many better investments than a detached house in the South-east of England.