London Mayor Boris Johnson promises no more 'hobbit homes' in Croydon (From Croydon Guardian)

London Mayor Boris Johnson promises no more 'hobbit homes' in Croydon

7:10am Friday 10th July 2009 in

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Boris Johnson has promised no more “hobbit homes” in Croydon.

The Mayor of London came to the borough to promote new guidance on publicly funded housing.

The London Housing Design Guide, which is open for public consultation, looks at the space around houses, the size of houses, better entrances, bigger rooms, lighter homes and greener homes.

The Mayor said: “For too long we have built homes to indecently poor standards - fit neither for Bilbo Baggins nor his hobbit friends - and that is indefensible.

"The finest city in the world deserves the finest housing for its inhabitants and when we get it wrong it can scar generation after generation.

“Today marks the start of reversing that downward trend and raising the bar, not just in publicly funded, but all new homes built in London.

"I want design excellence to become the first priority of any plans for new homes and innovation, in the best tradition of this unique city, to be at the forefront of that design.”

Mr Johnson will visit Sumner Gardens in Croydon, a development of thirteen publicly funded large family sized homes. Sumner Gardens is jointly financed by Croydon Council and the GLA and incorporates many of the principles of the Mayor’s Design Guide.

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