WHAT is it with UK houses? There’s not enough of them, they’re too expensive, they’re difficult to heat, they’re often in the wrong place, they produce too much carbon dioxide and modern politicians seem very reluctant to accept any responsibility for their supply.

They are now seen as investments, and a source of very profitable unregulated income. This is quite unlike Germany and France where controlled renting of homes is the norm and houses provide shelter, warmth and community, rather than a nest egg for generations to come. European cities often have flats above shops in town centres, not empty offices, and we need to rethink what houses are for and where they should be.

It wasn’t always like this as in the late nineteenth century the mill owners wanted their workers close by, hence the rows of terraced back to backs in Great Horton, and Girlington and, a little upmarket, in Saltaire.

Similarly the immediate post war government was keen to repair the damage of the depression and the bombing, as well as meeting the expectations of returning service men, so they set about it with gusto.

Prefabs – prefabricated houses – were designed to last a decade, and many did so four times over. They made up about one tenth of the million and more houses built by 1951 showing what could be done at a time of severe economic challenge and demand for adequate housing.

The present shortfall began when local councils, once the builders and landlords of the new housing, were stopped from building and managing houses, only to be replaced by a few housing associations, now themselves at risk, and the sale of remaining council stock, often at enticing discounts.

And all these problems are compounded by the way we struggle to find sites to build new houses. My house, surrounded by hundreds of others, has a garden wall that was a field boundary in 1910, but building it now might prove more difficult. This paper frequently publishes pictures of suburban residents up in arms about a new building proposal in their neighbourhood, conveniently forgetting their own houses were built on local fields.

It’s also frustrating that we still allow new houses to be built to standards that do not meet best environmental practice. Without exception all future housing should meet Scandinavian standards of insulation, with most power provided by solar panels or ground sourced heating, and hot water from thermal panels. Rainwater should be harvested for garden use, and hard surfaces kept to a minimum.

If councils can be told to sell their houses, surely builders can be instructed to build energy-efficient ones.