In the last month or so the UK has been exercised by a new approach being planned for our Planning system.

The debate is whether the Governments proposals will allow all and sundry to build on the green and pleasant land. Some of the opponents of the system are suggesting that if the building is ‘green’ then you can build it. I don’t thing that is the intention, nor do I think that the ultimate legislation will actually say this. But the over-arching sentiment seems to be a presumption in favour of development…

In the last couple of days I have come across Almere in the Netherlands. It is an area set aside where the Planning is as wild as your imagination. You buy a plot (there are 600) and you then build your own home. And the rules are that there are no rules.

Some of the results are whacky. But the whole point is that the owners make their own decisions.They build what they want, not what Mr Barratt or Mr Wimpy tell you they you want. As a result the spaces they build are different. Our obsession with number of bedrooms is false economy – and I love this as a concept.

I have often wondered how I would approach a house if I were given a blank canvas. I think it would have big spaces – it would be open plan – I think, with some dens. But light is a critical thing – big windows, roof lights and the like. I like bright colours too.

But doing something here in the UK is fraught with difficulty – Planning does’t make life easy. So perhaps we do need a change in the system. And we need some areas like Almere where people can express themselves?