More than half of people who are often lonely believe architects are out of touch, poll finds

A think tank has called on the government to combat loneliness through planning reforms after finding more than half of people who are often lonely partially blame architects and planners.

A poll of more than 2,000 adults in April this year for the centre-right leaning Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found 52% of people who often felt lonely disagreed that buildings are designed in a way that encourages a sense of community. 

Out of all adults surveyed, the number was 43%, which would equate to 23.7 million people if the survey sample was expanded to the size of the UK population.

The poll found 53% of frequently lonely people believed architects and planners are out of touch with what local people want their community to look like, while 49% of all adults surveyed believed this to be the case.

The study, published this month, found that people who are lonely are also more likely to feel negative about the built environment and those responsible for creating it.

More than half, 51%, of frequently lonely people disagreed that buildings are generally beautiful, compared to 38% of all adults surveyed.

But loneliness is prevalent across the population, with nearly six in ten adults feeling lonely “at least some of the time”, and over one in five reporting feelings of existential loneliness and a “fundamental separateness from other people and the wider world”.

The CSJ, an independent think tank co-founded in 2004 by former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith, has urged the government to launch a new loneliness strategy that includes commitments to tackle loneliness through the built environment.

The think tank has also called for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to require every local authority to produce a community ownership strategy which would allow communities to lead housing redevelopment projects.