Jump to content

The housing problem in 5x tweets …


Dreadnaught

Recommended Posts

I thought this was spot on:

 

Person 1: Why do we build houses like this? [Picture below]
Person 2Can’t resist taking a shot to see if I can do it in 5 tweets or fewer (as follows)

 

Tweet 1
1066 - William I establishes a system of land ownership that gives incredible political & economic power to landowners, giving land incredible ? value.

 

Tweet 2
1948-1961- We regulate development but still end up allowing landowners to capture most increases in land value, even though that land value is created by everyone.

 

Tweet 3
1970s-2000s This creates a biz model: 1. buy up potential development land. 2. wait / negotiate for LAs to award planning permission. 3. capture the sudden ⬆️ in land value by ? cheapest (facsimiles of) homes & n’hoods you are allowed to, then sell to the mortgage industry.

 

Tweet 4
2000- Successive policies put ever-increasing pressure on LPAs to award planning permission, compromising on quality in order to prioritise quantity. Meanwhile the land value capture industry is also heavily subsidised because Gov believes we rely on it.

 

Tweet 5
2020s   Side-effect: we all end up living in the financial assets left behind by this industry. Even though they were never really designed to be successful places to live (I.e good social, economic or environmental infrastructure). That wasn’t their purpose.

 

From here:

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can take the flag down though. What are you going to do with the two weird yellow brick quoins on each side of the house. It looks like when the built the single course round the house they had a few left over and went sure I will stick them in this random position and the foreman stood back and went yep that looks really different, do the rest of the development like that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you can sum it up in the lyrics of this 1962 song, apocryphal or what!

 

"Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,1
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

 

And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

 

And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same.

 

And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same."

(Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1962 Schroder Music Company,)

 

Sad face!

 

Infinite sameness - what statisticians would call 'regression to the mean' and mean is the word.

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Ralph said:

While many of us find that depressing for some people it will be aspirational which in turn is more depressing.

 

People like us - the putative self righteous self builders and their chums who may think of ourselves as somewhat better than most would never seek to live in such a place. Pride cometh before the fall. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, MikeSharp01 said:

People like us - the putative self righteous self builders and their chums who may think of ourselves as somewhat better than most would never seek to live in such a place. Pride cometh before the fall. 

Correct. I'm aware of my inherit distain. Not proud of it but aware. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My nephew just bought a new house on an estate, the garden flooded first time it rained (solid yellow clay 50mm below turf) and the on suite shower tray was so out of level it would not drain and overflowed the “high” end, they had to take the whole floor up and use firings to level up the joists underneath ?‍♂️

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Ralph said:

Correct. I'm aware of my inherit distain.

Me too - fun isn't it.

 

Just now, joe90 said:

firings

Do you mean furrings! Firing seem like the right thing to do with the person that fitted the shower tray but ....

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

I think you can sum it up in the lyrics of this 1962 song, apocryphal or what

Or The Eagles's Last Resort. Interesting but in bold.

 

She came from Providence

One in Rhode Island

Where the old world shadows hang heavy in the air

She packed her hopes and dreams like a refugee

Just as her father came across the sea

She heard about a place people were smiling

Spoke about the red man's ways

How they loved the land

They came from everywhere to the great divide

Seeking a place to stand or a place to hide

Down in the crowded bars out for a good time

Can't wait to tell you all what it's like up there

They called it paradise I don't know why

Somebody laid the mountains low while the town got high

Then the chilly winds blew down across the desert

Through the canyons of the coast to the Malibu

Where the pretty people play hungry for power

To light their neon way give them things to do

Some rich man came and raped the land nobody caught 'em

Put up a bunch of ugly boxes

Jesus people bought 'em

They called it paradise the place to be

They watched the hazy sun sinking in the sea

We can leave it all behind sail to Lahaina

Just like the missionaries did so many years ago

They even brought a neon sign that said Jesus is coming

Brought the white man's burden down

Brought the white man's reign

Who will provide the grand design what is yours and what is mine?

Cause there is no more new frontier we have got to make it here

Satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds

In the name of destiny and in the name of God

(Aaah...) And you can see them there on Sunday morning

(Aaah...) Stand up and sing about what it's like up there

(Aaah...) They called it paradise I don't know why

(Aaah...) Call some place paradise kiss it goodbye...

Ah-ah-ah... ah-ah-ah...

Ooh... hoo...

Ooh... hoo...

Ooh...

Ooh...

Ah-ha... ooh...

Ah... ha...

And here's how it all started

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Don Henley / Glenn Lewis Frey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is why self build is even more important. I’m sure it exists but most self builders don’t build THAT crap .

At one of my planning meetings I asked why such shite is allowed to be built by developers . They didn’t respond ; so I guessed as already mentioned ; quantity over quality ; which in turn maximises the developers return .

 

Edited by pocster
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, pocster said:

quantity over quality ; which in turn maximises the developers return .

The alternative is worse: no development.

 

While I agree that building poor quality is unnecessary, housing people is more important than reducing new housing energy losses. Let the power generation companies clean up that sector and then the problem goes away.

No point diverting resources to where it is ultimately not needed.

Or just ban combustion technologies. Problem sorted.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is probably poor quality if mass produced, which I don't agree with and needs sorting. But to me looking at them is not offensive. Sure they are no grand designs but at least it's not got all the fake Victorian crap chimney etc. What about the fake Georgian beam and cladding how are they ever supposed to age well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
On 03/07/2021 at 11:38, MikeSharp01 said:

And the people in the houses
All went to the university,

 

 

I have not heard that song for years.

 

Back in 1967 my Dad was working for Unesco in what was then Ceylon and let my Mum choose a new house to relocate the family back to South Wales. He was not impressed with her new-build choice and used to sing Little Boxes when back home.

 

In retrospect he had a point as I can still remember all the neighbours along the avenue of 4 bed detached 60's houses.

 

In order:

  1. Head teacher of the local primary school and his high school teacher wife.
  2. Professor and department head of local university biology department.
  3. City chief planner and his GP wife.
  4. Senior engineer (MBE) at the Royal Mint.
  5. Professor & Chair of local university maths department.
  6. High school teacher and her retired vicar husband.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tweet 4 set to continue, with ever fewer owning the land, if reports are to be believed. On the other hand, most farms are loss making enterprises artificially kept afloat, and are looking to sell, plus there are several schemes in existence or in the process, to make it easier for people to start good life projects and build their own homes. 

If as they seem to want to do they are just going to subsidies the large landowners, that would seem a hard sell to the public without some type of trade off, the likes of OPD and Single Development being brought through for all parts of the UK might be such a trade off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 03/07/2021 at 12:09, joe90 said:

My nephew just bought a new house on an estate, the garden flooded first time it rained (solid yellow clay 50mm below turf) and the on suite shower tray was so out of level it would not drain and overflowed the “high” end, they had to take the whole floor up and use firings to level up the joists underneath ?‍♂️

Amateurs ! Even I didn’t make that mistake ???

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...