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Out of context: Reply #1917

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  • Fax_Benson0

    Government (UK) intervenes to allow development of windowless studios.

    https://www.homesandproperty.co.…

    It's just the latest attempt to inflate house building figures without upsetting the big construction firms sitting on undeveloped land and Conservative voters in green-belt suburbs and affluent market towns.

    Housing is the biggest issue going and it's a total racket.

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    • eh, the flipside is that this already happens in the hundreds if not thousands in LDN by people like you and me who do warehouse conversions for younglingsNairn
    • I personally think windows are critical, esp in warehouses, but a lot of people aren't so bothered and just want to live in a place with loads of others...Nairn
    • yeah, you see places that have been divided and subdivided way beyond what you'd think would be legal.Fax_Benson
    • I'm presently about 60m from one of the largest Warehouse conversions in N London, none of the bedrooms have natural light. The kids love it.Nairn
    • Was built by people who live in warehouses themselves (w/ no natural light - but more floorspace than any private house I've recently visited in LDN)Nairn
    • Across the road is another large conversion - but by a 'greedy landlord developer' all rooms have large, natural light windows. Too expensive, no occupancy.Nairn
    • how do you 'vent' a room without windows? Those little ventilation bricks aren't really enough.shapesalad
    • Japan already has all the solutions for making apartments tiny, yet liveable. Including furniture that is smaller, and storage solutions.shapesalad
    • Why doesn't UK work with them on housing solutions... ah yeah, brexit and Japan looking at us like we're a bunch of knuckle draggers.shapesalad
    • or, the cultures of the two countries so far apart are entirely different, with most Japanese homes purposefully-built to have fairly short lifespans?Nairn
    • eg. https://www.economis…Nairn
    • we just need to build reasonably sized, well designed homes for people. Like the dutch, Scandinavians etc. Decent light source, decent storageFax_Benson
    • there are small coop devs and indie building firms doing it but the power (and the land) is monopolised by the mega-builders who build cheap junkFax_Benson
    • and subsidise profits with help-to-buy cahsback from the gvnmnt.Fax_Benson
    • Why not make them with a 40 year lifespan in London? Apartments tend to be temporary solutions anyway. Population is transient. Costs less to build.shapesalad
    • Easier to repurpose in the future. The fact we have to convert warehouses, highlights the case that buildings with a shorter lifespan work better.shapesalad
    • If the warehouse was japanese style, not bricked, you could knock it down in a few days and erect a modular apartment block in a week and have housing for 10+shapesalad
    • that just inflates the market for Victorian / Edwardian property with actual desirable features like proper walls and natural light.Fax_Benson
    • Instead spend 1+ year trying to get planning permission to convert a brick warehouse, then 6+ on building, only to house 5 people in windowless boxes.shapesalad
    • Population may well be transient, but why should infrastructure be? More waste, more energy use? None of that makes any sense.Nairn
    • re: Warehouses - people don't generally choose to live in them out of 'necessity', rather a choice to live in a mode completely different to the normalNairn
    • if I had the money, I'd set up converted warehouse living for yourn professional types in place in the UK without housing problems - Newcastle, Glasgow, etcNairn
    • (*young). It's a choice of lifestyle and living philosophy - some people don't want to live in mediocre houses with little space and no personality.Nairn
    • Some people do actually choose to live in environments that are outwardly gritty or and can be built up, that can be added to and loved.Nairn
    • 'creatives', 'hippies' - Extinction Rebellionists. etc. Also - doctors, nurses, accountants, the occasional lawyer (not many, of the latter, to be fair).Nairn
    • Windows are also for escaping firescannonball1978
    • Thank Goodness then for strong building codes and health and safety rules to adhere to when converting warehouses.Nairn
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