Tuesday, Aug 21, 2007
Sharp practices by Britain's house builders
Channel 4 Dispatches: Britain's Bad Housing
A Dispatches program on a few weeks ago, but for those that missed it they have a web page up about it now. The program discussed: Common shoddy building. The fact that developers are only interested in building expensive and thus high profit margin properties (flash pads in fancy locations, high density). Little interest in schemes to encourage 'affordable' house building. Land banks and the myth that there isn't enough land to build on (though there may not be as much prime, highly profitable land with scenic country views as they might like). Corruption and collusion with councils and the like to seize profitable land for development (in one case compulsory purchase to knock down existing good homes). Etc. Confirming everything a cynic would expect from them really.
7 Comments
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1. renting russ said...
Actually the 3 clips on there give a pretty good taster of it.
2. Meow said...
Or you could just watch the whole thing here...
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-8576816145694781888&q=dispatches+bad+housing&total=2&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
3. Cheekie Charlie said...
I was once tempted to buy a new build, I took a sneeky look at the housing estate where I wanted to buy during building to see the quality of build. Needless to say the chipboard joists and floors, the MDF stairs, the plastick plumbing, the softwood timberframed inner with plaster board lining, the concrete brick, the single skin gable wall, the brown field site prone to flooding alas put me off. Its no wonder they gaurantee this "enviromentally friendly - built on the cheep" crap for 10 years because believe you me it won't last 11 years.
4. planning4acrash said...
Aint this funny, after all the talk about planners blocking developers, now we are being shown as being currupt and lining the pockets of developers, what a farce recent debate on planning has become! But it is true, and most won't realise this, that planning is loaded in the favour of developers, because government know's that housebuilding is a vote winner, if its done properly.
5. whiteknight said...
Local council corruption, collusion, back handers and little people doing nothing very productive and useful?
Surely not. Not in this country. Are you sure?
I do hope not for their sake. When you can use the house as an ATM machine that doesn't run out you might not complain about where the council was putting your money. When you are struggling to buy food its a different matter.
Hunger is an amazing thing as a mood changer and motivator I am told. I wouldnt know myself.
6. renting russ said...
The focus of the program was really on the builders and how clearly profit margin was their only driving concern, at the expense of almost everything else (reputation, legality, least of all the customer). The impression it gave of planners was that they were sometimes powerless in the face of big money, although they had the right interests at heart. The NHBC (who are supposed to assure standards) came in for lots of criticism due to it's lack of independence from the builders (pretty much directly funded by them).
7. planning4acrash said...
Renting russ, that summarises my experiences of developers and reinforces my belief in the total necessity of planning to ensure that development remains democratic and not just a tentical of the ongoing neoliberalist revolution that threatens to take away all that we value in the name of profit for the few. We've been there before, anybody up for Victorian style slums?!