eric pebble Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Are £60k 'levitating' ZEDpods the answer to London's housing crisis? http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/are-60k-homes-built-on-stilts-above-car-parks-the-answer-to-londons-housing-crisis-a101921.html Not a bad idea - quite ingenious actually. Where there's a will there's a way..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigged Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 A garden shed on stilts costing close to £3000 per m2. Triffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doahh Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 I always wanted to live on top of a public toilet carpark. It is great that there so much storage space compared to those claustrophobic new builds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigged Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 I always wanted to live on top of a public toilet carpark. It is great that there so much storage space compared to those claustrophobic new builds. Save you having to go look for a car park to jump off when realising that you've spent 3 years at uni getting £60K in debt and all you can afford is less space (pro rata) to what the average hamster is afforded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 "Levitating zedpods!" Sounds like something Doc Brown might have apostrophied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frugal Git Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) Quote from article : "Not mortgageable. They could, however, still be rented out for an estimated £650 to £750 per month." <Innit>. Actually at the upper figure that's a fine yield of 15%. Sod my principles, I'll take 10. Edited June 9, 2016 by Frugal Git Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenDevil Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 TBH if the population is going to 80mill, then some sort of out the box solutions are required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Quote from article : "Not mortgageable. They could, however, still be rented out for an estimated £650 to £750 per month." <Innit>. Actually at the upper figure that's a fine yield of 15%. Sod my principles, I'll take 10. Even better the local council could let them for less and then there's no problem with mortgage issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewig Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 I wouldn't kennel my dogs in one of these monstrosities but I'd certainly consider buying a few to just rent out, innit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) It's a good idea - plenty of homes have been built ("levitating"?) above their own garages so it's an extension of that. What happened to the idea of converting redundant office blocks - run out of them? Presumably in the past it hasn't been proposed/allowed because of planning and there's possibly an increased fire risk with residential property above a public car park. So do they buy the car park land and keep the parking or do they lease it. Columns spaced every other car park space isn't very practical so wider spaces might be necessary and shared responsibility between dwellings for maintenance. Mind you call it what you like ZED this or that or the other but 242 sq ft (22.5 sq m) sets extraordinary new records for British homes already being the tiniest homes in the world getting even tinier and more miniature - RECORD BREAKERS The pods’ size is dictated by the size of two regular car parking bays, since the support columns for the housing would be installed between bays. Two typical parking bays measure around 242sq ft. Just let people live in cars and vans in the car parks and in the streets. Edited June 9, 2016 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qetesuesi Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 It would have been worthwhile to develop this idea if it had come several years ago, but now there's really little point. The very concept of "car parks" is going to go the way of the horse and cart thanks to driverless cars as the technology matures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frugal Git Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Even better the local council could let them for less and then there's no problem with mortgage issues. Ugh. Where's your capitalist spirit? This is a premium people farming op. The very fact they make a point of this in the article (with the very attractive sounding yield) says it all about what this type of thing is really about. So stop talking common sense please ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewingGrass Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 In the cult film Idiocracy they had plastic huts called "domistile", this is quite obviously the upmarket London version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) “The ZEDpod is a small miniature, low-cost, energy-efficient home particularly intended to provide affordable housing for the rental market and as a starter home for young professionals, singles or couples wishing to get on to the property ladder,” explains Dunster. You just know in an instant that ZED is a derivation of SHED. Ah - so it's a SHEDpod. £60,000 seems very steep for what it is (22.5 sq m ) even if each ZEDpod (come on come clean it's a SHEDpod) unit is 2 storeys. http://www.greenfingers.com/product.asp?dept_id=500565&pf_id=DD8579D&ptm_source=google&ptm_medium=shopping&ptm_campaign=over50&gclid=CJzF65uCnM0CFQUq0wodIV0EkA Of course they'll probably be marketed to rich overseas buyers (aka young UK professionals, singles or couples wishing to get on to the property ladder ). Edited June 9, 2016 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pig Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 It would have been worthwhile to develop this idea if it had come several years ago, but now there's really little point. The very concept of "car parks" is going to go the way of the horse and cart thanks to driverless cars as the technology matures. In the meantime though, could be the start of a price bubble for carparks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacedin Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) How viable would it be to instead build a block of flats there and put the carpark underneath? These pods may be cheap but at least flats would be an efficient use of the space and would hopefully be more spacious too although admittedly not very spacious given size of most new builds in the UK. Edited June 10, 2016 by spacedin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pig Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 How viable would it be to instead build a block of flats there and put the carpark underneath? These pods may be cheap but at least flats would be an efficient use of the space and would hopefully be more spacious too although admittedly not very spacious given size of most new builds in the UK. They're certainly not cheap - 60k for 250 odd sq feet ? Must be over twice the price of an average build. Question is to what extent does the design or at the very least the idea mean they sidestepped the cost of the land ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckin2up2down Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) I'm sure this isn't new and I posted it a while ago. It's still an awful idea. Rather live in a caravan in the woods. Edit found it http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?/topic/209324-live-above-a-car-park/ Edited June 10, 2016 by stuckin2up2down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
200p Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 “We could easily build 1,000 of these in every London borough just on council-owned car parks,” Ah but you don't "own" the land. ---- You probably have to put money in the meter or your house will get a fixed penalty And they are probably un-mortgageable. What if someone's car catches fire underneath your house? Or some kids start skate boarding underneath causing a racket? You may not have the luxury of always having a parking space when you come home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
200p Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) Or a car hits one of the supports - you've all seen bad drivers hitting stuff in car parks. Imagine a big 4x4 hitting a support! Sorry for being all negative and all that. Go ahead and buy, and ignore my negativity .. Edited June 10, 2016 by 200p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigged Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 How viable would it be to instead build a block of flats there and put the carpark underneath? These pods may be cheap but at least flats would be an efficient use of the space and would hopefully be more spacious too although admittedly not very spacious given size of most new builds in the UK. But they're not cheap they're very expensive. You could build a 3 bed family home for £700 m2 if building en masse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) How viable would it be to instead build a block of flats there and put the carpark underneath? These pods may be cheap but at least flats would be an efficient use of the space and would hopefully be more spacious too although admittedly not very spacious given size of most new builds in the UK. Good idea - in practical terms no reason why not if the owner of the car park and its land agrees (and is suitably remunerated/compensated) etc. The car park owner and land owner could be different people of course. Why not close the car park down for a few months and redevelop with a new integral public car park - it's often done. Inconvenience to drivers has never been an issue in the past. Maybe the SHEDpod idea demonstrates and exposes how crazy the prices of traditional homes are - even the miniature ones. £60,000 versus say £250,000+ makes you think doesn't it - and even the £60,000 seems way too high for what it is. Though it wouldn't give "a top UK architect" so much publicity which seems to come from coming up with ideas to cram young people into miniature shed homes. Edited June 10, 2016 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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