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More Concrete Does Birmingham Need It ?

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Williamstreeter

master brummie
Birmingham Mail Today report 1000 new apartments comprising of 13 Blocks spread across Birmingham City Centre . The proposed site along Bristol St where Monaco House stood . Is it really needed or necessary ? I'm interested in other forum members opinions
 
If I think about it from my own perspective then i would have to say no.
If I think about it from a person living on the streets or in sub standard housing i would have to say yes.
I am sure we will have a wide variety of opinions...
 
I think that there have been several studies saying that high rise blocks are not good, and everyone would be better in a house. But that house, if it is going to be of any benefit, needs to have at least a small private space such as a garden, and there comes the crunch - Birminghas run out of both land and money, and it is not the only big town or city to do so. Hence, the only option is to build upwards.

Would I like to live in one? Hell no, but it is better than no home at all, or renting a single room in some undesirable situation. But all this, I feel, is not a subject for us to discuss on a history forum as very soon it is going to get into sociological and political issues, maybe even religious issues. Sorry WilliamStreeter, but I feel that this is not place for it and I won't comment further.

Maurice :cool:
 
sospiri said:
I think that there have been several studies saying that high rise blocks are not good, and everyone would be better in a house. But that house, if it is going to be of any benefit, needs to have at least a small private space such as a garden, and there comes the crunch - Birminghas run out of both land and money, and it is not the only big town or city to do so. Hence, the only option is to build upwards.

Would I like to live in one? Hell no, but it is better than no home at all, or renting a single room in some undesirable situation. But all this, I feel, is not a subject for us to discuss on a history forum as very soon it is going to get into sociological and political issues, maybe even religious issues. Sorry WilliamStreeter, but I feel that this is not place for it and I won't comment further.

Maurice :cool:
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you tell em our MAURICE.:)

high rise are terrible our maurice.i lived in one for 15 years prob thats why i am so daft now. They drive you crazy:expressionless:
 
in answer to the question probably we do need them due to housing shortage..would i live in one? after spending 6 years in a two bed high rise with 4 children under 6 NO CHANCE ...soul destroying and isolation ...i would rather live in a shed..hopefully this developement is aimed at the single person or maybe couples without children..

lyn
 
Astoness said:
in answer to the question probably we do need them due to housing shortage..would i live in one? after spending 6 years in a two bed high rise with 4 children under 6 NO CHANCE ...soul destroying and isolation ...i would rather live in a shed..hopefully this developement is aimed at the single person or maybe couples without children..

lyn
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i have a spare shed if ever needed:grinning:Lyn
 
its about time the councils stopped building monstrositis, and started building eco houses. most high rise were demolished." "thank goodness" we dont want them back.
 
mw0njm. said:
its about time the councils stopped building monstrositis, and started building eco houses. most high rise were demolished." "thank goodness" we dont want them back.
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First thing to make clear is that I don't believe ANY of these apartments are being built by Birmingham council, they are all private builds.

Secondly, many of these apartments are being sold FOR PEOPLE TO THEN RENT OUT.

There is a huge market now in people buying an apartment in Birmingham City Centre for say £150,000 or £200,00 and renting it out or putting it on AirB&B and similar sites.

I also understand many Chinese people are putting their money in apartments in UK cities (many Chinese business people are VERY rich).

Some of these apartment buildings are hundreds of apartments, for example Exchange Square (very near Moor St station) is 603 (SIX HUNDRED AND THREE) apartments, and that was just phase 1. These are "build to rent" apartments. See web site here

nikal.uk.com

Exchange Square 1, Birmingham - Nikal

Exchange Square, Phase 1 Exchange Square is the latest addition to Nikal’s hugely successful £350million Masshouse project. An exciting new urban village has been created providing new high quality apartments plus shops, cafes and restaurants – all directly opposite the new Birmingham Curzon HS2...
nikal.uk.com nikal.uk.com

And look at this web site, where they plan to build the Octagon apartment tower (346 apartments) on the Paradise site, the apartments are being offered as "Build to Rent" homes.

Octagon - Paradise Birmingham

www.paradisebirmingham.co.uk www.paradisebirmingham.co.uk

So these are not "council houses" or "social housing" and they have not cost Birmingham Council any money. They are all private builds where most people who buy them are then looking to rent them out.
 
There is a desperate shortage of housing in most large growing cities, it is a problem not just confined to Birmingham. So, we either keep building on the greenbelt or the countryside or try our best to reuse sites in the towns.

Unfortunately, there are limits as to what you can build on industrial sites, houses with gardens are often not a viable reuse, ground pollution is a significant problem.

A lot of us have had negative experiences of multi-story tower blocks of the 60’s. These developments were sold as being an efficient use of land, however the reality was, it was simply cheap to build multi-story tower blocks. The problem was the council used them as a one size fits all solution to the housing problem. It did not work.

As we all know, you get what you pay for; the council got cheap and cheerful. Not the one size fits all solution the council was looking for. Ironically, neither were the one bedroomed bungalows with a small garden that the council built for older people either. Its horses for courses really, some people do like living in multi-story blocks, it works for them.

Either way, the problems associated with developing towns is not going away anytime soon, people will always need places to live. I have lived and worked in Birmingham all my life and have seen it change dramatically over the years. I love the place and am very happy here with all the changes.
 
good post mort and as guilbert has pointed out this latest build is nothing to do with the council...as one who knows it does not matter if the high rise flats are cheaply built as in the 60s or ones that are worth a quarter of a million pounds each they are still built on the same principle.. they are simply no place to bring up children safely and with freedom of movement..

lyn
 
sospiri said:
I think that there have been several studies saying that high rise blocks are not good, and everyone would be better in a house. But that house, if it is going to be of any benefit, needs to have at least a small private space such as a garden, and there comes the crunch - Birminghas run out of both land and money, and it is not the only big town or city to do so. Hence, the only option is to build upwards.

Would I like to live in one? Hell no, but it is better than no home at all, or renting a single room in some undesirable situation. But all this, I feel, is not a subject for us to discuss on a history forum as very soon it is going to get into sociological and political issues, maybe even religious issues. Sorry WilliamStreeter, but I feel that this is not place for it and I won't comment further.

Maurice :cool:
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I see your point Maurice,as you say this is a history site,however history has to start somewhere. Remember our today is future generations history.

I wouldn't like living in one either.:worried:

NoddK-D
 
I dont care who is building them be it the council or Joe bloggs. they are just a eye sore on the landscape. i am sorry i do not like the concrete monstrosities that are being trown up now.
 
The thing is those of us who would not live in one , that includes me, call them flats whilst the youngsters who are likely to live and work in inner cities call them apartments,( no difference but sounds posh) and they must be a godsend, no garden to deal with ,pay a service charge to have the communal areas kept smart and in reach of all the nightlife.
Just seems a bit odd that all of the high rise in Castle Vale were demolished and many of the ones in Chelmsley and Bromford the same.
I thought that high rise living was thought to be antiquated but not so it seems.
 
Can you compare city centre apartments with all the shops, pubs, clubs, offices & transport within walking distance to the flats in Castle Vale that had not much?

In my mind (well designed) high rise flats would be perfect for the elderly - security, great views, no anti social locals, easy monitoring if warden controlled. A nice roof top garden (green houses/conservatory for winter), a communal floor with hall and a gym, maybe a little canteen.
 
MWS said:
Can you compare city centre apartments with all the shops, pubs, clubs, offices & transport within walking distance to the flats in Castle Vale that had not much?

In my mind (well designed) high rise flats would be perfect for the elderly - security, great views, no anti social locals, easy monitoring if warden controlled. A nice roof top garden (green houses/conservatory for winter), a communal floor with hall and a gym, maybe a little canteen.
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as long as the lifts work 24/7 what happends in power cuts? seen it all got the t shirt. i would not put my dog in another highrise. yet alone my gran 1596110306974.png
 
mw0njm. said:
I dont care who is building them be it the council or Joe bloggs..
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But your original append did say "its about time the councils stopped building monstrosities"

So I merely pointed out it was NOT the council doing the building (though they do of course give permission for them to be built).

Can you blame them though, all of a sudden you get 600 more people paying council tax to the council !!

As sospiri said above, "Birmingham council has run out of money" (for all sorts of reasons) so need to do anything to bring more money in to the city.

If they can bring in more money by allowing hundreds of apartments to be built (or large office blocks to be built for companies like HSBC or PWC) who can blame them.

If you look at the most successful cities in the world (the ones that attract companies and workers) it is the ones building new apartments and office blocks.

Birmingham is full of abandoned run down buildings (I know because I have been walking the city for the last 10 years taking photos of the buildings in Birmingham).

Look at this building below, on the edge of the Jewellery Quarter, on Camden Street. Could be a lovely building but it has been like this for years. There are hundreds of buildings in the city centre like this.

Do you think this sort of building (or area) attracts companies or workers to the city, of course it doesn't.

You need new, modern buildings with all the facilities companies and apartment buyers expect.

Building.JPG

If I ran an international company and wanted to put my headquarters somewhere and was given the choice between Birmingham (see above!) or Perth, Australia (see below) I know which I would pick

THAT is why Birmingham needs more modern buildings and apartments, and needs to tidy up some of its more run down areas. If it doesn't it will get left behind. Then the council really WILL go broke.

Perth.jpg
 
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MWS said:
Agree, lift reliability would be a problem to overcome.
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totally agree MWS when both lifts were out of action for days humping up and down prams and buggies up 7 flights of stairs in my case up to 14 flights for others and laden with shopping was no joke...lets just hope that all the new apartments and office blocks will be taken up..unlike the many that were built 30/40 years ago that lay empty for donkeys years...mind you with the wonderful modern technology we now have i would not expect lifts to ever break down :rolleyes:
 
I shall always remember hearing about the tower blocks that were by New St station (now demolished) which were very tall and whose liftsn were out during the power cuts in the 1970s
 
Whether the city need more high rise or not is really up to the citizens of the city. They should be able to voice their opinions to their councillors. If the ignore a large section of peoples critcism the voters can vote someone else in next time around.
One thing appers to be apparent however. Since the end of WW2 Birmingham has become a construction site; the locations moving around the city but principally the inner city has had continual, quite disruptive, changes.
The $64,000 question is once 2022 has come and gone will it start all over gain? ;)
 
These percentage reports really mean nothing.
For example, "100% rise in village crime." :eek:
A schoolboy pinched a Mars bar from the village shop, next week he came back and did it again this time taking one for his brother as well.
 
Apart from that, the article seems to be talking about asset managers and similar, not anyone useful who contributes to the community
 
Well the corner of Bristol St and Essex St is where a new 28 storey block of flats are to be built . Members will remember my first post on this topic whereby BCC announced 13 blocks are to be built across Birmingham . Has any member heard of any more being built ? IT's to kick off in January
 
Strange how people will pay a fortune to buy a high rise 'apartment' in a city centre but if it's called a 'flat' then it devalues the property in many peoples eyes.
 
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