Building standards over time

[Richard Dye]

yes bri and when they demolish bill house next door there is going to a massive area to build on....this was the plan for the area many years ago but it was shelved

Architects told to think again over Soho Hill plans in Birmingham

THE architects behind a controversial apartment, office and shop complex in Birmingham will be sent back to the drawing board after it was described as a "slum of the future".

www.birminghammail.co.uk

lyn

I read the article, I‘m not sure who is worse the developer or the planning commission! Was/is the no guidance give in these situations? It seems the developers get away with whatever they can. Disappointing because as we would say, “this is not their first rodeo” for either side!

 

[Morturn]

I read the article, I‘m not sure who is worse the developer or the planning commission! Was/is the no guidance give in these situations? It seems the developers get away with whatever they can. Disappointing because as we would say, “this is not their first rodeo” for either side!

Richard

I’m not quite sure what there was in terms of a planning commission in those days. I would have thought quite unregulated. The industrial revolution bought about unprecedented levels of urbanisation in the UK. The rest of Europe did not catch up until the 1950’s. With it came vast wealth for some resulting in incredibly high levels of wealth equality.

The wealthy were always looking for passive income, so with urbanisation and high demand to feed the industrial growth, housing was a perfect vehicle. The speculative builders wanted a piece of this pie too, so were more than happy to jerry build high density housing for the less well off creating a cash cow for the investors.

Most investors had no idea who they were renting to either or were they involved or interested in any way as being social landlords.

 

[Richard Dye]

Richard

I’m not quite sure what there was in terms of a planning commission in those days. I would have thought quite unregulated. The industrial revolution bought about unprecedented levels of urbanisation in the UK. The rest of Europe did not catch up until the 1950’s. With it came vast wealth for some resulting in incredibly high levels of wealth equality.

The wealthy were always looking for passive income, so with urbanisation and high demand to feed the industrial growth, housing was a perfect vehicle. The speculative builders wanted a piece of this pie too, so were more than happy to jerry build high density housing for the less well off creating a cash cow for the investors.

Most investors had no idea who they were renting to either or were they involved or interested in any way as being social landlords.

Mort, the article is dated 2007/2012. Surely there were some kind of guidelines or regulations in place at that time. Regardless of the investors, the planning commission should have guides dealing with occupational density and traffic flow or patterns.

 

[Morturn]

Mort, the article is dated 2007/2012. Surely there were some kind of guidelines or regulations in place at that time. Regardless of the investors, the planning commission should have guides dealing with occupational density and traffic flow or patterns.

Apologies Richard, I somehow related your post the thread on poverty and the jerry build houses of the mid nineteenth century.

 

[Richard Dye]

Apologies Richard, I somehow related your post the thread on poverty and the jerry build houses of the mid nineteenth century.

No apologies required Mort! BTW, those Jerry build houses are a classic example of what not to do.

 

[Morturn]

Thanks.

Weren’t they just. I worked on a house in Anderton Road where we discovered the two wall in the entry were half brick thick laid on a piece of 4x2 timber sat directly on the ground. No foundations whatsoever.

 

[Richard Dye]

OMG!
About 50 years ago my brother in law purchased a home built in the late1920’s in the US. He wanted to upgrade his heating system in it. He had no money but I volunteered. Unlike your house the structure was reasonably sound but the heating system was suprise after suprise. The house was three stories and each floor was different. I had to snake 3/4 and 1/2 copper pipe from the third floor to the basement. Then had to get the air out of the system. It worked but never again!

 

[Morturn]

OMG!
About 50 years ago my brother in law purchased a home built in the late1920’s in the US. He wanted to upgrade his heating system in it. He had no money but I volunteered. Unlike your house the structure was reasonably sound but the heating system was suprise after suprise. The house was three stories and each floor was different. I had to snake 3/4 and 1/2 copper pipe from the third floor to the basement. Then had to get the air out of the system. It worked but never again!

The best central heating installation I saw was a guy who got a friend who was an industrial heating engineer to install his central heating system. He did it as you would in a factory, iron threaded pipes that were lagged with asbestos.

When the house eventually got sold about twenty years ago, the new owners got the shock of their lives when they found out it was all asbestos lagged. It was on TV.

 

[Richard Dye]

The best central heating installation I saw was a guy who got a friend who was an industrial heating engineer to install his central heating system. He did it as you would in a factory, iron threaded pipes that were lagged with asbestos.

When the house eventually got sold about twenty years ago, the new owners got the shock of their lives when they found out it was all asbestos lagged. It was on TV.

That would really scary with the asbestos! I actually used a piece of asbestos cloth while I was soldering the pipes on different floors to insulate from the heat. It must have cost a pretty penny to replace those pipes and remediate the site.