Houses as homes .... or investments?

Ashley Vale self build community, Bristol

 Looking back at recent posts, it is possible to point out that the Amsterdam projects are highly desirable houses for a few urbanites and only a minority can afford the luxury of beautiful and "alive" housing solutions, in Alexander's terms.  But to think in this way is simply to admit that, in the UK anyway, we give responsibility of housing to mass market developers.  In 2012 100,000 homes were built in the UK, but only 11870 were self-build.  Large companies have no long term interest in the houses they build.  These houses feature nice bathrooms and kitchens, but energy efficiency, structural longevity and air quality are not considered (1)  In Europe 50% of building stock is self-build, and in Austria as much as 80%.  

Large scale housing development

Our attitude to houses in the UK is another reason.  We tend to think of houses as commodities and steps on the property ladder, rather than long term homes.  The average length of occupancy is 7 years. There is also a lot of social pressure to accept the mass build housing as the norm - it is fresh and new and youthful.  So much depends what you want and expect from a house.  Do you want convenience, a smart inner and outer appearance which conforms to neutral social tastes?  So many of us do think of that as the only option because it is what is available.  But research shows it often does not provide the best living conditions in terms of lighting, space or air quality, let alone sustainability or best land use. 

A recent Radio 4 edition of  eco-programme "Costing the Earth" describes how we should reconsider our attitude to housing, and think of it in a much longer term way.  This would mean looking after the fabric of the building rather than simply updating utilities to increase its value, and having a greater stake in the house as a home, rather as Alexander suggests. Of course in a recession and in an era of high unemployment and a culture of job mobility, this is not always possible.

The Ashley Vale Action Group in Bristol (featured in the radio programme) is a self build scheme of individual houses. The group bought the plot near city centre in 2000 for £600,000.  It was large enough for 20 homes, and even with the building costs, the housing is affordable. Rather like the Amsterdam development, these houses are highly individual in style (see above photographs for a sample), and they are built to a high sustainable quality, which pushes the thermal performance of the buildings.  Membership of such a group is necessarily restricted to an older age group (who can sell their existing houses) or high earners, who can get mortgages.

(1)   "Architecture has been in danger, like our indefensibly mean and horrid housing, of becoming little than a commodity"  Jonathan Glancey  Guardian G2  13.02.12

Next post - more on energy efficient houses which are a joy to live in!