Some recent research on developing trends for office design and how they affect the people who work in them led to an Greg Ferenstein’s insightful short thesis The History of Privacy covering the last few thousand years of privacy. What becomes apparent is that privacy is something that we have expected to take for granted, but that’s a relatively modern way of life, and that we seem to be headed back to a way of living that is more communal.
It’s not without downside though. Privacy is a given for most people in the West, and it won’t be given up lightly. On a practical level, workplaces have been moving away from the post-war open plan offices, back to cellular working and studies show an increase in personal and overall business productivity as a result.
With the rise of the internet is changing the attitudes of many Millennials. Often prompted by scarcity of space and the associated high rents people are turning to co-working space, and now even to co-living. The increased numbers of students going away to university has created a wide culture of living together in shared accommodation.
With the increasing housing market failure primarily brought about by the political nature of the planning system perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we see co-living being an ordinary occurance from university onward.
If you’ve ever wondered about the basics of the land business this great episode of the BBC’s The Bottom Line with Evan Davis will give you an excellent introduction. It outlines the basic processes of the planning system and how the right planning consent can add significant value to land without laying a single brick.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08vzq84
Self builders are set to save £1,000s thanks to a recent decision on Section 106 Planning Obligations. On 11 May the Court of Appeal Civil Division reversed last year’s High Court decision to quash the exemption from s106 planning obligation payments for small sites.
The exemption, first introduced by Minister for Housing and Planning, Brandon Lewis MP, by Ministerial Statement on 28 November 2014, freed self builders from the unpopular s106 planning obligation payments which required them to divert £10,000s from their budget for a new home, into a payment towards roads, schools, affordable housing and other local authority infrastructure projects.
NaCSBA, the National Custom and Self Build Association, campaigned for the exemption on the grounds that the payments – designed to mitigate the impact of major development on local infrastructure – were disproportionate to the impact of small developments, especially single self build homes and failed to recognize the exceptional costs of developing a small site.
The exemption, applied to sites in England of 10 new homes or less (five in designated rural areas), was welcomed by self builders and small housebuilders alike. Some local authorities, however, disagreed with the exemption and on 31 July 2015, the judge in a High Court case brought by two neighbouring authorities, Reading and West Berkshire, found the exemption unlawful, and it was quashed just eight months after its introduction leaving many self builders in indefinite limbo.
The High Court Judge’s ruling clearly contradicted the intentions of the Government and its stated commitment to boost housebuilding, help smaller local housebuilders and double the size of the self build sector to 20,000 homes a year by 2020. NaCSBA immediately launched a campaign for the reintroduction of the exemption and in August 2015, DCLG was granted leave to appeal. The High Court’s decision to quash the exemption has been reversed with immediate effect. The Government is expected to update its guidance accordingly.
“NaCSBA welcomes the Court of Appeal ruling,” says Chair, Michael Holmes. “This exemption, together with the existing exemption from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), brings us one step closer to NaCBSA’s stated aim to make a high quality, sustainable, affordable individual home an option for the many and not just the few.
“Despite this victory for those who want to build their own home, it is still possible that the original appellants may seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.”
Enniskillen is the focus of at least some of the world’s attention as the G8 summit meeting hoves its not inconsiderable caravan of politicians, advisers, security, protesters and lobbyists into the news this week.
The economy of the tiny Northern Irish town with a population of only thirteen thousand has suffered more than many in recent years, but they have adopted a novel solution to mask the blight of vacant shops.
The Department of Social Development provided a £200k grant to help building owners improve the appearance of their frontages with the Shop Front Improvement Scheme.
Although the grant is available throughout 2013, those who completed the works by 31st May could receive 100% of the cost rather than the maximum 75% available for the remainder of the year.
The solutions included applied graphics that represented working shops, giving the impression of busy shops full of customers. The scheme has not been without criticism that it’s papering over the cracks to make Enniskillen look tidy for the G8 meeting, but this investment seems unlikely to have been offered if the G8 wasn’t coming to town, and as such is a welcome move.
Enniskillen Shop Front Scheme guidance notes
