General Chat

IGP to answer your other questions re who paid, didn't pay rent and from what financial source...I'm sure the council knows, though maybe they would not think it the right time to broadcast those statistics?

The council may have statistics for some of those matters but may or may not know how many flats were privately rented / bought.

Well Igp it depends if you only measure the worth of a man or woman by their silver. If you do then of course social housing is inexplicable.

"He knew the price of everything and the value of nothing."

How well do you get along with Donald Trump? He is looking for somewhere to stay.

If only the rich could live in certain areas that would be as bad as apartheid.

Kensington needs shop assistants, nurses, cleaners, posties, teachers, all the normal people doing normal jobs as much as it needs Saudi princes and Russian oligarchs, more in my opinion.

There are currently no other tenants in the block - the block is 'near completion', so if someone thinks a council tenant is a 'different' breed - they don't have to buy.
Apart from the concierge and cinema, they are, when all is said and done, just walls and windows, like every other building - only in this case, grossly overpriced because of where they are.
Things change. Where I live, it used to be the industrial part of Winchester, with barge people, then railway workers living here. There was an area of extensive sidings with 4 sidings, two passing loops, a large goods shed, and a ten-ton crane - so not a small affair!
The original housing consisted of a farmhouse or two, a couple of dairies, small Victorian terraced houses, for railway workers and huge Georgian houses.
Canal work stopped. A pub (sob) was pulled down.
The first Council Houses were built at the end of the 1920's.
More Council houses were built in the farmland in the 1930's.
The railway station was closed and the goods facilities were withdrawn from 4 April 1966.
A few of the (by now) dilapidated terraced houses were bought by the Council.
Some of the Georgian houses were turned into flats.
I forgot to mention the Chalk pit - the oldest bit of industry. In the 1960's houses were built on what would have been the edge of the pit. The most expensive and ugly houses around here!!

The warehouse was turned into Duplex flats in the 1990's, as was one of the dairies.
The terraced houses became de-rigueur for 'arty' types. The Georgian houses much liked by the better off.
The estate is a mixture of sturdy red brick Council houses and privately owned red brick Victorian houses of various types, with, of course the 3 story Georgian houses standing out in their glory!!
... and do you know - I couldn't tell you who owns their house - Council or otherwise.

who says the people from the Grenfell tower won't "fit in"????

Just because they live in social housing or are immigrants, doesn't mean they are not entitled to decent housing.


It is now required here that any new build OR converted apartment building, whether for sale or rental HAS to include not only "market" but also "affordable" and "low income" apartments.

If the plans shown by the developer do not include at least 2 of the 3 ... the plans are turned down by the planning department

Several buildings have been built or converted in the last 5-10 years that have separate entrances for the "wealthy ones" so they will not be disturbed by the low income people. The apartments are also in different parts of the buildings, so it is not truly a mix of incomes.

Buildings for rental, with all 3 levels of affordability show no distinction between who is paying what ..... although one could probably assume that larger apartments of the higher floors with views will be more expensive than a small apartment on a lower floor with no views.


In addition, most of the apartment buildings approved over the last 3 or 4 years, no matter the height, have had retail premises at ground level, and often 2 or 3 floors of commercial offices, and apartments above that.

Some even have 10-15 floors of hotel accommodation between the commercial floors and the apartments.

Mind you, these buildings are between 45 and 65+ floors tall.

The house I live in, all the houses and flats in the immediate vicinity, started out as social housing built in the 80s around what was an ancient village area. You can tell the ones which still are social housing as periodically you see the housing trust vans going there to do repairs, or to paint the walls 'brick' colour.

Otherwise you would not be able to tell, it's a mix of renters , buyers, workers, non workers,elderly, families. Some I would say are rather more 'culltured' than others lol, but that's very much my individual perception ( I am not fond of noisy people who shout for the sake of it, regardless of whether they pay for their home or the state does ;-) I like peace :-) )

Thanks again for the replies.

I have had a nose around newspapers, interviews and social media tonight and there seems to be some uncomfortable reactions on both sides. Time will tell if this truly works as a solution.

Of those that intend to purchase the apartments and wishing to have a corner apartment or better view would probably have bought off plan so won't be able to just choose not to buy without a financial penalty. That's if they can get out of the contract which is very doubtful.

One sad fact of life over the past 30 years is that families couldn't afford to all remain in the same area.

The small flat I rented in Lambert Rd, Brixton between selling the cottage in Gt. Chesterford and buying in Kent (I worked in Brixton) was sold some years ago for £450,000. Most houses contain 4 - 5 flats of that size. In addition to the ridiculous pricing the parking causes massive problems.

What IS affordable housing in London? Here it's between £350 and £700 per month.

There are several local authorities here who insist on developers providing a percentage for social housing of any residential building work they undertake. In fact, I am not even sure whether it is now on the statute books.

Sometimes the developer will combine the types of dwellings (as seems to be the case where it is, apparently, planned to house Grenfell residents). Other developers have been known to buy from current housing stock in the area.


The Chief Exec of Kensington and Chelsea Council has resigned, by the way.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/21/rehousing-of-grenfell-tower-families-in-luxury-block-meets-mixed-response Nick, who pays £2,500 a month rent for a one-bedroom flat in the complex, also expressed doubts about the plan. “Who are the real tenants of Grenfell Tower?” he asked. “It seems as though a lot of flats there were sublet. Now the people whose names are on the tenancies will get rehoused here, and then they’ll rent the flats out on the private market. And the people who were actually living unofficially in the tower at the time of the fire won’t get rehoused.

“I’m very sad that people have lost their homes, but there are a lot of people here who have bought flats and will now see the values drop. It will degrade things. And it opens up a can of worms in the housing market.”

Here in Bedfordshire developers have to build a percentage of socila housing on any plot they develop.

Some of the men & women who sleep rough in squats, tents, cars, parks, bins, flimsy sleeping bags in shop doorways – all unimaginable spaces in our capital city and beyond - would appreciate a more permanent abode too.

.......................

and I heard on my radio news this morning that over 600 residential towers in the UK have that same cladding :-0

May be of interest

https://www.theplanner.co.uk/news/government-wins-appeal-over-affordable-housing-and-small-sites-policy