Buying a House? - Look beyond the decorations!

No matter what the condition or quality of the decorations and other finishes, most people will usually re-decorate to their own taste anyway.  It is important that your mind is focused on looking beyond this, which will allow you to focus on the condition and layout of the building

Source: Google Images

Throughout my career as a Building Surveyor I have been lucky enough to have undertaken many different types of surveys of all types of buildings both large and small and in varying degrees of condition.  This experience has given me the ability to identify 'possible issues' in a building without undertaking an intrusive inspection. In simple terms if you know where to look and what to look for, you can quickly establish issues that may need much closer attention.

Whilst house hunting recently and viewing properties for the first time you may be surprised to learn that even as a Chartered Building Surveyor I am in the same boat as everyone else. Most properties that my wife and I recently viewed were both occupied and furnished and for a first viewing most sellers would expect a quick tour of the building followed by few questions. I think they would be a little shocked if I walked in with my surveying equipment and then started to systematically take their house to pieces so that I could decide if it was worth returning for a second visit!  Something tells me that even if I wanted a second viewing the seller is unlikely to want me back! Even though my natural instinct is to be more intrusive I have to extend the same courtesy as anyone else.

When undertaking the viewing (notice the term 'viewing' and not 'inspection') there are some key things that I look for which will give me a good idea of the general condition of a building.  Although I would always advise anyone to have an inspection carried out by a qualified surveyor I also thought it would be worth sharing some tips, so that those with limited or indeed no knowledge of buildings may at least be able to identify issues that they could question and bring to the attention of their advisers.  This basic knowledge could also be a deciding factor which may lead to a decision not to pursue a particular property and to focus your attention on others.

Externally, I will always look at the condition of the external walls for signs of cracking, distortion (possibly bulging) and also the condition of the materials generally.  Cracking and/or distortion can occur for many different reasons and the consequences can sometimes be very serious.  It is however worth noting that if cracking or distortion in an external wall is noted that it could be historic and less significant than the damage may suggest.  There is a natural reaction by many people to panic when they see cracking in a building, however in many cases the problem can be rectified reasonably quickly and cheaply.  If you do identify cracking in a building it is always worth obtaining professional advice to establish an accurate prognosis.   Also, look out for signs of 'new' pointing.  Pointing refers to the horizontal and vertical mortar joints that 'bond' the masonry units together.  If you see a slightly lighter (in colour) or a different colour, area of pointing, particularly if this is in a vertical/stepped position, this would suggest that recent cracking may have occurred and the cracking has been infilled.  Again, bring this to the attention of your professional advisor.

External ground levels should also be looked at closely, particularly at the junction of external walls.  A damp proof course is installed in external perimeter walls to prevent moisture rising through masonry by capillary action and into a building.  Current Building Regulations require the damp proof course to be installed 150mm above external ground levels. The importance of the damp proof course is often not appreciated and you will often see raised flower beds installed abutting external walls, new driveways installed at a higher level that previously and render being applied to walls.  All of these have the potential to 'bridge' the damp proof course and provide an easy path for moisture and damp to find its way into a building.

When viewing internally it is important to look beyond the internal decorations and furnishings.  Everyone has different tastes and often the conversation after the viewing can focus on 'that hideous room' or 'those awful carpets'!  This however is missing the point.  No matter what the condition or quality of the decorations and other finishes, most people will usually re-decorate to their own taste anyway.  It is important that your mind is focused on looking beyond this, which will allow you to focus on the condition and layout of the building.  Try to focus on the potential of a house and this will open your mind up to think about what you can do rather than what you do not want to do.  In the whole process of buying a house, decorations and furnishings should be the least of your concerns, given that there are so many other serious problems that could arise.

Source: Google images - Damp present to internal wall

Internally, you should look closely at the internal wall surfaces for signs of dampness.  This will include visible damp patches, peeling or flaking paint or possible peeling wallpaper. Dampness can occur in a building in many ways such as rising damp, penetrating damp and also condensation.  In ground floor rooms pay particularly close attention at low level especially on the inside surface of external walls.  Any damp identified above a metre and a half above ground level, will not be rising damp and may be a result of leaking plumbing or possible damp penetration from poorly maintained gutters and downpipes.  It is not uncommon for condensation mould to be present, especially in kitchens and bathroom.  This is due to the activity and subsequent high concentrations of water vapour in these rooms.  Condensation could suggest poor ventilation, poor thermal insulation to external walls or possibly inadequate heating, or a combination of these.

If you identify dampness or cracking during your visit then bring these to the attention of your professional advisers.  Hopefully the above information will help those who are unfamiliar with buildings to identify some warning signs that would suggest further investigation.  A Surveyor will undertake a detailed and comprehensive survey, if instructed, and this will provide you with an explanation of the condition of a building together with the likely cause and recommended remedial works.  So if you undertake a viewing and you identify some of the issues discussed above you may decide not to pursue a particular house any further or maybe to seek further professional advice.

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and colleagues who you think would be interested

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

Asbestos - Will new amended legislation result in higher removal costs?

Guest article from Joe Malone BSc(Hons) ICIOB

Group Investment Programme Manager - WM Housing Group

There are already noises coming from the industry that costs are set to increase but in real terms, how should these changes affect the client? Are we now going to see a massive increase in asbestos removal costs? The potential is there but so long as clients have an awareness of the product then rising costs should be contained.

I have very recently written an asbestos management plan, which was an incredibly complex and lengthy piece of work requiring a great deal of research. If I may, I would like to share some of the key issues uncovered in the process of writing this document. I’ve split the article into two parts, part one will deal with legislative changes whilst part two (which will be published in a few weeks) will deal with competency and product awareness.

Part One

Recent Changes to legislation

Source: Google Images

Actually, a not so recent change in legislation is the move from MDHS100 to HSG264 Asbestos: The survey Guide. HSG264 replaces and expands upon MDHS 100 yet despite being around for a couple of years now I am convinced that the vast majority still do not understand its implications. We have seen the obvious changes in terminology introduced so, the Type 1 and 2 survey are now replaced with the ‘Management Survey’ and the Type 3 survey is replaced with ‘Refurbishment and Demolition Survey’ (RAD).

Competence is a key issue that will be discussed in part two but HSG264 also  defines the wider obligations and provides guidance in situations where surveys may be carried out for other purposes, e.g.,  for ‘managing’ asbestos in domestic premises under wider health and safety legislation and for meeting the requirements of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM). It compliments and supports other guidance on managing asbestos and details the asbestos survey requirements and best practice. It is important to note that prosecutions for asbestos related offences are generally brought under the Sections 2, 3 or 4 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 or the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

The document also establishes the levels of survey compliance that should be achieved by registered providers and establishes parameters for collecting housing related data and this is one of the more poorly understood areas. There is an old chestnut kicking around that dictates that housing providers must survey 10% of their stock but this was never a legal requirement. What you must do is carry out a desktop evaluation of the stock to assess the commonality of the stock. Similar properties based upon design, construction and age should be placed into archetypal groups for further consideration. Once you reach this point you should then undertake sufficient RAD inspections to ensure that variability in asbestos use has been established across all archetypes. ‘Sufficient’ will in my considered opinion mean a minimum of one RAD survey per property archetype.

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

Source: Google Images

The '2012' bit of the heading should tell you that there have been some very recent changes to this particular legislation but why?  The ugly truth is that the asbestos industry has been lobbying for these changes for a number of years. Some years back textured coatings were downgraded in risk and became a 'non-notifiable' product. The asbestos industry have been trying to recoup massive losses incurred as a result of that decision for some time and what you'll find within COA 2012 is that some types of non-licensed work have now become notifiable.  There are already noises coming from the industry that costs are set to increase  (Click here for news article),  but in real terms, how should these changes affect the client? Are we now going to see a massive increase in asbestos removal costs? The potential is there but so long as clients have an awareness of the product then rising costs should be contained. Granted, the industry will receive more work in being awarded this newly notifiable work because many non-licensed contractors will not want the additional burden of responsibility, however minor, but the major concern has to be that costs will increase for removing product that was previously regarded as non-notifiable and therefore low risk.

It is a fact that notifiable product costs more money to remove than non-notifiable product and the illustration above highlights some of the additional safeguards and management procedures required for removing notifiable product. However, the HSE guidance for removing these products has not to my knowledge changed and there are no plans to change this guidance, therefore the control measures on site remain the same and should not cost more money. You can review HSE guidance on working with asbestos by following this link. As always, you need good knowledge of the product and the removal guidelines to ensure costs are controlled. Factually, the only immediate change for notification of non-licensed products is a requirement that brief written records are kept, this was not a previous requirement but should incur nothing more than negligible costs. From 2015 non-licensed workers need to have regular health surveillance by a Doctor,  criteria that currently applies to licensed workers.

Joe Malone BSc(Hons) ICIOB

Group Investment Programme Manager

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

 

Squatters - Evicted + Convicted = Problem Shifted!

Owners of a non-residential building should be very concerned about the increased potential for squatting, and must think very carefully about securing their buildings or possibly trying to dispose of it 


Source: Google Images

Section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 creates a new offence of squatting in a residential building, which applies throughout England and Wales.  The offence came into force on 1st September 2012. 

A Ministry of Justice Circular,  issued as guidance to Law Enforcement Authorities, provides clarification of the offence:

'A person can only commit the offence if they have entered and remain in the residential building as a trespasser. This means the offence will not apply to a person who entered the building with permission of the property owner, such as a legitimate tenant. This is so even if a legitimate tenant subsequently falls behind with rent payments or decides to withhold rent. Such a person is not a trespasser for the purposes of this offence. A property owner would be expected to pursue established eviction processes in the county court (or High Court where appropriate) if they wanted to regain possession of their property in such circumstances' 

It is therefore clear that the purpose of this new law is not aimed as a vehicle to help landlords to deal with problematic tenants.  The new law has been introduced to try to re-balance the rights of residential property owners who for many years have needed to use the civil justice system to remove squatters from their buildings.  For many years it has always seemed unfair that a person can claim 'squatters rights' for unauthorised occupation of a building.  The term 'squatters rights' is well know and regularly used, and demonstrates by its very nature the unfairness it allows.  Why should a squatter be allowed any rights for a building that is owned and paid for by someone else?  This new law attempts to address this injustice.

Prior to the introduction of this new law the unauthorised occupation of a building was still an offence.  The difference now however is that the offence becomes criminal and not just civil.  As a criminal offence the police now have powers to remove squatters and also prosecute. The offence of squatting in a residential building carries a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment, a fine of up to £5,000 or both.  The Ministry of Justice Circular identified above also identifies a range of other offences which might arise in connection with squatting, depending on the circumstances of the case.  'If doors or windows of the property have been broken to gain access or items inside have been used damaged or removed, the offences of criminal damage, theft or burglary might be relevant. There is also an offence of ‘abstracting electricity’ under section 13 of the Theft Act 1968, which is committed when somebody dishonestly and without due authority causes to be wasted or diverted electricity'. One would argue that the days of forcibly entering a residential building and occupying without permission are now coming to an end.

Surprisingly, the new offence only relates to residential buildings.  It seems strange that the new law did not cover all buildings.  The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 provides the following definition of a residential building:

'Subsection (3) defines the meaning of residential building. This includes any structure or part of a structure which has been designed or adapted for use as a place to live. This includes temporary or moveable structures to ensure the offence covers homes such as park homes, caravans or residential pre-fabs. The building must have been designed or adapted before the time of entry, for use as a place to live. This will ensure that where, for example, a barn has been converted into a country house or offices into flats, such buildings will be protected by the offence. But a trespasser who modifies a non-residential building by placing his bedding and personal effects in it would not be committing this offence because the building had not been adapted before the point he or she entered it.'



Source: Google Images

A recent article in The Guardian Online (31st August 2012), claimed that an end to squatters rights could lead to a large increase in homelessness.  The article suggests that the introduction of this new law could result in the displacement of over 20,000 people.  In July 2012 the housing and homeless charity, Shelter, reported 12,830 homeless applications were accepted between October and December 2011 - a rise of 18% since the same time the previous year.  The law change will undoubtably increase these figures further once the police start to exercise their new powers and start removing and prosecuting squatters.  So where will all of these people go?

Well, as the new law only applies to residential buildings, which as the definition above states, 'have been designed or adapted for use as a place to live'.  Any building classified as a non-residential building under the terms of the Act is not covered and it is still possible to claim squatters rights in these types of buildings.  Before legislation is passed it goes through numerous stages in Parliament.  It will have a number of readings and be debated thoroughly including being passed to the House of Lords before it eventually gets Royal Assent. You would think that somewhere along this process somebody would have questioned why the law would not apply to all buildings, not just residential.  It seems strange that the law can be 'tightened up' in one area, but literally leave the door wide open (pardon the pun), for the problem to be shifted to another.  What is there to stop a squatter being removed from a residential building under the powers of the new Act, and then literally moving down the road to find themselves a nice little vacant shop, industrial unit or other non-residential building?  Surely, this law change has the potential to shift the problem, not solve it!  

If I were an owner of a non-residential building I would be very concerned about the increased potential for squatting, and have to think very carefully about securing the building or possibly trying to dispose of it.  In today's economic climate, disposing of a non-residential building will not be easy, as the UK has a vast amount of vacant and unoccupied stock.  I am sure that the impact of the law change will make many non-residential building owners think very carefully about their assets.

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

Construction Site Health & Safety - Is Legislation Enough?

Over the years, if I had a £1 for every time I have heard somebody say 'health & safety is just common sense', I would be a very rich man.  Sadly, particularly when it comes to the UK construction industry, common sense is a commodity in very short supply.

Source: Google Images

The issue of construction site health & safety and in particular the poor health and safety record of the UK construction industry is well documented.  Over the years, the government have introduced numerous pieces of legislation, guidance and initiatives in order to try to address this poor safety record, which has resulted in the UK construction industry becoming one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world. Yet, even in today’s economic climate with reduced levels of output, accident, serious injuries and fatalities continue to occur at unacceptable levels.  A recent news article entitled  The cost of an unsafe construction site increases' identified a particularly alarming situation following inspection of 22 construction sites in London:

'Mr Slade was responding to news that, when inspecting 22 London construction sites recently, the UK's Health & Safety Executive (HSE) took formal enforcement action against almost half of the firms. In most cases, the problem was simply that basic precautions had not been taken, but one site was actually shut down because the working environment was simply too hazardous.

Calling these figures "nothing short of staggering," Mr Slade said,  "In simple terms all you have to do is follow the guidance available and plan things properly; so it's extremely disappointing to see that the number of fatalities in this sector has remained static at around 50 for the second year running. So many of these deaths are wholly avoidable.

"Regulations relating to this kind of work are prescriptive, which means they tell you what you've got to do. That's why it's so unacceptable that a simple lack of planning can put people's lives at risk as well as the future of many businesses.'

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) produce annual safety statistics for the construction industry which show a downward trend in respect of accidents and fatalities over the last twenty year.  The latest available statistics show 50 fatalities occurred in the construction industry in 2010/11, which was an increase from the previous year and at a similar level to the year before that.   If the scenario described above is typical of the situation around the UK and health & safety statistics are take into consideration it is clear that legislation is not having the impact it was introduced for.

Source: Google Images

The Construction Skills Certification Scheme was an initiative that was introduced in the mid 90's to raise awareness and to try to improve the general health & safety competence of construction site operatives. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) state: 'CSCS cards list the holder’s qualifications and are valid for either three or five years. It also shows they have health and safety awareness as all cardholders have to pass the appropriate CITB-Construction Skills Health and Safety Test'  In order to pass this test a visit to an assessment centre is required where a multiple choice 'examination' is taken. The test will vary depending upon whether the operative is a trainee, construction site operative, or in management etc.  The pass mark is 29/35 for the operative level and 34/40 for supervisor/manager level.  Whether this test demonstrates sufficient health & safety competence is highly questionable. Having taken this test personally as a site operative I can tell you that the level of questions is not exactly challenging.  The test allows 45 minutes to complete, I took just 15 minutes and past the test!  In order to make a real difference the level of questions needs to be radically reviewed, so that when an operative passes the test, that it actually means something. The video below provides a brief explanation of the purpose of CSCS.

Legislation is prescriptive and will state exactly what is and what is not required.  Although legislation is often difficult to read and sometimes to understand the requirements will actually be there. Numerous codes of practice and guidance notes are available to 'draw out' these requirements in more simple terms. One problem however is that legislation assumes that people will understand and follow it (because they required to do so), what is not accounted for is the 'human factor'.  I have worked on construction sites as a labourer, a bricklayer and visited sites as a consultant.  During my early years on site I witnessed some serious health & safety breaches, where operatives for some unknown reason would  pay little regard to their own well being or to the well being of others, and would often take short cuts just to 'get the job done'. The attitude to health & safety of most of the operative on site at the time was that health & safety was a hindrance that got in the way of them doing their jobs.  Although, I have seen a marked improvement is health & safety procedures on construction sites over recent years there still remains an 'ignorance' to health & safety by many, particularly by some of the more experienced operatives who have been on site for many years.

Over the years, if I had a £1 for every time I have heard somebody say 'health & safety is just common sense', I would be a very rich man.  Sadly, particularly when it comes to the UK construction industry, common sense is a commodity in very short supply.  Whilst it is clear that legislation has made some improvements, the level of fatalities, serious injuries and accidents continue to occur at unacceptable levels. In isolation legislation will never be fully affective without integrating improved knowledge and training to try to change attitudes. It is creating a self desire for those working in the construction industry to want to be safe rather than having it imposed on them.  This has to be the key and is really the only thing that will make a real difference. This will not be easy and rather than playing lip service to health & safety, as demonstrated by the CSCS test, why not provide a competence assessment that will actually provide a 'test'  rather than just a rubber stamp for anyone who wants to work on a construction site.

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

The Use of Timber in UK House Construction - A short history

Timber has proved itself to be an adaptable and flexible material throughout history, and with the ability to replenish the timber that we use, there is nothing to suggest that its popularity will reduce. 

Source: http://www.gallica.co.uk/

Timber is a lightweight, adaptable and recyclable material that has been used in construction in the UK for many thousands of years.  The use of timber for construction can be traced back over 3000 years to the Celts who constructed quite simple, but nevertheless effective 'round houses', which provided shelter and security albeit at a rather basic level. The picture on the right shows a roundhouse under construction. As the years moved on the use of timber became more widespread with the Romans, the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings using and adapting timber to create larger and more expansive buildings.

Let us take the Romans for example - most would associate Roman buildings as large masonry constructed villas, with painted plastered walls, mosaic floors and running water etc., because when a film or documentary about the Romans is broadcast, this is what is usually portrayed. It is difficult not to admire the skills and ingenuity of the Romans based upon the many wonderful examples of Roman buildings still in existence in the UK and around the world, however these larger masonry structures were inhabited primarily by the rich and powerful, and the reality was that most Romans lived in timber constructed buildings similar to the Celts who preceded them.

Source: Google Images

The Anglo Saxons (c. 420AD to 700AD) and the Vikings (c. 700AD to 1000AD) who followed the Romans, made further use of the vast amount of available timber in the UK and began moving away from the familiar round houses and started to construct square and oblong shaped houses, with larger dwellings incorporating a small number of rooms.  The Vikings started to increase the length of their houses to incorporate larger internal areas and these became know as 'longhouses'. Many Viking houses were also constructed partly below ground level and although this would require a high level of hand digging, it made the house much more comfortable when completed as it protected the internal environment from draft and cold, particularly in the often harsh weather conditions in the depths of winter.

The Medieval Period followed the Viking occupation of the UK, this period in history famously started following the Battle of Hastings in 1066 (Norman King Harold, arrow in the eye and the bayeux tapestry and all that!) and lasted to c.1500 AD.  In the early part of the Medieval Period, timber was used to construct houses, but more closely followed the square oblong shape of the Anglo Saxons, rather than the Viking longhouses.  As the Medieval period developed timber frame construction evolved, with the main structure of the building being completed and then the walls would be infilled around the frame with a technique know as 'wattle and daub'.  This was a method of weaving small branches between parts of the timber frame and then 'plastering' onto the weaved branches a mixture of clay, horse hair and sometimes horse dung!, with water,  This could be smoothed when wet and when it dried out it provided an effective wall finish that would be reasonably weather tight. The short video below gives an example of wattle and daub construction.

There are many wonderful examples of medieval buildings in the UK, where the timber frame construction can be seen.  Large timber members fixed together with a combination of timber joints and timber pegs allowed construction to be much larger and bolder.  Houses started to incorporate timber framed windows and pitched roofs that commenced mainly as thatch, but eventually incorporated a clay tiled finish.



Source: Google Images

Timber continued to be used in construction, although masonry started to become much more extensively used during the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian era for the main structure of a dwelling.  In the 'modern era', timber construction has made somewhat of a comeback with timber frame construction fast becoming the preferred method for many developers.

In conclusion, timber has proved itself to be an adaptable and flexible material throughout history, and with the ability to replenish the wood that we use, there is nothing to suggest that its popularity will wane.  On the flip side, timber is also vulnerable in certain conditions to decay and this needs to be carefully considered when using timber in construction and when a building is in use and this is a topic I will cover in further detail in future postings.

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

Bedroom Tax - Penalty or Profit?

It is hard to believe that the introduction of bedroom tax will have any impact on overcrowding as the government does not expect people to downsize.  If people do not move, all that will be achieved will be further hardship for the genuinely needy and vulnerable in our society who will have their benefits reduced.

Most people would probably agree that there is a need to radically review the social welfare system to try to address issues such as fraud, difficulty in administration and enforcement and to try to plug the financial burden on the UK by making it pay to work.  Over the years there has been a lot of media publicity with stories of those claiming benefits being better off not working than actually taking a paid job.  In their manifesto, prior to the last general election the Conservative Party were very bold in their plans for the future of the welfare system, and now in government, as part of a coalition we are about to see some of these plans coming into force under the Welfare Reform Act 2012.

In addition to unemployment the welfare reforms are also trying to address issues such as overcrowding and will penalise those on benefits who are deemed to not be using their rented accommodation to its full capacity by reducing benefits for under occupancy.  This is something that is commonly being referred to as 'bedroom tax'. Presumably the idea is that social housing providers will be required to match the needs of their tenants with the size of property they actually need, and no bigger!  In an article in Inside Housing on 23rd July 2012 the welfare reform minister Lord Freud claimed that bedroom tax will ease overcrowding and help tackle the shortage of social housing. The article makes interesting reading (Extract):

'Speaking at a Local Government Association conference this morning, the welfare reform minister defended the controversial policy, which will see social housing tenants of working age docked benefit for having a spare room. The policy is estimated to affect 660,000 households, who will lose £14 a week on average. 

Lord Freud said: ‘Nearly a third of working-age social housing tenants on housing benefit are living in accommodation which is too big for their needs, in spite of the fact of severe overcrowding. 

‘We are stopping the practice of the state paying for rooms beyond claimant needs, and that should go in some way to help tackle the social housing shortage that has been blighting too many lives.’ 

The policy is controversial as the £430 million of savings expected by the government is based on an assumption of ‘little tenant mobility’ – suggesting the government does not expect people to downsize'

Source: http://www.gentoogroup.com

It is hard to believe that the introduction of bedroom tax will have any impact on overcrowding and Lord Freud openly admits that the government does not expect people to downsize.  If people do not move, all that will be achieved will be further hardship for the genuinely needy and vulnerable in our society who will have their benefits reduced. This makes one question if overcrowding is just a smokescreen and the main motive is a stealth reduction in benefits.

In any event, if those affected were willing to move, where would they go? Have the government forgotten that there is a shortage of housing in the UK particularly in the social housing sector. In my local area the Coventry Telegraph recently reported a chronic shortage of social housing with almost 20,000 families on the homefinder waiting list – with 10 per cent deemed in urgent or extremely urgent need. This situation is typical to varying degrees across the UK.   As there is already a major shortfall in available housing, social housing providers will not have the opportunity (nor the time) to play 'match the property' if approached by a tenant who wanted to move to avoid falling foul of bedroom tax, as their more immediate priorities will be trying to address their ever increasing waiting lists and also homelessness. 

Bedroom tax is proposed for introduction in April 2013 under the Welfare Reform Act 2012. As it is mandatory to comply with legislation then there can be no question about its legality from the moment it is introduced.  A key point however is that in most cases the legislation (once introduced), will apply retrospectively and will affect many tenants claiming benefit who have been in residence in their homes for many years. It will be interesting to see if any legal challenges are made any tenants who claim that they are being penalised for something that they were not aware of at the start of their tenancy, and if they had been they may have opted for a smaller property.  Also, as there may be no suitable smaller properties available a tenant may argue that they are willing to move, but through no fault of their own they cannot.  

Lord Freud also suggested that taking in lodgers could be a solution for tenants hit by the tax!  An earlier article in Inside Housing on the 20th July claims that tenants will be able to keep rental income from lodgers without affecting their benefits!

'The major impact of the move, which the Department for Work and Pensions described as a ‘positive side effect’, is that it will help under-occupying tenants pay the bedroom tax. The change was made possible because the government has amended what counts as income in its draft regulations for universal credit.  

Currently, claimants must declare income from lodgers. This can affect their entitlement to housing benefit, jobseekers’ allowance and income support.  

Under the new regulations, from October 2013 tenants will be able to keep income from lodgers and retain full entitlement to benefit. The room let to a lodger will, however, be classed as a spare room and fall under the bedroom tax, which will be £14 per week on average'.

How ridiculous is this? This is suggesting that someone claiming benefit can now make an income by letting any spare rooms and best of all this will not impact on their benefits!.  How exactly is this going to encourage people into work, when they can have a nice little rental income sideline?  Will they pay tax on this income? Does the letting of a spare room need to be to someone who is working or will they also be claiming benefit? 

Whichever way you look at bedroom tax it is easy to foresee the fiasco that is waiting just around the corner when it is introduced.  This is undoubtably going to prove to be an administrative nightmare and it is difficult to see how it will achieve the purposes for which it will be introduced.

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

Protecting The Investment: A Housing Group's Approach to High Rise Refurbishment.

Guest article from Joe Malone BSc(Hons) ICIOB

Group Investment Programme Manager - WM Housing Group

'I would state that the key to success lies in adopting a holistic design process. We simplify future building and estate management by broadening our understanding beyond the technical requirements of building refurbishment'.

Organizations’ as large as WM Housing Group spend a great deal of capital investment on improving their housing stock and understandably are committed to maximizing the returns on that investment. As Group Investment Programme Manager I am responsible for delivering circa £25m of planned investment work this financial year and understandably have a great deal of responsibility in ensuring that the money is invested wisely. How to invest wisely is a subject in itself but I have always firmly believed that the real key to protecting the investment lies in adopting a socio-physical approach; that is to say, we absolutely have to understand the social problems on our estates or the physical improvements will most likely be torn down before the defects liability period expires. Take 'Thomas King House' for example; a typical 1960's sixteen storey concrete tower block in the Hillfields area of Coventry; for those of you that don't know Coventry, it's fair to say that this was one of the most deprived and neglected areas of Coventry. Twelve months ago, Thomas King House was not of the standard we strive for and it was a block with a great deal of social problems illustrated by a high turnover in tenancies and a high vacancy level. It was clear from consultation with residents that they did not feel safe and securely housed in this block and it was critical to address those concerns through the £3.5m block refurbishment that was completed in June 2012. The finished results are stunning and I firmly believe that Thomas King House will serve as an exemplar in high-rise refurbishment not just for WM Housing Group but also for other registered providers. So having said all that... what has WM Housing done that is so different and how does it protect the £3.5m investment?

As indicated earlier, we adopted a two-pronged attack to deal with the social and physical factors. In terms of the social issues surrounding high-rise blocks, I am a great fan of Oscar Newman's 'Defensible Space' theory ever since reading his landmark book. Oscar Newman was a New York City planner who developed his theory of social control and crime prevention around high-rise blocks in the early 1970's. Though often confined to history the basic principles still hold as good now as they always did and I wrote the work specification for Thomas king House with those principles very much in mind. In the 1970's America was decades ahead of the UK in terms of high rise developments, and Newman in particular, understood the reasons for high crime levels around high rise blocks and formulated his own design guidelines for creating defensible space. There are five basic principles for creating defensible space and whilst I could not adopt them all, I did adopt the principles that could pragmatically be applied to Thomas King House; they were...

1. 'The territorial definition of space in residential developments to reflect the zone of influence of specific inhabitants.' In real terms, this meant clearly defining the hierarchy of space to define public, semi public and private areas. Externally we have used a combination of fencing, landscaping and colored paving to ensure the external public and semi public areas are clearly defined. There are gates to access the area to the front entrance foyer; these are not locked but the intention is to create a psychological rather than physical barrier. We have also created a private landscaped garden to the front of the block to heighten the sense of resident ownership and pride in where they live because if you can give residents pride in their homes then you create a watchful environment. Creating this sense of territorialism is a key principle.

2. Image, or the capacity of the physical design to impart a sense of security. The design of the entrance plaza and in particular the new entrance foyer and access control system was crucial in achieving this aim. I designed the entrance foyer  to incorporate two doors with electronic locks and the foyer is large enough to catch 'tailgaters' on camera before they can tailgate through the second locked door. Additional cameras all linked back to a central control room have further heightened the sense of security as has the installation of a barrier controlled car park. One aspect of the physical design often forgotten is the choice of materials or maybe it is more appropriate to state that material choices are often ill conceived. What immediately strikes you on visiting Thomas King House is that this is not your typical social housing refurbishment, it looks like a high-end private refurbishment project and the material choices were deliberately made to achieve that outcome. There is a view that you must choose unbreakable materials on our toughest estates and these are seen as sensible choices based on pragmatic experience. The problem with this approach is that design and aesthetics are only a secondary consideration, if in fact considered at all. Forget the aesthetics and you can forget creating a sense of pride. The other issue is that we now know that if you install something for no other reason than it is 'indestructible' then I'll guarantee there will be someone who comes along to test the claim, usually with great success.

Moving on from defensible space, the physical improvements to the block are more obvious and again we focused on maximizing the quality of fittings and improving the layouts to individual flats. All 128 flats and communal areas were fully refurbished. I will not go into all the technical challenges in delivering a high-rise refurbishment; there are many, but I believe there is no point in physically improving our buildings unless we improve the surrounding estate. The estate improvement work around Thomas king House and its neighbouring block, Hillfields House, have further raised the bar and given residents a sense of pride in where they live. The external landscaping and private garden at Thomas King House added circa £20k onto the total project cost and even on a £3.5m project, there are many organizations that would ignore these finishing touches arguing that with £20k they could carry out more property improvements elsewhere. This is an incredibly short sighted view because the sense or ownership and pride created in lifting estates to this standard is what really protects the investment  in the building fabric and reduces ongoing maintenance costs; crucially, the investment is protected by the residents themselves.

Post delivery we can discuss housing management’s role in protecting the investment and they absolutely have a part to play but as a Building Surveyor and practitioner, I would state that the key to success lies in adopting a holistic design process. We simplify future building and estate management by broadening our understanding beyond the technical requirements of building refurbishment.

Follow this link to view before and after pictures that will add some context to this article:

Thomas King House Refurbishment Photographs

ITV News arrtice relating to the project

Joe Malone BSc(Hons) ICIOB

Group Investment Programme Manager

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