Where to start? In Scotland we live in teeny tiny houses, rabbit hutch homes.. and as builder, architect and property development firms (Wimpy, Barrett) race towards lilliputian levels of housing and lower and lower levels of common decency in housing.. allow me to open your eyes:
We do not have ensuite bathrooms like the rest of the modern civilized world. Like a second world country, we must wait until someone in the household is finished their needs or showering before we can make use of such a convenience. In the rest of Western Civilization two bathrooms is the bare minimum that any house is build with, and even those are considered 'poverty' houses.. oh dear! what must the rest of the civilized world think of Scotland??
We also enforce that you are not allowed more than one child.. no wait that's China.. but we might as well be China with the policies on house size being dollhouse like. Where are the houses I have seen since childhood in American movies? then should I move to America?.. NO! and by the actions of politicians over the last 50 years, and our population going down this is the visible result; we are forced to be resigned to tiny homes and less & less children. Where am I to put the child, the airing cupboard?
I am poor before I have begun!
Who wants a tiny but clean hovel? Well if that is your desire than you can have one for as low £230,000..
Think about unemployment.. think about Scotland.. what kind of mad person wants to live and die in a little shack with a millstone of £300,000 life-debt.
No-one.
A politicians duty is to provide a better standard of life for each generation.. but it seems all are blind to the housing situation.. let me explain.
Q: Who is the authoritative body for regulating builders in respect to value for money?
A: There is none.
Q: Why?
A: Because it was so easy to price gouge consumers, no one thought of it.
Not only this, but English politicians have encouraged it, giving out urban English guidelines for Rural Scottish areas.
It's a total joke.
See here in North Connel, I feel bad for the folk that paid any kind of money for these houses.
And if you have doubt of how much we are getting ripped off.. what's wrong with this picture:
That's right! All the houses have garages that are too small for the cars!
You can drive the car into the garage but you have to climb out of the boot to exit the car.. or to re-enter it.
These houses were priced at £230,000.
I'll just let that sink in..
So Dava.. where's the dominos?
Tiny Houses + Tiny Streets> Low Ambition> High Unemployment> Employable workforce leave for other countries with better standards of living> Low Population.
Tiny Houses + Tiny Streets> Unable to have many children> Low Population.
Tiny Houses + Tiny Streets> Unable to have a nanny while you work> Unable to have many children>Low Ambition> Low Workforce.
Urban Regulation> Tiny Highland Houses> Low population.
Tiny Houses + Tiny Streets> Tiny Petrol Cars> Unable to move around Scotland easily> Remaining Workforce stay where they live.
Tiny Houses + Tiny Streets>One Petrol Vehicle per household> Unable to have electric vehicles that will be able to take people to work> Low amount of free space/no garage> Local travel becomes a secondary consideration> Enforce the thought of using your own (expensive) petrol vehicle.
I want to buy a street legal electric scooter, I can buy one but I have nowhere to put it, that I suppose it wouldn't be stolen.
I cannot own land, I am disabled and it is too costly, all I would do at present would be make a small garage for a electric scooter. I live in a rabbit hutch, without any means of owning land; my entire flat would fit inside an Americans/Canadians living room. There's nothing I can do. (BUT I will keep trying, even if my scooter gets stolen)
Dava.. you've presented many problems.. how about some solutions?
The excuse is often made that we *must* use bricks for Scottish construction, I have seen in similar climates the use of wood with success.
I would propose ..
The Scottish Government regulate Prefabrication Companies (PreFab), these PreFab companies apply for a license at a very low cost and have annual check ups as to the build quality of their homes. No planning permission needed, no taxes or fees. All regulated at the source.
Building materials are a cost factor, however is it pennys on the pound to add much square footage to your home if built with wood.
I would set the top price for a 4 story (5 inc basement apt), 6 bedroom, 1 living room, 1 den* with small galley, 1 apartment loft, 1 apartment basement, ensuite for every bedroom, and 3 conveniences; 2 with showering, luxurious kitchen near half the size of the floor of the house, three car/two pickup truck sized garage.. for £150,000. The maximum that could be taken.
You buy your own land* and sort out your plumbing yourself (electricity would be done by the electricity company). Hopefully you would be close enough to pipe into a local plumbing system run by the council, but if not you may need to use septic tanks etc.. until at least the local council reaches you.
Regulation of Builders
Harsh, but after all the robbery that they have done, I wouldn't regulate them, I'd ban them.
The value for money they present is non-existent, their work is faulty and only fit for mice and umpa lumpas.
Eventually they were going to be caught..
Remember 'Loadsmoney' in the 80s.. he was a builder, bragging about how much cash he made being a builder.
Banks guarantee large wages for builders no matter if the work is good or bad.
read that again slowly:
Banks guarantee large wages for builders no matter if the work is good or bad.
So why try?
I can live in a council house similar to what I get with a working life's house without the life debt.
Even council houses are rabbit hutches.. and I do NOT agree they should be so.
The cost to the PreFab companies to make the house listed above.. is around £100,000 so they get £50,000 profit. The most expensive thing is the structure/foundation, digging the land correctly and making sure they have *very* stable beams.. (I would take a guess at) the cost £45,000 approx. depending if they hit any major rocks. Yes they can make what I describe for £50,000.. why? because it's just wood.
Wood is a cheap and strong material to build houses with. Very easy to work with.
I think I have made my point.
Scotland is a second world country until we get this overlooked mess of 50 years sorted out.
peace
Dava
* A 'den' is a small casual living room for family only. If it were me and I had children, this would be their living room for them watching their cartoons or playing noisy games.
*un-taxable except VAT of 10% until the house is placed on the appropriate land.
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