Originally Posted by
Doris Mousdale
Perhaps if there was a penalty rate imposed on buildings left to rot in the hope of getting a demolition permit things might look a little different. There should be time limit on leaving buildings derilict with the council stepping in to keep the buildings viable with a charge on the owners equity in the building.
On the otherhand the experiments that have failed was it the housing or the housed that were the problem. I don't reall any Cornish fishing villages with "criminal rat runs" going through them a few smugglers coves, yes, but most are very desirable places to live.
Same with tower blocks how come they turned into such a heap of crud in such a short time- in terms of property life span, when in other countries around the world they are accepted as inner city housing. If those tower blocks were privatised dwellings would they still be habitable or even proved to be a good investment?
You don’t have to go abroad to find successful high-rise blocks of flats - there’s one or two in Sefton Park. But they don’t suit everybody and that’s been a problem - the one size fits all idea.
And you don’t need a permit to demolition an ordinary house in North Liverpool (or anywhere else) - you need tenants and owners who can afford to keep houses up.
I’ve lost the link and can’t remember the name... but this ‘fishing village’ was only there for five minutes before being pulled down by council (no doubt on threat of the tenants burning it down) (Trafalgar? Tredegar? Talacre?).
[Edit: Radcliffe Estate - Ged's got it on his site http://inacityliving.piczo.com/?g=41897456&cr=7 - it lasted about 20 years]
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There’s an estate in Aintree of more or less the same design as some others. Hedges are clipped. Windows painted. Looked After.
The others look like Beirut.
All of the estates (and tennies and flats) started out as aspirational (a "letter from God to get in") and ended up as poor ghettoes.
Local Authority Housing Estates are the cheapest we can do. As a whole we more or less insist it's that way. We want value for 'our' money.
Yet, Local Authorities are obliged to house everyone (who can’t help themselves). Those who can, look after themselves and move on and up (or emigrate). Those who can’t, end up in a cheap rate Sink Estate at the back of nowhere.
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Yes, people are the problem and money is the problem. But what do we do? Re-open the workhouses for the “ne’er-do-wells”?
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