Property News · May 22, 2017

Social housing is good. But let’s make it beautiful too | Zoe Williams


The big parties speak only of practicalities. Perhaps they should try focusing on aesthetics for a changeOstentatious parsimony was the phrase used by Kate Macintosh, the woman responsible for some of the most ambitious local authority housing of the 1960s and 70s, to describe the spending environment for the social architect. Housing ministers would speak with pride of stripping out unnecessary extravagances, such as balconies and windows.The philosophy went beyond thrift. In social housing, anything above the bare minimum was lavish, and anything lavish was an insult to the public purse. In the 90s, as PFI contracts took hold, the ostentatious parsimony of the state met the carelessness of the investor. How much does a landlord care about liveability – about grace, light, views and carbon emissions? Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Social housing is good. But let’s make it beautiful too | Zoe Williams

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