Distinctly Different Dwellings
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Within the last decade, the cost of housing in the UK has risen so dramatically that many who were not on the property ladder before this increase are frozen out of the market completely. Young families without the type of collateral that only property ownership can bring are unable to buy affordable homes.
The British government has recently announced it is willing to relax the laws, and have agreed to allow local council authority to relinquish land for property development. This will increase the number of houses available and with mass production will reduce the cost. However, as with the massive housing developments of the 1960’s, the UK can expect to inherit badly built boxes of no architectural significance as its legacy.
Perhaps because of my own need to find affordable housing, I have been moved to consider alternatives. My quest has brought me into contact with those in a similar predicament, but they have chosen to tackle the problem by restoring old properties or building their own homes. We live in a democratic society where freedom of speech is our right, however freedom to express architectural preferences brings us into conflict with all manner of bureaucracy.
Tony Wrench constructed his roundhouse in a secluded area of private land within the Pembrokeshire National Park, and had been living there for eighteen months undetected until one day the park’s authorities flew over in a light aircraft and spotted a curl of smoke rising from the chimney of his wood burning stove. Entirely in keeping with its natural surroundings, and built from organic material found in the woods, the round house did not comply with standard building regulations, and Tony has been ordered to dismantle his home.
Presently, the court battle to save the roundhouse is ongoing, however the injustice is all the more apparent as the Pembrokeshire National Park’s authorities have approved planning permission for a theme park consisting of 300 log cabins, as it is hoped the development will bring business and tourism to the county. Sadly the authorities plan to import log cabins from Estonia, where materials and production are cheaper and will leave local craftsmen out of business.
As with the roundhouse, other self-build projects are subjected to the same stringent planning regulations as the large building corporations. It seems there are two opposing forces at work here, and while the government is trying to tackle both the problem of housing and global warming, there are sustainable communities doing just that, but they are objected to by local government because they do not comply with existing regulations and the town planners are not prepared to compromise on building over which they have no control.
These portraits are just some of the people who have the courage of their convictions. They are their own architects, and in doing so they are living their lives in a way that most of us can only dream of.
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