Millionaire's plan for mega basement hit by £825,000 affordable housing levy

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Is 'Social Housing' the same as 'Affordable Housing'?

No - social housing generally refers to houses owned by the local authority or a housing association, which are made available to people that meet strict criteria for a rent that is about a third of the market rate. There was an interesting programme on Channel 4 about local authority housing recently, following the travails of people on the waiting list for such properties. Some of them have to wait for seven years or more.

Affordable housing is generally a euphemism for shoe-box flats that are built in an unloved corner of a new development to meet the legal obligation to do so. However, for years now, developers have been buying their way out of these commitments - an extra bung to the council buys them permission to build the affordable properties somewhere south of the river, so long as it's within a certain radius of the development (which usually means they end up somewhere in or near Battersea).
 
John Jones Jr said:
Thanks for clarifying.

We have just had foisted onto us some "social housing" also described as "Affordable housing" built on a Greenfield site in a designated AONB.

Having spent two years campaigning against it, there was no distinction drawn between the names.

Described as giving local (villagers) the chance to live in their house in the village.

Fell apart when the locals who rushed out to vote for it realised after it was built that none of them meet the entry criteria to be given a house.

The houses are now being allocated by lottery draw to anybody who meets the criteria and is resident in Kent.
 
Can't comment as I'm not up to speed on housing policy decisions but can well imagine the situation that you mentioned.

On further consideration of the question at hand I suppose I'd conclude that social housing provides/operates affordable housing, thus social & affordable are actually one of the same.
 
Another thread creep...Can someone 'in-the-know' explain how the actual mechanics of this would be done? How can you take a three storey brick house weighing (say) a thousand tons or so and dig out most of the ground underneath and still have a house left? It's not timber framed like these US things that they regularly pick up and move miles away. :dk:
 
I am not chippie about the bloke and what he wants to do to his propoerty; it is the associated fallout that riles (only slightly as the closest I will ever get to Ladbrooke Grove is Lord's). My concerns are more broad brush I suppose about how we fail constantly to see the bigger picture (inflated house prices in the UK anyone?) until after the event.
 
On further consideration of the question at hand I suppose I'd conclude that social housing provides/operates affordable housing, thus social & affordable are actually one of the same.

The problem is that while the terms have distinct meanings, they are used interchangably. "Social housing" is 'affordable' by most due to heavily subsidised rents or part-buy/part-rent arrangements. "Affordable" housing may not actually be affordable to many, but will be relatively affordable when compared with the cost of the housing that led to its construction.
 
Another thread creep...Can someone 'in-the-know' explain how the actual mechanics of this would be done? How can you take a three storey brick house weighing (say) a thousand tons or so and dig out most of the ground underneath and still have a house left? It's not timber framed like these US things that they regularly pick up and move miles away. :dk:


Good question! If I was living next door I would be on the lookout for large subsidence cracks in the walls and foundations of my house! Expensive prolonged visits to lawyers, insurance companies and structural engineers would no doubt follow.:eek: I bet the neighbours love him.:rolleyes:
 
I watched one being done for about 2 years. I believe it's a bit like the Great Escape except it is Polish builders and they have a conveyor belt into a skip rather than hiding it in their trousers. Oh and they don't get shot.

One of these managed to bring down a road in Victoria, which was going some.
 
One of these managed to bring down a road in Victoria, which was going some.

To be fair, that was a house renovation (in Chester Row, Belgravia) rather than a basement excavation. The builders had heavily overloaded a skip, and what with there being vaults underneath the road the skip was sitting on, the surface just gave way. I've got a photo of the aftermath somewhere...
 
An architect acquaintance of mine did this to her mews house in Swiss Cottage. To move they'd end up spending about £100k in stamp duty, fees, removal costs & etc so they built a basement instead

The builders dug out & created the space while they were in residence then linked the new level to the ground floor

Maybe we could use the conveyor belts to remove some of the chips from forum members' shoulders?

Nick Froome
 
This kind of charge isn't that unusual in London - I am doing 3 subterranean developments at the moment, two in Chelsea and one in Battersea, one of the ones in Chelsea is 8000sq ft of subterranean dig over 2 new sub levels, the others around 2500sq ft each.

All of them are subject to CIL and a special housing levy. The rules where changed earlier this year to encompass development of individual private dwellings by owner occupiers, whereas previously they only applied to professional developers.
 
Yes, the CIL rates vary across the country with Central London being very high. I've been clobbered for a one for one house which I object to personally. I can see the point of S106 for larger developments though.
 
This kind of charge isn't that unusual in London - I am doing 3 subterranean developments at the moment, two in Chelsea and one in Battersea, one of the ones in Chelsea is 8000sq ft of subterranean dig over 2 new sub levels, the others around 2500sq ft each.

All of them are subject to CIL and a special housing levy. The rules where changed earlier this year to encompass development of individual private dwellings by owner occupiers, whereas previously they only applied to professional developers.

This type of thing fascinates me. Have you any pics of work you're doing or have done...not the finished thing but during the construct?
 

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