Affordable housing

diy_fun_uk · 19 Oct 2025

Andy165 said:
Heat Pumps are being promoted as the way forward. Why are they not a requirement in "new builds" ? Heat Pumps require larger radiators and usually 15mm minimum size piping to radiators. Underfloor heating works best. Lot of new builds use plastic piping and 10mm to small sized radiators. Are the "House Builders" achieving Heat Pump standards for the future ? Or are they after quickest profit and return ? The current problems are not regulations but profiteers "kicking the arse out of it". Maximum profit today and stuff the future.

I got diverted by roadworks into a new build estate near me. Properties crammed in like sardines, not so much streets I was driving through, more like very wide paths. The properties look not bad when new, I do wonder what these new schemes will look like 30 years from now given the cheap materials these places seem to be built with. And the funny thing is, the prices for these boxes is anything but affordable.

As for the forward planning thing, ties in with my planning comment, we're sh1te at it. My mate bought a shiny new 5 bed detached house on a new build estate maybe 15ish years back. He complained to me about the lack of broadband. I couldn't believe it wasn't a prerequisite to the builders to install high speed broadband infrastructure when the estate was being built. I'm assuming it's a prerequisite now but jeez this was only 15ish years back.

Notch7 · 19 Oct 2025

SPLINE said:
Demand for houses is high because there are too many people in the country.

Poor SPLINE thinks every problem is due to brown skinned people.

SPLINE said:
Prat

Poor SPLINE is full of hate and anger

Notch7 · 19 Oct 2025

Andy165 said:
Heat Pumps are being promoted as the way forward. Why are they not a requirement in "new builds" ? Heat Pumps require larger radiators and usually 15mm minimum size piping to radiators. Underfloor heating works best. Lot of new builds use plastic piping and 10mm to small sized radiators. Are the "House Builders" achieving Heat Pump standards for the future ? Or are they after quickest profit and return ? The current problems are not regulations but profiteers "kicking the arse out of it". Maximum profit today and stuff the future.

Totally agree, its stupid not to make new builds to be suited for low flow temp heat sources

New builds could have ground source heat pumps with vertical bores, so no noise either.

Andy165 said:
Heat Pumps require larger radiators and usually 15mm minimum size piping to radiators. Underfloor heating works best. Lot of new builds use plastic piping and 10mm to small sized radiators

a critical element of system design for heat pumps is volume, at low flow temperatures you have to transfer heat from the water to the house or return temps are too high.

Bigger bore pipes, large rads, underfloor heating are all important…..and all only cost effective at build time not retro fit.

Knave of Hearts · 19 Oct 2025

ReganAndCarter said:
Yes, the homeless of Afghanistan and Syria.

I'm pretty sure that UK is not responsible for housing the homeless in Syria or Afghanistan.

Ihavenojob · 19 Oct 2025

morqthana said:
Remind me which party was in power between 2011 and 2023?

WTF has that got to do with Labour changing the way people are selected for affordable housing which has meant less being able to buy? FFS himmy, get a grip.

Knave of Hearts · 19 Oct 2025

Ihavenojob said:
.... himmy, get a grip.

Don't do that, you'll confuse Pete, and he's already so confused he's approaching delirium.
it's probably his alcohol addiction.

morqthana · 19 Oct 2025

Notch7 said:
Poor SPLINE thinks every problem is due to brown skinned people.

All of his problems might be.

morqthana · 19 Oct 2025

Notch7 said:
I wonder where this came from because I can't find any information about this.

Nor I.

Still, I'm sure that Ihavenojob will provide links, etc. If he wants to be believed.

Ihavenojob · 20 Oct 2025

morqthana said:
Nor I.

Still, I'm sure that Ihavenojob will provide links, etc. If he wants to be believed.

Believed about what? I'm not himmy you know.

Knave of Hearts · 20 Oct 2025

Ihavenojob said:
Believed about what?

Another that can't follow the train of the discussion:

Ihavenojob said:
I watched a video about new builds and the number of them deemed "affordable". When new houses are built, most are private, some are social and some are affordable. The affordable are sold at cost plus 3%. Problem is, when labour got in they mucked about with the way the lists of eligible purchasers were kept, making it a government decision rather than local councils. The result is that fewer people can now buy them, so thousands sit empty and builders are not getting paid, so they won't build any more. Social and council can't afford to buy them either. Well done labour, another well thought out scheme. 3 guesses for what will happen to the empty houses.

Ihavenojob said:
I'm not himmy you know.

Which himmy are you then?

morqthana · 20 Oct 2025

Ihavenojob said:
Problem is, when labour got in they mucked about with the way the lists of eligible purchasers were kept, making it a government decision rather than local councils. The result is that fewer people can now buy them, so thousands sit empty and builders are not getting paid, so they won't build any more. Social and council can't afford to buy them either. Well done labour, another well thought out scheme. 3 guesses for what will happen to the empty houses.

But is any of that true?

Knave of Hearts · 20 Oct 2025

morqthana said:
But is any of that true?

You must be new here.

Odds · 28 Oct 2025

Maybe the UK should look to Europe for a way to manage affordable housing: An article in the Observer concluded that Vienna shows “decent homes for all” is not an impossible dream. And the New York Times even declared it “a renters’ utopia”.

One simple takeaway from the Vienna case may be that policy matters. Through long-term commitment to social housing and limited privatisation, housing can be made better and more affordable. An even more fruitful takeaway, perhaps, may be that Vienna, through political choices, has managed to set up a regime of housing provision that prioritises housing as a basic need to a greater extent than other European cities. the Guardian

Mottie · 28 Oct 2025

To help out big building corporations, the government and our wonderful mayor Khan have changed the requirement for large building projects to drop the percentage of affordable homes from 35% to 20%. I wonder how much those building companies donated to the Labour coffers?

Murdochcat · 28 Oct 2025

Notch7 said:
you poor thing….,you’ve been programmed to believe all the UKs problems are the result of immigrants.

These are the real causes:

1) the root can be traced back to Thatcher flogging 1.5 million council houses.

2) then there was the housing boom in the 1980s

3) then there was the deregulation of mortgages with interest only and self certs during Blair years

4) then there was massive Quantitative Easing in 2007, 2008 then during the austerity years 2010 - 2020

5) then the BoE did a big lump of QE in 2016 because the pound slumped because of brexit

6) the big 6 house builders have been controlling the market for decades, land banking whilst they release properties for sale at a pace slow enough to ensure supply stays behind denand.

Poor SPLINE the big supporter of capitalism, is too programmed to realise capitalism is the cause of the housing crisis

Hey Spline do you think Reform….who are free market capitalists, are gonna want to reduce house price rises?

You forgot the most important one

7. Growth of the UK population, not matched with increased homes and associated services

Affordable housing

Similar threads