Refurbishment could be the key to the inner city areas of the North and
Midlands
In a recent edition of Tonight with
Trevor McDonald on ITV, Jon Snow presented a programme about the
relative merits of the renovation of properties in run down areas
rather than wholesale demolition
The programme went to Liverpool and selected a three-bedroom Victorian
terraced house on Powis Street. The area is due for demolition and
redevelopment under the Government’s much criticised Pathfinder scheme. The cost of demolition of
such a property is at estimated at £18,000. The aim was to
turn the 125-year-old house in into a comfortable modern home in
just 0n3 month with a total refurbishment budget of £20,000.
This would create a 40% - 60% saving on the cost of demolition and
redevelopment.
A team of professional builders, electricians, plumbers and craftsmen
set to and transformed the run down property. The rooms downstairs were
knocked through to create an open plan layout and modern kitchen.
Upstairs, the third bedroom was converted into a bathroom.
In the end, the total cost came to just over £24,000. This broke
down as follows: Building works - £9,000; Central heating and
bathroom - £3,000; Damp and timber treatment - £1,300;
Plastering - £3,600; Rewiring - £1,600; Kitchen -
£2,000; Decorating - £1,800; Windows - £2,000. Yes,
they refurbished the old sash windows and front door, hooray!
Before the work began, the old terraced house had been valued at
£25,000 - it was now worth around £65,000. If all the
houses in the street had the same treatment it would be worth
£80,000 – an affordable price first time buyers.
I hope the powers that be saw the programme and will reconsider
wholesale demolition. It is expensive and many people feel it is
favoured because the land is worth more to land hungry developers. But
perhaps the highest costs are not monetary but those social costs to
the residents of the area and their community. 16th June 2005
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