Grand Designs in Brixton, Channel 4
- Thread starter mrsfran
- Start date
teuchter
je suis teuchter
It's not just a "2 bed" though - the ground floor is designed such that it can be used as an flat independent from the main bit of the house, or as an office/studio space.
TheBrixtonBoy
New Member
They will struggle to sell it imo. It needs a cash buyer for a start, and no disrespect (as i have lived on Lyham Road), i would not pay £1.5m to live on that street no matter what the house.
It looks cold to me, and i suspect that the reality of living in the house has forced them to try and sell. There is a reason that these types of houses are never built!
It looks cold to me, and i suspect that the reality of living in the house has forced them to try and sell. There is a reason that these types of houses are never built!
Rushy
basically a scrotum
Why's that? Valuation problems?
I rather suspect that's not the causal factor but we can only speculate.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I very much doubt it. They knew what kind of house they were designing and building and based on their previous projects it's unlikely they'd have been naive enough not to understand the "reality" of living in it.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
They have turned a £500,000 investment into, potentially, £1.5million in just 3 years. They pay off their mortgage of, say, £250,000. And live mortgage-free with a fat bank account in another £1m house in a 'smarter' area. They may even go back to rural Essex, which is where I think they came from.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Pretty sure they bought a house and massive garden for around £500k. And soon sold house for same figure, while keeping the back end of the garden to build their dream for £500k.
They were most miffed at having to sell their previous house to finance the project when they had wanted to keep it and have both.
They were most miffed at having to sell their previous house to finance the project when they had wanted to keep it and have both.
And it's shortlisted for a RIBA Stirling prize, so imagine all the extra business that his architects practice has got from that and being mentioned on Grand Designs.
Money goes to money goes to money goes to money.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Again, where does your build cost figure come from?
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
From watching the programme. But I may have misremembered.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Clearly they have (had?) cash. And are lucky to be able to do what they have done, which would be beyond the means of most, etc etc. However, I suspect that their "profit" from this project may not quite be of the magnitude some here assume. They have't even sold it yet, it may go for quite a bit less than the asking price, and we don't even seem to have a concrete idea of what the actual, real building cost was (which includes all the time put in by his practice, and his brother's building firm).
My guess is that the build costs were quite a bit higher than they imagined, they probably have all sorts of debts (formal or otherwise) to pay off and are reluctantly having to sell up for financial reasons, rather than having planned it all as a money-making excercise from the beginning. If that were the intention they would have built something they knew would easily sell, to the minimum standards of energy efficiency required by building regs, and without the various energy systems whose costs to install aren't likely to be recovered in increased resale price.
Clearly they've used it as an advert for their architectural practice. I don't see what's wrong with that. Maybe folk would have been happier if Barrats had used the plot to build a bog standard imitation-victorian mansion, to the lowest standards they could get away with?
My guess is that the build costs were quite a bit higher than they imagined, they probably have all sorts of debts (formal or otherwise) to pay off and are reluctantly having to sell up for financial reasons, rather than having planned it all as a money-making excercise from the beginning. If that were the intention they would have built something they knew would easily sell, to the minimum standards of energy efficiency required by building regs, and without the various energy systems whose costs to install aren't likely to be recovered in increased resale price.
Clearly they've used it as an advert for their architectural practice. I don't see what's wrong with that. Maybe folk would have been happier if Barrats had used the plot to build a bog standard imitation-victorian mansion, to the lowest standards they could get away with?
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Since they got the site for free, their profit will be the selling price (potentially £1.5m) minus build cost (£0.5m est).
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Yep. They may clear much less than a million.
editor
hiraethified
Manter
Lunch Mob
I think its wondering (and a bit envious) headshaking in amazement at the money to be made and so quickly, not a desire for more Barratt homes!
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
With perhaps a soupçon of the British scepticism of modernism + success.
Manter
Lunch Mob
are you accusing me of being a Poundbury type?
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
are you accusing me of being a Poundbury type?
The thread reaction in general, honest guv!
editor
hiraethified
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
are you accusing me of being a Poundbury type?
Drove thru Poundbury t'other day. Like an Austro-Hungarian garrison town - and not a soul on the streets.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Their profit or loss will be the difference between two figures we don't know.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I think it's a desire to have a go at them using whatever justification comes to hand. If they make a profit, then have a go at them for using their imagination and design skills to build something that people will pay a premium for, on a plot that they foresaw had potential. If they make a loss, have a go at them for building a house that cost too much and no-one wants to live in. If they break even...think up some other reason to hate them.
editor
hiraethified
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Guilty as charged.
But, in mitigation, they came across very, very badly on TV - just as the start of this thread suggests.
Zapp Brannigan
Built like a steakhouse, handles like a bistro
Anyone watching Grand Designs tonight? Not the same one in Brixton, but close enough. Definitely not worth a Pogo-baiting new thread.
An ultra-modern 3 box design, sandwiched between a beautiful old church and Brockwell Park. Budget well north of a mil (he's chief exec of a media company, she's a marketing consultant), a single glass wall costing more than 60 grand and a massively arrogant approach to the planning process. Ordered £15k worth of fancy Staffordshire Blue bricks before materials had been approved - on refusal threatened to repeatedly appeal and complain until they got their way, LA gave up at the first go (probably because they can't afford to go through too many appeals against money).
I guiltily like the design of the house, even though it doesn't fit its surroundings. Don't like the couple though, they're MASSIVE TWATS. Don't like Kevin today either - "even though the budget is tight, they've allowed themselves one extravagance, a 4m long kitchen island". Tight budget, snort.
An ultra-modern 3 box design, sandwiched between a beautiful old church and Brockwell Park. Budget well north of a mil (he's chief exec of a media company, she's a marketing consultant), a single glass wall costing more than 60 grand and a massively arrogant approach to the planning process. Ordered £15k worth of fancy Staffordshire Blue bricks before materials had been approved - on refusal threatened to repeatedly appeal and complain until they got their way, LA gave up at the first go (probably because they can't afford to go through too many appeals against money).
I guiltily like the design of the house, even though it doesn't fit its surroundings. Don't like the couple though, they're MASSIVE TWATS. Don't like Kevin today either - "even though the budget is tight, they've allowed themselves one extravagance, a 4m long kitchen island". Tight budget, snort.
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