The un-announced knock on the door is a new terror for some of the 440 homes on Gateshead Council's demolition list. Residents whose homes are next on the council hit list are visited by David Franklin. Franklin is a chartered surveyor who tries to persuade residents to leave.
Apart from knocking on doors without an appointment to catch residents unprepared he has lists of equivilent local property. Some residents have described some of the property as unmodernised and not fit for their family pet. He will offer you loans and if you still refuse there is the tactic of saying that the offer for your home will only get worse if you hold out because Gateshead Council is running out of money.
Of course all the council officials cover their back. No offers in writing, nothing to tie down what they saying. Nailing down the council to a firm offer is like nailing jelly to the wall.
What we do know is that all the offers on the table under-value properties. Last year the Joesph Rowntree Foundation reported that people were losing up to £30,000 by selling to the council.
The residents are toughing it out and not settling for the poor council offers. However the council are hitting back by leaving doors open on property they already own almost as if they want to encourage arson and the blighting of an area. Hardly surprising to see increases in anti-social behaviour - which the council will use as a justifcation for demolition.
If you want to end up owing the council money then Franklin will drive you into a bit of "affordable" negative equity - what an offer! However this will remain a verbal offer until you accept.
In most areas of life no means no. To David Franklin it is merely a further challenge to get people to move.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
The £100,000 Limit!
At a public meeting in 2005 Gateshead Deputy Leader Ian Mearns re-assured residents by telling them that if they owned a house worth £100,000 the council would be stupid to consider demolition.
A few months ago the council paid £114,000 for a house in order to demolish it. They defended their action by claiming that it was really two flats joined together so it wasn't really a house. Most people would interpret an building with an upstairs and a downstairs as a house - not Gateshead Council.
Not content with breaching the £100,000 barrier the council are heading towards the inevitable consequence of a vibrant housing market a £200,000 property. Without any sense of embarrassment the council want to buy a house with 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and 6 bedrooms. Once again they can excuse the sheer lunacy of demolition by the fact that this home is the result of knocking two homes into one.
The logic of demolition is to provide "family homes" built by millionaire property development firms. It is fair to ask Gateshead Council just how big these families are going to be if they can't fit into a place with 6 bedrooms! Renovation costs of just £20,000 - £30,000 per home could create more large homes from flats without the environmental impact of new build. So why waste £200,000 on demolition? The reason is the money. Most councils involved in the government pathfinder scheme want a share of the cash and they believe that only a sacrifice of some homes for demolition will get the money flowing from government.
Unfortunately for the taxpayer the rising housing market is leading to ever expensive purchase prices and ever increasing costs. Demolition makes even less financial sense today than it ever did.
Going back to the 2005 public meeting. Just who should feel stupid paying £200,000 of taxpayers money to demolish a home?
A few months ago the council paid £114,000 for a house in order to demolish it. They defended their action by claiming that it was really two flats joined together so it wasn't really a house. Most people would interpret an building with an upstairs and a downstairs as a house - not Gateshead Council.
Not content with breaching the £100,000 barrier the council are heading towards the inevitable consequence of a vibrant housing market a £200,000 property. Without any sense of embarrassment the council want to buy a house with 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and 6 bedrooms. Once again they can excuse the sheer lunacy of demolition by the fact that this home is the result of knocking two homes into one.
The logic of demolition is to provide "family homes" built by millionaire property development firms. It is fair to ask Gateshead Council just how big these families are going to be if they can't fit into a place with 6 bedrooms! Renovation costs of just £20,000 - £30,000 per home could create more large homes from flats without the environmental impact of new build. So why waste £200,000 on demolition? The reason is the money. Most councils involved in the government pathfinder scheme want a share of the cash and they believe that only a sacrifice of some homes for demolition will get the money flowing from government.
Unfortunately for the taxpayer the rising housing market is leading to ever expensive purchase prices and ever increasing costs. Demolition makes even less financial sense today than it ever did.
Going back to the 2005 public meeting. Just who should feel stupid paying £200,000 of taxpayers money to demolish a home?
Our reader survey ...
People ask just who reads this blog. Every few months we send out 6,000 leaflets into the local community to provide the latest reliable information and this web address is on every leaflet. This blog is local information for local people devised from the leads they give the Residents Association.
However in recent months, as the housing debate has gone national, our local readers have been joined by the journalists trying to get a handle on this most essential of public policy issues - how do we house our people and why is it being left to millionaire property developers and speculators.
Journalists from the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald are just some of the readers finding out about the bizarre policy to bulldoze 440 homes in the middle of a housing crisis. Those in power wont answer residents questions we invite our new readers in the media to put the key questions to Gateshead Council and government.
However in recent months, as the housing debate has gone national, our local readers have been joined by the journalists trying to get a handle on this most essential of public policy issues - how do we house our people and why is it being left to millionaire property developers and speculators.
Journalists from the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald are just some of the readers finding out about the bizarre policy to bulldoze 440 homes in the middle of a housing crisis. Those in power wont answer residents questions we invite our new readers in the media to put the key questions to Gateshead Council and government.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Manchester couple in bizarre demolition mess
A Manchester couple thought they had no option but to "volunteer" to move out of the house they had lived in for 40 years. The council offered them just £10,000 for their home and they were forced to borrow money from the council to find a new place to live.
However no deal had been done with developers and the council was forced to ditch demolition plans. Instead they renovated the properties and started selling the newly renovated properties at prices from £78,000.
The couple aged 74 and 76 had volunteered to sell under threat that they would get less from a compulsory purchase order. They then had to borrow £35,000 to buy a new home. They were horrified to later find out that their old home had been renovated and they were not entitled to move back into their old community.
As if this story wasn't full of irony it is perhaps mosty appropriate that the MP for the area is Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, now in charge of the mis-guided pathfinder process.
The situation is much the same in Gateshead where 440 homes are under threat and no developer has been appointed. People are being persuaded to volunteer their homes for sale at a time when homelessness in Gateshead is at record levels and the market is rising. Renovation is by far the cheapest option which will help the largest number of people but the council is obsessed by millionaire private sector developers.
Link
Manchester Evening News
However no deal had been done with developers and the council was forced to ditch demolition plans. Instead they renovated the properties and started selling the newly renovated properties at prices from £78,000.
The couple aged 74 and 76 had volunteered to sell under threat that they would get less from a compulsory purchase order. They then had to borrow £35,000 to buy a new home. They were horrified to later find out that their old home had been renovated and they were not entitled to move back into their old community.
As if this story wasn't full of irony it is perhaps mosty appropriate that the MP for the area is Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, now in charge of the mis-guided pathfinder process.
The situation is much the same in Gateshead where 440 homes are under threat and no developer has been appointed. People are being persuaded to volunteer their homes for sale at a time when homelessness in Gateshead is at record levels and the market is rising. Renovation is by far the cheapest option which will help the largest number of people but the council is obsessed by millionaire private sector developers.
Link
Manchester Evening News
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