NEWS ARTICLE: From Conran, an affordable habitat
(Zoe Dare Hall, The Sunday Telegraph, 04 March 2007, www.telegraph.co.uk
He made his name by filling our homes with good design in the shape of Habitat. Now Sir Terence Conran is turning to homes themselves, and in the unsung realm of affordable housing.
After the 1980s riverside development in Butler's Wharf, which kick-started regeneration on the south bank of the Thames, and landmark London restaurants such as Bibendum, the team at his architectural practice, Conran & Partners, have turned their attention to an old pub in north-east Brighton. The resulting Atalanta development, in Bevendean, an estate of semi-detached homes and a run-down row of shops, consists of two Scandinavian-style buildings clad in timber with turfed roofs, which blend in with the forest and hills behind.
Ten of the 31 one- and two-bedroom flats are being sold on a shared ownership basis, for upwards of £50,000, to the city's key workers (the full price is from £125,000), while the rest are rental properties owned by the Downland Housing Association.
The idea behind the scheme is to bring radical, eco-friendly architecture associated with swanky city centre lofts to people who would not normally have designer apartments at their disposal.
Demand is particularly high in Brighton where there is a severe shortage of social housing and open market property prices rose by 11 per cent last year. The average flat now costs £185,689, according to the Land Registry.
A Brighton council estate may seem a world away from the usual glitz associated with Conran design projects, which are now worth £350 million collectively, but Paul Zara, director of Conran & Partners, claims the shift into shared-ownership housing is a welcome challenge. "If we can bring our good design to schools, hospitals or affordable housing, then that's great," he says.
Conran's upbringing during the post-war austerity years, claims Zara, has instilled a natural hatred of wasting materials or energy. "That ties in nicely with the eco-thinking we incorporate in our designs," he says.
Another Conran & Partners housing project currently under way is in St James Street Mews in Kemp Town, one block from the sea. Six eco-friendly mews houses, two for shared ownership, the rest for social rental, will replace a current row of old garages. The buildings will have brown, bio-diverse roofs (using the rubble from demolition work) to create a natural habitat for wildlife.
The one-bedroom houses will cost around £70,000 in an area where similar properties go for £300,000. They will be built from scratch in six days next summer, with oily black brick facades from Germany clipped on to wall panels. "It is an interesting area where you get very expensive housing sitting alongside social housing," Zara explains.
Samantha Wenham, a 25-year-old nurse and her 27-year-old boyfriend David Scott, a delivery driver, have invested in a 75 per cent share of a £126,000 one-bedroom Atalanta apartment. They will pay £70 per month rent on the remaining 25 per cent and can invest in a greater share at any time.
"I've been looking around various housing associations for something to buy and the design of these flats with their timber frame and good size struck me as totally different from the usual solid blocks," says Samantha. Besides being cheap to buy, the Conran-designed apartments have been awarded a rare Ecohomes "Excellent" rating for their environmental friendliness, locally-supplied materials and insulation, meaning that they are also economical to run. "By saving hard and with our families' help, we were able to put down a deposit," she explains.
The Conran projects are not the only developments to blend upmarket with affordable; demand for this type of property is understandably strong. At The Printworks, Baxters Quarter development in nearby Lewes, there are 54 apartments and town houses selling privately (from £200,000 through Clifford Dann estate agent), 17 of which have sold already, and 14 affordable units, which will be available through Southern Housing Group, and at two thirds of the price. The new buildings are highly insulated and timber framed, with eco-friendly measures such as water conservation, car pooling, on-site recycling and a big roof garden.
Phillip Naylor, a director of RH Partnership Architects, which is behind the scheme, believes the city is seeing welcome advances in social housing design. "The planners are removing their blinkers and starting to look at good architecture," he says. "The great thing about the affordable housing market is that it has embraced the eco agenda far more than private housing. Many housing corporations are using funding to create showcases for sustainable houses and demand is shifting so that having a green badge will help to sell a house." Besides the ecological considerations, Naylor points to the positive social effect of such schemes. "The shift into shared ownership housing embraces pepper-potting, where you mix affordable units with privately owned units," he says. "That is socially the right thing to do to create a rich mix of people. And it means everyone takes equal responsibility in maintaining the space in which they live." But design and eco-friendliness aside, what of the possible drawbacks? Richard Donnell, Hometrack's director of research, believes that shared ownership housing suffers from a marketing problem.
"There is no reason why the spec of affordable properties should be any different to that of other properties, given that many are built by private housebuilders," he says. In terms of selling on, he says that how you do it depends on the structure of the lease. The most common route would be to increase your share bit by bit until you own the whole property and can sell on the open market. Otherwise, you might sell your 50 per cent share for half the price of the total value of the property.
Donnell points to the wider market involved with this type of scheme. "There is a lack of awareness among young people and first-time buyers about whether they can buy affordable housing," he says. "They probably think, if they are earning £30,000, for example, that they don't qualify. But affordable housing is for anyone who can't afford to get on the housing ladder, not just for nurses or firemen." Bring on the race for affordable, but upmarket, homes.
For more information please contact Paul Zara, Director, Conran & Partners: cp@conranandpartners.com
March 2007
