Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: the microflat as a module in affordable inner urban design

[Jock Coats (jock.coats]

This is all the rage in London at present.  This is at least the third 
firm producing them.  However in my opinion it is still on the wrong 
track.  Whilst the design might be fine and I would probably be happy in 
one, they are still perpetuating a myth that ownership is the only 
really desirable form of tenure and pandering to that.  It would be my 
contention that if the same principles were applied to building 
not-for-profit housing for community ownership renting would not be 
'dead money'

In fact the principles probably make this the worst of all worlds.  You 
pay for your mortgage but cannot expect anything more than an index 
linking of the resale price if it is linked to salary levels.  You may 
actually fall further behind the ability to buy in the 'real' market as 
a result.  This (scheme not design) is another example of the great 
conspiracy of commercial banks to take over from the rentiers as the 
biggest cash drain on society!

A better design and set of principles, in my opinion, and more 
affordable in many ways, is something like http://www.bedzed.org.uk/

Jock

Hans Tilstra wrote:

> Here's a weblink to what seems like a clever inner urban modular design:
> http://www.themicroflatcompany.com/HTML/main_fset.htm
>
> Imagine the potential to use this modular design as a basis for affordable
> inner urban cohousing design - it could be feasible that larger households
> would link multiple "microflats".
>
> Hans
> http://home.vicnet.net.au/~cohouse
> Still monologuing on urban design -
>
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+  Jock Coats, Oxford Liberal Democrats, M3a Morrell Hall, OX3 0TU  +
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