Development Special: Refurbish Don’t Demolish
KENT BARKER
A growing movement in Hastings is opposing demolition of existing buildings, arguing that refurbishment is more cost effective and environmentally sound. Despite opposition from house builders and housing associations, the movement is slowly gaining momentum.
Campaigners believe hundreds of social housing flats in Hastings are under unnecessary threat of demolition, arguing these blocks are structurally sound and could be refurbished to bring them up to modern safety, accessibility and energy standards. They cite housing group Orbit’s plans to demolish Clifton Court, a block of 53 flats in Holmesdale Gardens, which has been empty for over two and a half years, and Southern Housing, which is currently moving hundreds of people out of The Four Courts flats in Hollington and is intending to demolish nearly 400 units there over the next 10 years.
Little Ships to the rescue
An offshoot of Brighton Architects Urban View, Little Ships, argues for community-led regeneration. Director Hugh Dennis says: “Our audit of Hastings suggests that over 1,000 homes can be accommodated on under-used land that is currently owned by the council or housing associations. We could get the new affordable homes that are needed without demolishing existing homes or businesses, and without building on green spaces.”
Little Ships’ audit of Hastings states there is publicly owned land such as the airspace above car parks or existing low-rise buildings that could have new affordable homes built on without losing its existing use.
The Four Courts towers are earmarked for demolition and replacement, but the community is asking that a retrofit option is considered to reduce the disruption to existing tenants and to preserve the embodied carbon of the original tower blocks. Little Ships says around 400 homes could be retained in the existing towers and 180 new homes accommodated in low-rise new builds around them.
In Clifton Court, they say 73 retrofitted and new homes could be created. The new units include ‘sociable deck access’ that provides space to grow plants, allows people to get to know their neighbours and protects the building.
The group says building above the car park in Crystal Square, near King’s road St Leonards, would create 14 new homes. Sites for other car park ‘air space’ development sites include Sydney Close, Castle Hill Road, St Margarets Road, Summerfields, and The Bourne – creating hundreds of new homes.
Environmental Nightmare
Communities Vs Developers campaigners argue demolition and construction – particularly traditional construction in bricks and concrete – is massively damaging to the environment. As well as causing years of noise and air pollution, it creates 32% of all landfill waste in the UK. It also contributes to climate change because demolition wastes large amounts of ‘embodied carbon’ that is in the existing buildings, and then creates even more carbon emissions during construction of the buildings that replace them.
Furthermore if blocks are demolished, there is no guarantee they will be replaced by social housing. They say regeneration schemes are often financed by selling many of the new homes or by renting them out at much higher ‘affordable rents’ rather than social rents.
Common Approach
One model for refurbish campaigners is Hastings Commons, the group behind the transformation of the Observer Building. Instead of relying on traditional developers or the local authority, Hastings Commons prides itself in bringing unused buildings back to life as homes, workspaces and social hubs.
Over the past decade, it says its community-led organisations have converted 8,500 square metres of derelict space, renovating to a high standard and offering genuinely affordable rents, while supporting residents and businesses to collaborate and take more control of where they live and work.
However, without firm support from local and national government, it seems unlikely that the ‘refurbish not demolish’ model will be able to overcome the reluctance of developers and housing associations who argue newbuild provides higher predictability and therefore lower risk.
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Further to your article on “Refurbish Don’t Demolish” one of the problems is I think the VAT regulations. If you refurbish you pay 20% VAT on the cost of the work while new construction is VAT free. The other reason for demolishing could be that you can rebuild with a larger no of housing units.
Is this why over the years a number of interesting buildings have suffer arson attacks?