Communities or Strangers? New Builds Investigated.
New Homes & Communities. A complex relationship with land & living.
England.
Photography & text by Lewis Jackson.
Modern new builds appear as empty shells that new owners will soon occupy, on what was previously a field. The fresh, yet to be weathered brickwork of new homes represent themes relating to Unavoidable change, growing up, and fresh starts, connectedness, kinship, stability, and a sense of community. Growing older and the changes relating to ageing in a rural village. The future of these new homes is unwritten, just like the future of youth is unwritten; there is no past or legacy; there is only what is to come.
The project entitled Living Quarters began as a conscious effort to capture a transitional change in my local village with a particular focus on the people and changing landscape; both socially and physically, coinciding with the construction of a new housing estate. I wanted to contrast and compare these two worlds; the new and unwritten and heritage and legacy, perhaps underpinned by class. I wanted the photographs to present honesty or at least an attempt to capture sincerity. My approach was to present the character of the village from my own eyes shaped by years of experiences growing up in the village itself. The images are a reflective account of captured moments and scenes that in many ways attempt to represent the soul and essence of the village but are also perhaps closely attached to wider societal issues relating to housing developments and the changes it has on small rural communities.
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A young child looks out of a window onto new horizons, the mother's face partially reflected back in the mirror; her son’s is not visible, his life is not yet a reflection, what lies ahead is unwritten and what has gone before has been too brief to contemplate.
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Coming Soon, maybe to a field near you.
A Temporary footpath closure order emerges from the overgrown grass and nettles, a minor inconvenience for some but for others a landscape sullied by urbanisation.
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Geoff Smith, one of many local characters who has since unfortunately passed, enjoys an ice cream in the summer sun; whilst putting the ‘world to rights’. It’s moments and connections like these that I was drawn to and wanted to capture in all its poetic normality; set against the backdrop of a new housing development and the changes it will bring to the character of the small Northumbrian village of Felton. In many ways these images were captured for posterity, an affectionate reaction to changes that new developments bring and the people and landscape that it affects.
The character and identity of the village are also undoubtedly shaped by the land itself; agricultural, rustic and organic aptly describe the surrounding area. The habitable, established areas of the village are predominantly made up of a mixture of early 20th-century coaching inns converted to homes and Council houses from the baby boom era of the 40s wrapped in pebbledash render. Boundaries of land humbly separated by lines of fencing permit face-to-face conversation with surrounding neighbours. This is captured in “Arthurs Green hoose”. Small in scale and central in frame Arthur can be seen inside his greenhouse, which is very much his sanctuary; like many of the older generation who worked as farm hands on the surrounding fields, that inherent desire for horticulture continues as a way of life in their retirement. Arthur himself recalls ploughing farms using horse-drawn ploughs.
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A Glimpse of the new builds reveals the new houses under construction, the clinical and pristine condition of these early developments serves as a reminder of what is to come. Like a newly designed tech product being prepared before launch with the packaging concealing most of its appearance. These new constructions are yet to be the centre of family life; a place of retreat, safety and relaxation, freedom and independence, a place of privacy and permanence.
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Construction of a Home. A portrait of a woman in the mid-day winter sun with an old ruined building positioned in the background creating a conflict or connection between the person and the structure. How do our constructed mental representations of the world attach us to home?
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Church Bank Tree House also depicts a structure, in that of a tree house, a young person's ‘den’ or ‘hideout’. When that place is central to the person concerned, is that the place we can call ‘home’? Is home a place, a space, feeling, practice, and/or an active state of being in the world?
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Dog walking in the Fog is a portrait of Hannah, who runs a local dog walking business. The deep blue colour of her water proof jacket contrast from the atmospheric perspective of the hazy fog that conceals the houses known locally as ‘The Oval; a cul-de-sac of council homes, many of which have been occupied by families who could be considered the established locals of the village. The faded appearance of the homes present a metaphorical representation of the disappearing or fading aspiration of future generations ability to own their own home. There is perhaps an increased disheartenment felt for those who want to remain in the communities they grew up in. For this to be an option for many people, Britain will need more homes not just in urban areas and towns but in many rural and semi-rural areas. Affordable housing in rural areas is expected to be more difficult to fund and implement than urban projects as only 10% of the AHP (Affordable Homes Programme) funding is allocated to rural settlements with less than 3000 inhabitants. State funding is narrowing for people needing affordable rural housing, with part-ownership homes being presented as the solution. This has many disadvantages such as costly charges, negative equity risk and selling could be difficult to name a few basic examples.
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Star Plot shows part of the completed site; the buildings in the final stags of completion; the dried cement from the newly laid brick work has yet to be weathered. The manicured lawns bring a sense of clinical order to what was once organic and natural farmland. The new builds represent inevitable change; they give us an insight into how we may live in the future and the world we leave behind. These new homes are equipped with gigabit-ready physical infrastructure which aligns the dependence of internet connectivity with heating, electricity and clean running water. The new connectivity requirements for the construction of new homes in the UK will potentially bring new housing developments in rural communities up to date with urban gigabit-ready infrastructure. This will in no doubt accommodate those moving to rural areas, especially those whose employment depends on reliable connectivity. How will this affect rural communities? Will our ‘online experiences’ supersede our physical realities? Will this lead us to live more solitary lives in the future?
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Jakey’s Garage, is a prominent character of the village, who quite often spends time at the village council garages, he rents one for himself where he can be seen late into the night carving walking sticks from found branches. Unlike the pristine and sterile facade of the new builds, the local council garages bear the scars of generations of use. Jake nostalgically recalls times where “You could have a bit craic with someone, but nowadays folk just walk straight past yi” - daily passing conversation with people was part of growing up in the village.
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These conversations quite often went well beyond small talk and you didn’t always have to be “on foot” to come across these face to face interactions. Conversations would be had through car windows, sometimes with a queue of cars being held up behind; nothing got in the way of village craic, especially if there was something new to find out.
These types of experiences of village life are what contribute to my sense of home, beyond the physical structure itself. There are of course many ways of experiencing rural life, and this project made me think of what particularly distinguishes a rural upbringing. How did growing up in a rural village shape my identity, values and perspective?
My own personal experiences and realities were that of growing up in close association with not only people but natural spaces, woodland areas and open fields. A sense of freedom that was hard to fully appreciate at such a young age, as I knew no different.
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Make your new home as individual as you are, are the words presented on the advertisement leaflet in the centre of the window sill of a newly constructed house. They seem to suggest a connection between your identity and the physical structures you inhabit. Is it the bricks and mortar and the way we furnish the interior spaces that gives us the greatest sense of home? Or the lived experiences that the land, people and infrastructure provide? Will housing developments and the expansion into the natural landscape of rural areas impede natural spaces? Is this a secondary concern to the inevitable change that urbanism brings and the remedy for remote, poorly serviced and fractured communities?
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Auld Trailer shows an abandoned trailer, that once served a purpose, but is now entangled in the cold, dry grass as it appears to be reclaimed by nature. What we don’t use becomes abandoned, what we don’t need becomes forgotten. How we develop future housing, specifically in small rural communities plays a part in what we may lose.
The piece presented by Lewis Jackson raised a few questions and these were investigated by the CBDP.
Several Housing Associations were contacted and one replied, Bromford Housing Association, based in Wolverhampton. We were blessed with an hour with Land Director, Gary Belcher, who was very candid and informative. Mr. Belcher has a long and distinguished career as a Civil Engineer and has worked on and directed major projects including Road, Transport, Major Urban Regeneration and House Building. His first build was a mere 5 homes and his biggest a staggering 7500.
He was an influential figure in the reintroduction of the Metro Tramline in Liverpool and has also ruffled a few feathers at various Local Authorities, holding one to account regarding the lack of action in building community infrastructure on a housing scheme he was a part of. An outline of our discussion is laid out below. All photos are by Lewis Jackson.
I wanted to know how the existing local community and environment is considered when a large housing scheme is in the planning stage? I am well aware of the problem with “out-commuting”, a situation where the new homeowners seldom if ever visit the older pre-existing shops and I was told that, “The need for infrastructure is predetermined by Local Authority, a Council Body will sit in meetings and discuss what and where they think an area needs and can absorb a higher density of population”. I ask if there is a threshold whereby the developer or Local Authority has by law or otherwise the requirement to include community infrastructure, such as shops, schools, and potential for local business? Gary replied, “There is a threshold, and that number is 1000” and also I ask if that number is avoided so as to sidestep the responsibility? “No, not essentially, the real issue there is finding the land, and then convincing the Local Authority to grant Planning Permission. None of which, and other things too, is an easy task”.
The demographic is changing here in the U.K and according to Gary, “…the birthrate is falling, couples are having children later, many in their 30’s, this actually decreases the demand for things such as schools”. In one case where Gary was Project Manager a school was provided and to everyone’s surprise, there were no children enrolled, the area just didn’t have the head count. There was then a need to accelerate the Section 106 Houses – supported living/affordable homes essentially – so as to bring families with children into the area. In another case, in the Southeast of England, a housing developer had paid the Local Authority the fees in lieu of the infrastructure, which is quite normal, but the local community then had to wait several years before the Authority actually built the facilities.
When asked about the lack of shops, “this is very simply the mechanics of retail finance and how we live. The big players simply do not see the footfall from less than 2500 homes at least, to make the operations viable, out-commuting and housing plot positioning are key here”.
We are actually victims of our own taste not for fresh produce but internet shopping. The controlling bodies scrutinise the way we live and predetermine what is required in terms of amenities.
Of particular interest was the subject of “eco homes” and at the very least a move to more sustainable housing. This it turns out is a long way off.
Firstly, modular and flatpack homes are limited by transport, pod type homes are or will be a viable alternative for some, but the roads here are too small to transport them without high cost and laborious traffic calming and road closures. No one wants that.
Flatpack timber homes are still suspect to mold, rot, and fire risk but there is hope from a company based in Scotland and Bromford is involved in a study with this particular product. The fire risk actually comes from continuous cavities, even small ones, as these channels act as exhausts and oxygen delivery sources.
The alternative homes concept has one more serious deterrent though, the Local Authorities who resist the modular, same look design. This doesn’t stop the same Authorities granting permission for 500 homes that basically look the same placed on a once productive agricultural field. Staying with modular builds a moment longer, Bromford Housing Group have already conducted extensive research into light weight steel homes, but the vastly fluctuating cost of steel is a serious deterrent. Housing schemes are planned and costed years in advance with very complicated finance systems, steel prices fluctuate wildly every few months meaning budgets are unlikely to be followed and the risk of loss is high.
For some designers there is now also the considerable risk of climate change, which might result in wetter conditions year-round here in Britain. Wood, the oldest building material will always be susceptible to rot and so we are rigidly fixed in the main, at least today with bricks and mortar, and concrete blocks and their cousin the thermo-block, all made from coal waste, which is interesting in itself.
With the cost of energy and the concerns over the future supply on everyone’s mind, we asked why new builds don’t have solar? “Bromford is a leader in this area, we put panels on our roofs and will continue to do so”, Gary told us. He also confirmed what a solar panel expert told us a few years ago, “The system is limited, the homeowner still has a bill, a connection fee and usage costs, the National Grid is under huge strain and needs updating, at present we limit the units to 3000 Kw, for the simple reason that the Grid cannot take back more power than that”.
The debate as to who will and should cover the national rewire continues… The days of tariffs and “money back” are over, these deals disappeared a while ago and were nothing but a ploy to get people hooked up to solar. Interestingly, “the cost of building the home with solar panels is only £5000 extra and will save you a little money, says Gary Belcher.
Currently, high restrictions on positioning have all but stopped the potential for wind generated power across the new build sites, effectively nullifying the idea of fully self-sufficient communities who could have their own wind and solar farms, and yet brownfield sites, i.e., agricultural land is gobbled up for such industries as well as housing.
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The Final Phase.
In summing up, the whole housing plan is based on the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, with endless amendments and additions each interpreted uniquely by the Local Authority. It’s hardly joined up though an area-by-area appraisal, rather than a centralised policy is definitely a good idea, say for the preservation of local characteristic, yet one can’t help but think that there needs to be a major overhaul and some basic realignments. Anyone who looks at a Gov. webpage relating to planning, will see the difficulties immediately encountered, and this is no different for the Housing Associations such as Bromford, who regularly enter into environmental studies to ensure the livelihoods of frogs, badgers, and newts that might be disturbed if a building plot goes ahead.
Housing was basically side stepped back in the mid 1980’s. As was the eco home, brushed aside by Prescott, who was more interested in increasing Britain’s road network, car movement was the buzz theme. Humanity magazine has touched on the concept of the “by-pass” or “ring-road” before – the once speedy by-pass is soon littered with traffic lights and junctions that lead to rather soulless new builds - it turns out that this was inevitable as someone had to pay for the roads i.e. the developer and final house purchasers.
Regarding solar panels, it appears that according to information shared by Gary, the original assumptions on the potential for a homegrown solar energy grid was flawed as the initial roof count was out by around 50%, and this shortfall has to be made up by the use of what might prove to be, vitally important agricultural land, a space shared now with housing. The counting error had included rooftops facing the wrong way.
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Local resident Denis - with one "N"!
It is interesting to note that under Gary Belcher, Bromford Housing Association are in the mid planning stages of creating what they call a Garden Town. In these modern spaces they hope to create homes, schools, shops, and some business opportunities. It might be pushing it to say, but it sounds like they have taken the holistic approach to homes and community. When asked if these new treelined idylls would turn out any different to the previous “New Housing Projects” of the 60’s and 70’s, he wasn’t sure.
Currently a Local Authority was putting up resistance to this new Garden Town project, and we agreed essentially that the houses may change but people, circumstance, the cost of living and local councils rarely do. When looking at the “news” it is often reported or implied that the government aren’t doing enough to provide homes. And yes, focussing on the road network and neglecting housing in the mid 1980’s was a serious oversight, as was Mr. Gove underspending by several billion recently, but the whole business of building homes and communities is a complicated thing.
As we move forward with our postmodern lives, it would be nice to think that some of these questions will become choices - What type of house, and what sort of communities do we want to live in? But as the internet grows more invasive by the day and steadily takes over, altering our habits, we might assume that the ship of choice has already sailed.
The CBDP extends thanks to Mr. Gary Belcher of B.H.A. for his professional assistance.
The Editor. 22/11/2023
Thanks for reading.