The hilarious revelation that many housing layouts have been based upon the minimum distance at which two architects could no longer see each other’s nipples through their shirts in 1902 seems to sum up Britain’s antiquated building law (Edwardian morals, Thatcher and bad design – why Britain’s homes are so hot, 20 July).
But is it any better today? Volume housebuilders have been more concerned to put up mock Tudorbethan doll’s houses than address climate issues. Their powerful lobbies squeal that it would increase house prices and chip off some of their huge profits. But a programme of properly funded council houses could mitigate this.
Building regulations are a legal requirement and should be updated and strengthened to tackle climate change: roofs should be clad with photovoltaic solar tiles to reduce reliance on the grid, with a chimney-type shaft to draw air up when it is hot; extra thick insulation should extend to walls, roof and floors; north-facing elevations should be blank, with rooms for living and sleeping facing the sun; conservatories for heat retention and plants; triple glazing; cooking and heating to be electrical with boilers or heat pumps; access for disabled people and houses for larger families; south-facing gardens with trees; external power points for charging electrical cars; and natural-sourced materials where possible.
Finally, ensure all housing is designed by architects – too long despised by the government, but the only building profession that is trained in design.
Louis Hellman
London
• The very low densities at which Britain builds its homes spring from much more than Edwardian architects Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker viewing what was under each other’s shirts. Ultra-low density became an obsession of the garden city and garden suburb movement.
It may squander scarce building land, but housebuilders soon discovered that it is most profitable – so they pursue it to this day. The movement quickly got minimum-density standards abolished and enshrined the principle in Unwin’s 1912 pamphlet Nothing Gained by Overcrowding. Since then, nothing has been safe from sprawl.
Jon Reeds
Smart Growth UK
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