>Replacing them with standard PVC double-glazed windows should have cost around £2,500.
Since when is PVC ‘standard’? Pretty sure most old Victorian houses still have timber sash windows, and pretty much anyone who lives in a conservation area or listed building won’t be permitted to install uPVC.
It’s one story but entirely a typical experience if you want to build or more generally accomplish anything in this country.
It’s the same reason why the UK is the most expensive country in the world to build a nuclear power plant or why HS2 is costing a gazillion pounds and taking 20 years.
This guy is an idiot, that window is perfectly restorable for no more than 1k incl. full strip and repaint in linseed (which wont rot it again)
Maybe he should’ve spent a bit more money on maintenance? Wood rot like that doesn’t come out of nowhere.
Those look like Crittall windows, not so cheap to replace
What?
Conservation Area and High Risk Building requires additional assessments and associated costs?
If only there were things that one could do to find out these things before the purchase of a property.
Relevant part
” As his building is eight storeys high, it is classed as a “higher-risk building” under the Building Safety Act 2022. This means that any work, including replacing a single window, must be approved by the Building Safety Regulator unless it is certified by a government-recognised “competent person scheme”.
Basically it’s a very old building and 8 stories high, his window effects the structure of said building so they need to ensure that he isn’t going to put in something to weak.
He could just go with aluminium or wood but wants to cheap out on uPVC which is not like for like or as strong so an engineer will need to run the numbers and that will need to be signed off.
In all honesty, given the politically ideological basis of the pro-growth pressure group ‘Britain Remade’, I’m highly suspicious about the efficacy of the claims being made here about ‘unnecessary ‘red tape’ and the associated financial burdens.
Firstly, it’s is stated in the text of the news article that ‘planning permission is required’ to replace the windows. Furthermore, within said text, the council claims that there are statutory requirements to maintain certain standards re: the streets in which this building is located. Reading between the lines, all of this, plus the fact that the building looks mid to late Victorian suggests that (a) the building is Listed, (b) the building is located in a Conservation Area, or, (c) the building is Listed *and* is also located in a Conservation Area.
Either way, it never fails to amaze me that some people buy Listed property or a property located in a Conservation Area, then scream ‘blue murder’ that they have to spend a fortune on refurbishments or alterations and/ or are forced to apply for planning permission for said refurbishments or alterations. It comes with the ‘turf’ with properties which such special status! Have these people never heard of the need for doing their *due diligence* on such matters with such properties?
Reading the article the price of the windows are not the issue. It’s the price of the consultancy fees.
The windows look like they would cost about £5K to £8K
Although expensive its not bad for having to keep in theme with if the building is listed, ive known people to pay that. Plus there’s only 3 companies he said that do it in the area so no real competition.
So Westminster Council should have a responsibility of supporting residents when making applications instead of having to go to a consultant.
I’ve put in planning permission for a 2 story high extension. I am not from a builder background but got the basic drawings in using Google and my local councils checking service before fully submitting them. That did mean spending an extra £300 at the time on top of the application fees, but it’s sure is a heck of a lot cheaper then paying for a consultant.
They’re windows, surely you can hire one of the companies to draw them up, it won’t be that hard.
There is a lot to unpack there… but it seems the bulk of the cost is in consulting fees.
I disagree with needing it for the planning application – I’ve done my own and had no issue, just looked at similar successful applications.
The needing building control to sign off on a high risk building is new to me though… I would probably also pay a consultant.
I think councils could definitely do more to help ordinary people with planning applications. Specific guidance should be made available for high risk buildings for example.
I’m pretty amazed by nearly all the comments essentially making excuses for this.
There clearly could be a better way of organising this. It makes you wonder at what level of disproportionately people would still be slapping the authorities on the back for making the simple act of changing out a window such a complex and expensive one.
And the build safety regulator part is very new, so almost certainly this is not something the flat owner could possibly be aware of when buying the property and doing his “due diligence”
Timber care and 2part filler should do the job.
The political and regulatory reaction to Grenfell has been cartoonishly disproportionate
There’s a lot to distrust about this article. Repair of the current window shouldn’t need any approvals.
the “but it’s on the ground floor” is a bollocks reason if you stopped to think about it for aa second.
That said the building safety act has been implimented very badly and nobody knows how it’ll work in edge cases.
Also i can save him some time, PVC isn’t going to be approved. but since the article seems to think his window is wood, where it’s clearly steel, it’s all a bit moot.
This is terrible tabloid journalist as nowhere in the piece does it mention the current market value of the flat !!
>Mr Howell said: “If someone smashed my windows tomorrow, I could replace them straight away because it’d be an emergency.
Howell added, “I wonder if anyone reading this lives in the area and often carries around bricks or other heavy items. Just an idle thought. Wink wink.”
This is what happens when the proliferation of regulation goes on unchecked.
18 comments
r/compoface
>Replacing them with standard PVC double-glazed windows should have cost around £2,500.
Since when is PVC ‘standard’? Pretty sure most old Victorian houses still have timber sash windows, and pretty much anyone who lives in a conservation area or listed building won’t be permitted to install uPVC.
It’s one story but entirely a typical experience if you want to build or more generally accomplish anything in this country.
It’s the same reason why the UK is the most expensive country in the world to build a nuclear power plant or why HS2 is costing a gazillion pounds and taking 20 years.
This guy is an idiot, that window is perfectly restorable for no more than 1k incl. full strip and repaint in linseed (which wont rot it again)
Maybe he should’ve spent a bit more money on maintenance? Wood rot like that doesn’t come out of nowhere.
Those look like Crittall windows, not so cheap to replace
What?
Conservation Area and High Risk Building requires additional assessments and associated costs?
If only there were things that one could do to find out these things before the purchase of a property.
Relevant part
” As his building is eight storeys high, it is classed as a “higher-risk building” under the Building Safety Act 2022. This means that any work, including replacing a single window, must be approved by the Building Safety Regulator unless it is certified by a government-recognised “competent person scheme”.
Basically it’s a very old building and 8 stories high, his window effects the structure of said building so they need to ensure that he isn’t going to put in something to weak.
He could just go with aluminium or wood but wants to cheap out on uPVC which is not like for like or as strong so an engineer will need to run the numbers and that will need to be signed off.
In all honesty, given the politically ideological basis of the pro-growth pressure group ‘Britain Remade’, I’m highly suspicious about the efficacy of the claims being made here about ‘unnecessary ‘red tape’ and the associated financial burdens.
Firstly, it’s is stated in the text of the news article that ‘planning permission is required’ to replace the windows. Furthermore, within said text, the council claims that there are statutory requirements to maintain certain standards re: the streets in which this building is located. Reading between the lines, all of this, plus the fact that the building looks mid to late Victorian suggests that (a) the building is Listed, (b) the building is located in a Conservation Area, or, (c) the building is Listed *and* is also located in a Conservation Area.
Either way, it never fails to amaze me that some people buy Listed property or a property located in a Conservation Area, then scream ‘blue murder’ that they have to spend a fortune on refurbishments or alterations and/ or are forced to apply for planning permission for said refurbishments or alterations. It comes with the ‘turf’ with properties which such special status! Have these people never heard of the need for doing their *due diligence* on such matters with such properties?
Reading the article the price of the windows are not the issue. It’s the price of the consultancy fees.
The windows look like they would cost about £5K to £8K
Although expensive its not bad for having to keep in theme with if the building is listed, ive known people to pay that. Plus there’s only 3 companies he said that do it in the area so no real competition.
So Westminster Council should have a responsibility of supporting residents when making applications instead of having to go to a consultant.
I’ve put in planning permission for a 2 story high extension. I am not from a builder background but got the basic drawings in using Google and my local councils checking service before fully submitting them. That did mean spending an extra £300 at the time on top of the application fees, but it’s sure is a heck of a lot cheaper then paying for a consultant.
They’re windows, surely you can hire one of the companies to draw them up, it won’t be that hard.
There is a lot to unpack there… but it seems the bulk of the cost is in consulting fees.
I disagree with needing it for the planning application – I’ve done my own and had no issue, just looked at similar successful applications.
The needing building control to sign off on a high risk building is new to me though… I would probably also pay a consultant.
I think councils could definitely do more to help ordinary people with planning applications. Specific guidance should be made available for high risk buildings for example.
I’m pretty amazed by nearly all the comments essentially making excuses for this.
There clearly could be a better way of organising this. It makes you wonder at what level of disproportionately people would still be slapping the authorities on the back for making the simple act of changing out a window such a complex and expensive one.
And the build safety regulator part is very new, so almost certainly this is not something the flat owner could possibly be aware of when buying the property and doing his “due diligence”
Timber care and 2part filler should do the job.
The political and regulatory reaction to Grenfell has been cartoonishly disproportionate
There’s a lot to distrust about this article. Repair of the current window shouldn’t need any approvals.
the “but it’s on the ground floor” is a bollocks reason if you stopped to think about it for aa second.
That said the building safety act has been implimented very badly and nobody knows how it’ll work in edge cases.
Also i can save him some time, PVC isn’t going to be approved. but since the article seems to think his window is wood, where it’s clearly steel, it’s all a bit moot.
This is terrible tabloid journalist as nowhere in the piece does it mention the current market value of the flat !!
>Mr Howell said: “If someone smashed my windows tomorrow, I could replace them straight away because it’d be an emergency.
Howell added, “I wonder if anyone reading this lives in the area and often carries around bricks or other heavy items. Just an idle thought. Wink wink.”
This is what happens when the proliferation of regulation goes on unchecked.
Comments are closed.