Topic: | 'Poor Doors' | |
Posted by: | Francis Rowe | |
Date/Time: | 23/10/15 15:17:00 |
It is perhaps a bit unfair to categorise separate entries for the affordable units as 'poor doors' as the architect probably has little choice but to include them. The ridiculous stipulation that a certain number of 'affordable' flats need to be built to house people who could probably find an equivalently priced unit on the open market a mile or two away doesn't really seem to benefit anybody. The people who acquire them will not be poor by any definition but the may be discouraged by the service charges that would need to be charged on a building like this. The block manager may for instance wish to offer concierge services or include a gym and pool within the development or a concierge service. This would be paid for by an annual charge. You could make these services available to the affordable units but you couldn't make the developer give them a discounted charge. If nothing else this would effectively mean the people who paid full price continuing to subsidise those that didn't. It therefore makes sense to offer discounted annual charges to the affordable units along with a lower level of service and different points of access. Before anyone gets all Dave Spart on me for pointing this out remember most of the people living in these 'affordable' units will be on £50,000+ per annum. |