"Flats in these four tower blocks get a whole new look for just £30,000 by United House"I have just stumbled on this incredible story in Times Online, so as to be even handed I present the piece whole (everything in quotes is by the Times Author Kasia Maciejowska).
This piece reads almost like a glossy advertisement by United House as a PR exercise.
"Picture the upheaval involved in refurbishing one kitchen. Then multiply this by 439 and add in bathrooms, central heating, floors and windows that must also be modernised, everything being carried out to a strict budget. In this cost-conscious process, the price of a kitchen can be no more than about £3,000, a fraction of the typical six-figure outlay in a deluxe project such as the Rigby & Rigby house in Eccleston Street, Belgravia."
The Chalcots has 717 properties and even if you subtract the 110 leaseholder properties this gives 607 properties so where does Kasia Maciejowska get 439 from and what happened to the fifth tower block?
"You will then have some idea of the vast and challenging task undertaken every day by United House , the construction group that specialises in the regeneration of tower blocks and other council and social housing."
"You should also bear in mind that one prime objective of the work is the improvement of the energy efficiency of the homes - these have often not been modernised since the 1960s. Note too that only a few elderly or particularly vulnerable tenants will be moved into temporary accommodation for the period of the makeover, which can last for months. The rest remain in their homes and have a say in the proceedings: they are entitled to choose which colour schemes and finishes they prefer, for example. You may then be even more amazed at the good-natured enthusiasm of United House's staff. My impression from a day spent on site at the overhaul of the Chalcots estate in Swiss Cottage, North London, is that these workers always put the tenant first."
This is another incredible PR statement; there has been more complaints from residents in this project than any other comparable PFI project in recent years. The complaints run into the many hundreds, Estate blocks Tenant Representatives are busy chasing all the issues. Yes there have been some successful outcomes for some residents, but a substantial number have outstanding problems, which United House have yet to resolve.
"The £66 million Chalcots project involves recladding four 1960s tower blocks, each 22 storeys high, using weatherproof insulating aluminium and installing new bathrooms, kitchens, heating systems, windows and flooring and completely redecorating 439 out of the 660 flats. The work began in May 2006 and United House is on schedule to complete the project, part of the Government's Decent Homes programme for the improvement of social and housing assocation homes, by January 2010."
Here again we have complete story fabrication, the Chalcots comprises four tower blocks of same design and another of entirely different design. The buildings were completed during the period 1967 - 1968. The true cost of this PFI makeover "contract" is £150 million not £66 million as the Times article makes out. Also the project is not completing to "decent homes" standards but an entirely different protocol. In most cases much of the internals of the properties remain unchanged and undecorated from there 1968 appearance! Furthermore, on three buildings the "new" cladding system is de-laminating after only weeks of being erected by the PFIC. One building has so far been completely re-cladded and another two buildings are awaiting the same re-cladding exercise that will take two months each causing misery for residents.
"Given that the majority of United House's projects are ultimately publicly funded, financial efficiency is paramount. “There's no room for the bad weather excuses that are common in construction,” says Colin Dixon, United House's managing director. The company aims to complete the work on four flats every week (each flat takes 12 days to revamp)."
Complete rubbish, some flats have taken nearly two months to complete, some flats still have not been completed after one year of work.
"So how does United House meet its deadline and cost targets? To provide vast numbers of new kitchens and bathrooms with minimal errors and in a short space of time, it has a warehouse where the items required by each home - some bought in, others manufactured by the company itself - are packed together into individual units for each home. This enables the workmen to assemble the parts swiftly, minimising disruption to the tenants."
Many residents have had to have work re-scheduled multiple times because of unavailability of parts, making there internal disruption extend out to 6 or 8 weeks of work.
"It is a refurbishment production line that has been honed to near-perfection over the 44 years since United House began providing heating for council homes as Harp Heating."
The business of making money. It may be said has been honed out to perfection!
"Tower blocks are relatively easy to refurbish because the flats follow a regular pattern and the buildings are recent. However, in the 1960s, there was little concern for insulation. As a result of the refurbishment, the gas bill of one resident went down by £46 in the most recent quarter."
It is on record at official meetings, which I have attended virtually every one that these flats are a nightmare to work on as there was no thought given during there construction to a infrastructure re-fit. For the first one year of this PFI project hundreds of flats were converted into a virtual submarine by having visible 6 copper pipes for the central heating systems exposed all round the properties. After much protest this has been tidied up to a degree.
On the matter of improved insulation that it is reported by Times Author Kasia Maciejowska one resident's GAS bill is down £46 in the most recent quarter. This is complete hogwash since all residents in the "four" blocks pay for gas as a bulk gas supply from the Council and therefore pay a fixed "unmetered" charge. Only Blashford the "fifth" block that Kasia Maciejowska omitted previously have metered GAS. Yet again a tottaly misleading piece of information being reported!
In point of fact heating costs will be increased substantially by Camden over the next couple of years!
"Doing up period homes in Islington, which house many of the borough's council tenants, is considerably less predictable. United House has revamped 2,350 Victorian homes in Islington so far; each property has to be individually surveyed and its exterior preserved in an appropriate style."
Once again this is far from the truth, PFI Islington known as PFI 1 was beset with even worse problems than the Chalcots. The project reached such a low point that the entire PFI team of managers had to be replaced.
"Some local authorities employ United House directly and others fund the refurbishments through Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs). With PFIs, a bank or private lender funds the project and the Treasury repays the bank as the work is completed. Local authorities bid for PFI funding from the Treasury and companies, such as United House, then bid to the local authorities for contracts."
This at least is an entirely correct statement.
"Winning the contracts for these schemes is a slow process - it took three years to negotiate the Chalcots and the Islington contracts, but these were two of the initial six pilot schemes set up in 2003."
"While many developers struggle through the downturn, United House continues to grow. And as demand for social housing soars, it looks well placed to continue."
I have no reason to doubt that this is true, but at a high cost (stress) to the residents often getting sub-standard works with considerable disruption brought about by poor planning and management.
"Fact Box
Tenants can pick from five colour schemes; men like advice, women know what shades they want
The kitchens are designed around tenants' own appliances
The makeover process is democratic. At Chalcots, tenants voted for the large sitting room windows to be retained to keep the great views"
"Details: www.unitedhouse.net"
The author clearly says it all here.
I have felt it vital to set the record straight having read this piece written by the "Times", clearly its journalistic standard has dropped to a new low point. I will be more than happy to publish a reply from the Times editor, should it be sent to me here.
Written and edited by Nigel Rumble 27th April 2009
Article extracts originaly published in February 6, 2009
