All over the UK. From council estates to private, high streets and main streets, ‘improvements’ over the years has left the UK looking unkempt and ugly.
Im from a working class Scottish town, that has a large number of social housing. Most of it built in the 50s. I lived in one such home from the 80s to the early 2000s.
- Most of the houses were uniform (windows, doors etc)
- all had front gardens - grass, hedges, plants
- hedges were used for boundaries
However, things started to change and it affected how the town looks. Right-to-buy, which my own family took advantage of, meant that homeowners made changes.
It may seem odd to some MNers but it was actually a sign that you had ‘money’ and it wasn’t a ‘council’ house if you changed the windows and doors, had it pebble dashed in a different stone. But even then, people who bought the homes lived in them and looked after them. Now many of these homes are privately rented. In addition the local council have also made ‘improvements’ to the remaining social homes
- removing all the hedges to install walls
- removing grass to put down stones
- new pebble dashing
So now the whole town is a patchwork of really ugly housing. These homes were lovely. They were so well designed, lots of space, nice wide roads. Now
- gardens have been paved over into driveways
- extensions in many of the roofs. All different styles
- each house has a different boundary- wall, fence etc. All in different states of maintenance
- wheelie bins everywhere
- many renter properties where the tentants dont care and the private landlord does nothing to keep the outside attractive
- Doors and windows all different along the street.
- houses are all pebble dashed in different colours.
But this isn’t unique. Private estates built here in the 70/80s are now changing hands from older homeowners who probably bought when new to young families and the same is happening . A certain uniform look is gone
- They tear out the shrubs and garden at the front and usually extend the driveway
- paint or put in ugly dark grey windows and doors
- remove hedges and put up grey fencing
They stand out like a sore thumb but others also come in and try their own ‘new looks’ and the hotchpotch look starts here too.
Even the ‘posh’ homes in our area. Huge 1930s detached homes. All that lovely paint work and the doors gone. Mature planting ripped out and more driveway.
Currently only listed buildings of a certain category need council approval to change the exterior. But AIBU that councils should do more for all areas, to ensure we all have a nice environment to live in? And stricter rules about the exterior of the property to maintain community harmony should be introduced?
The nice areas across the country, are so because they maintain a certain aesthetic. In nice areas of Bath , Cotswolds, Edinburgh etc. In Edinburgh there were burdens on properties that meant homes built 100s of years ago maintained their uniformity.
We need the councils to do more! For a start, charge those that pave over their gardens higher council tax rates, to account for them putting further pressure on drains when it rains. Fines for private landlords who don’t maintain the outside gardens/outside areas.
The councils should
- encourage people to plant hedges and trees. Make grants available
- buying properties to convert to resident car parks for residents in busy areas
- restricting all homes to exterior work that fits in with the homes surrounding it
- recognising that social housing must look aesthetically pleasing too and they should be leading the way in conserving the looks and designs.