Grenfell-style cladding affects flat value, Willmott Dixon mental health initiative + ‘parking space’ house

Buildingtalk Online Editor Max Banner has taken a look at a trio of stories involving the building industry, including how the value of flats in London have plummeted due to them having Grenfell-style cladding, more news of Willmott Dixon’s ‘All Safe Minds’ initiative and the Midlands-based ‘parking space’ house, which has been valued at £170,000.

Grenfell-style cladding on London flats sees value fall

A homeowner in a housing complex in the capital with Grenfell-type cladding has been told the value of her £475,000 home has collapsed to just £50,000.

Galliard Homes, the developer of the 11-block complex in New Capital Quay in south-east London, is being faced with a £30m-£40m bill to replace the cladding and is locked in a legal dispute over who should pay.

The dispute, which may take years to resolve, has left Cecile Langevin and potentially thousands more up and down the country, with an unsellable flat.

She said it was like her life choices and freedom has been taken away and nobody is doing anything about it.

She had put her flat on the market in the hope of moving out of London to a bigger home.

She got a Rics-approved surveyor to value her flat recently and was horrified when he came back with a £50,000 price tag. But now she realises the whole complex is blighted.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/16/value-of-london-flats-slashed-by-grenfell-style-cladding?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Willmott Dixon launches Mental Health First Aider initiative

Willmott Dixon has trained more than 130 people, a fifth of its workforce, to become mental health first aiders on construction sites and in offices nationwide to support its All Safe Minds campaign.

Everyone on a Willmott Dixon project already receives a presentation on mental health in which they are made aware of the help available, with the new Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs) being deployed to offer an additional network of support, encouraging its people and supply chain partners to seek help if they have existing problems or realise that they’re starting to struggle.

Willmott Dixon launched All Safe Minds in 2017 to provide awareness of mental health issues predominantly effecting young men across the construction sector. 

Willmott Dixon’s head of health, safety and environment Mark French commented: “We’ve invested in training to equip our army of MHFA volunteers with skills to deal with potentially fragile situations sensitively and effectively.”

Buildingtalk have extensively covered the ‘All Safe Minds’ campaign previously; check out a couple of articles on our website below covering the initiative.

World Mental Health Day and Willmott Dixon – http://www.buildingtalk.com/tackling-world-mental-health-day-with-willmott-dixon/

Willmott Dixon ‘Z Card’ – http://www.buildingtalk.com/willmott-dixon-continues-to-support-mental-fitness-with-new-z-card/

Pint-sized ‘parking space’ house valued at £170,000

At just 5m by 2.5m, it’s certainly compact! Yet a three-storey house the size of a parking space has been valued at £170,000 by one of the region’s biggest estate agents.

Jaspal Dhillon, of Places Birmingham, said the award-winning ‘Tikku’ house in Brindleyplace would make a fantastic home.

The house arrived in the city on April 5 to highlight the dependency on cars and the alternatives you can have in their place.

Brought from Helsinki by new travel app Whim in partnership with Helsinki Design Week and Artek, it has garnered over 5,000 viewings already!

Jaspal said the house has created a lot of buzz in the city.

“Birmingham is already something of a property hot-spot but this house would be one of the most desirable given its clever use of space. The top floor is particularly cool – it brings the outside in with its full glazing and gives unrivalled views of the city,” he added.

Taking cars off the streets is top of the agenda for Whim founder Sampo Hietanen – and Mayor Andy Street who backed the initiative.

Check out the video tour here – https://vimeo.com/264393847