Well said Richard Kemp! The chattering classes have to understand that when we talk about terraced houses, we are not talking the Royal Crescent in Bath or similar in Regent’s Park or even Islington (8 April, page 18).

We mean: back to backs; front door feet from a main road; nowhere to park; no garden; no insulation (sound or otherwise); no central heating; no mortar left between the bricks; no firestop walls in the roof spaces, ground floor bathrooms or toilets – in some cases no bathrooms or hot water at all.

Quaint and retro? Maybe. Housing for the 21st century? Certainly not.

The population of Stoke-on-Trent has been voting with its feet. Those who can afford to do so have simply deserted the terraced house for something much better. Our city centre is slowly emptying, damaging our already fragile local economy. We are not going to stand idly by and become a 19th-century theme park for the indulgence of anyone.

Gill Brown, chief executive, Potteries Housing Association

Source

Housing Today