黑洞社区

Safe as houses

Meet the new housing minister, hear the same old promises. Lee Rowley, formerly construction鈥檚 man in government, was getting to know his brief by touring housing fringe events at last week鈥檚 Tory party conference. 鈥淚鈥檝e only been in the job two-and-a-half weeks, so you鈥檒l understand if I鈥檓 not fully on top of the brief,鈥� he explained to one deflated audience. At another event, the issue of planning was raised 鈥� basically, it鈥檚 terribly slow and can he speed it up 鈥� but his answer didn鈥檛 raise too much optimism either. 鈥淚 will look into it.鈥� Ho hum.

Taking aim

Also at the conference was the boss of the country鈥檚 biggest housebuilder. Barratt chief executive David Thomas took a swipe at the chopping and changing of government housing targets. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 care if targets are set nationally or locally, we just want a system that works.鈥� Presumably, the minister is looking into it.

For frack鈥檚 sake

Business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg (yes, you didn鈥檛 dream it) 鈥� whose net worth has been estimated to be in excess of 拢100m 鈥� told the conference he鈥檇 welcome fracking in his back garden. 鈥淲hich part of his back garden?鈥� quipped one chief executive. Meanwhile, Rees-Mogg is clearly not a fan of one Tory party grandee, a former deputy PM no less. Asked if fracking should be allowed anywhere, he replied: 鈥淚t would be a loss to the country if Michael Heseltine鈥檚 arboretum was knocked down for fracking.鈥� It鈥檚 worth pointing out Heseltine thinks Brexit is madness whereas Rees-Mogg is a true believer. Aren鈥檛 they supposed to be on the same side?

One staffer from Grimshaw, which is working on an airport at Shenzhen, tells my hack only one of the team has made it into the city and even then it took them six months to get in

Not so fast

Minister for London Paul Scully, best known for recently being sent out to defend the chancellor鈥檚 45p tax cut only for the policy to be abolished, left some more people scratching their heads last week. Why are we still building homes that will need to be retrofitted, some people wondered? Why not just get on with it now? Scully replied that the government is 鈥渘ot trying to get to net zero tomorrow, we鈥檙e trying to get there by 2050鈥�. Baffling stuff.

Swearing on the Bible

A trip to meet Stanhope at Paternoster Square in the City and Warwick Court, a refurbished 1990s office block, in particular. Its setting is impressive with views over to St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral, and an immediate neighbour is the house of the dean of St Paul鈥檚 which, when my scribe visited, seemed to be having some repair work done on the roof. Some of the language being used by the workmen up there was, let鈥檚 say, a little unholy. I鈥檓 assuming it was builders issuing the profanities and not the dean himself who fancied mucking in 鈥�

Slow road to China

Ever wondered what China鈥檚 zero covid policy looks like in practice? One staffer from Grimshaw, which is working on an airport at Shenzhen, tells my hack only one of the team has made it into the city and even then it took them six months to get in. And once they arrived, they faced three weeks locked inside a hotel room unable to leave, despite being vaccinated. Put simply, that sounds like hell. The Arsenal fan in me says I鈥檇 rather watch Spurs 鈥�

Verse ways into construction

The organisers of last week鈥檚 UK Construction Week launched it with the novel idea of a poem about the industry. Called Bricks and More Than, by Birmingham poet Casey Bailey, the ode to the industry finishes with the line: 鈥淲hen life gives you obstruction, there are solutions in construction.鈥� Perhaps a refrain with which to arm all harassed site managers.