Eddy Shah, the man who revolutionised the newspaper business in the UK in the 1980s, now has his sights trained on transforming the house-building industry. The 63-year-old entrepreneur, along with his wife, Jennifer White Shah, is building 44 three- and four-bedroom houses, at a cost of less than £60,000 each, at the Wiltshire Golf & Country Club, near Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire.
“John Prescott, then the deputy PM, threw down the challenge in 2005 for developers to build homes that cost less than £60,000,” says Eddy. “At the time we were planning to build at the Wiltshire Golf & Country Club, and I thought to myself why not? We can achieve that. So that’s what we set out to do and we’ve managed it on all the three-bedroom properties, and weren’t much over on the four-bedders either.”
The money saving hasn’t been at the expense of good design, quality construction materials, or environmental initiatives. The timber frame and board houses, with the wood used sourced from sustainably managed forests in Canada, are attractive in appearance, and well built throughout by local tradesmen. Windows are double-glazed and the window frames are made from wood not uPVC.
“People look at the houses,” says Eddy, “and wonder how we’ve built so well for so little money. I say that all houses in the UK should be able to be built for this small amount of money. If I can do it why can’t others? Mainly it’s because inefficiency succeeds. Big companies need inefficiency to keep house prices high. The planning and housebuilding industry in the UK needs overhauling to move forward.
“We need new technology and working practices to come into the business. It’s not until you get an outsider like me, who questions everything, that you begin to get innovation and change. For example, around 22,000 litres of water are used to construct a normally built house. For our next phase of developments, we’re working on reducing that to 9,000 litres by implementing piles instead of a concrete base.”
Shah’s quest to produce affordable housing whilst minimising the buildings’ environmental impact saw him travel to Japan for his piece de résistance. The Altherma, manufactured by Daikin, is an air source air-to-water heat pump that Shah has had installed in each of the new properties. The renewable micro-technology provides a low carbon emission, high efficiency means of providing hot water and space heating from the same system.
Shah’s immediate plans, once he’s overseen the completion of the first phase at the Wiltshire Golf & Country Club (by December 2007), is to begin phase two, where he aims to keep costs down and innovate more, particularly with sustainable technologies, materials and building practices. He’s also looking for brownfield land on which to build affordable houses – not that he likes that term.
“I hate the word affordable when it comes to housing,” he says, “it’s so negative. We should use the term attainable. Give people something to aim for. In fact the ambition should be to get everyone on the housing ladder. Housebuilders have to make a profit – that’s the nature of business – but we should be able to build a three-bedroom house that’s priced no more than £140,000. Definitely, it’s achievable. It really is. Anything is if you put your mind to it.”
And with that thought he’s off – to look at a site for development in the West Country. Eddy’s mission, indeed.
Note: A three-bedroom 106.8m2 linked (terrace) house at the Wiltshire Golf & Country Club is priced from £221,000 (inc VAT, which is levied on ‘holiday homes’ as the houses are officially categorised. Owners may live in their home for up to 11 months each year). The Four-bedroom, three-storey 144m2 houses are priced £265,000 inc VAT.
