Stock Take

[biffvernon]

The Sustainable Development Commision has published a document, downloadable here:
Stock Take: Delivering improvements in existing housing
on what we should do with our houses. It takes the view that refurbishment is preferable to demolition and rebuilding and proposes changes to the VAT rules that currently favour the opposite. There's lots more in this 100 page report from this influential body.
Much of it is very sensible but this sentence caught my eye:

Homes already built account for 99% of our total housing stock.

I'm trying to work out what the other 1% is. Any suggestions?

 

[middi]

A really odd statement.

It sounds as if they are aware that the other 1% is about somewhere but they can't locate it

Or that the government has no juristiction over their control.

Or they are taking a guess and relying on their abismal way that records are kept, one in hundred is bound to be empty therefore only brought in the equasion as a loss adjustement.

I would assume that they are not counting atately homes, historic and heritage buildings or any others "homes" owned by chinese, japanese, arabs etc.., etc,,.

Intriguing, it would be iteresting to find out how they arrived at those percentages.

 

[Mark]

buildings pending conversion ? Old barns etc?

Or do they mean landbanks etc held by developers, or pp granted ?

Certainly deserves an explanation.

 

[Lime]

To a simple soul like myself when I read "Homes already built account for 99% of our total housing stock" I assumed that 1% were not yet completed but under construction.
However it does seems as if they are counting their chickens before they hatch because an unfinished house is not "in stock" yet is it?.

 

[Me!]

Caravans?

 

[thiambal]

Narrow Boats

 

[Paul Hopper]

Could just be the allowance made for let housing (public sector) as these are notionally for sale but many remain less than attractive (high rise flats etc)
just a thought..

Paul

 

[middi]

Biff, you have started this guessing game rolling, I think now it is your duty that we should all be put out of our misery by asking the number crunchers how they arrived at that percentage figure.

No rush.

 

[plumbers mate]

One hundred and how many pages?
Look before your print!
Even at 4 to a page that'll take a while.