Forum Topic

The Apt Living Parkview Scandal

Many of you will already be aware of the issues with this building but I'd recommend everybody take a look at this superbly produced video report on the subject. It's an absolute scandal and the film is particularly timely given the rush of applications to convert offices along the Great West Road ahead of the Article 4 direction by Hounslow Council to end Permitted Development Rights coming into force.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 283d18 Comments

With all the blocks of flats that were investigated after Grenfell there were a lot of problems that were found apart from cladding which would make these buildings unsafe and as I understand it many of these faults in the flats ARE STILL not corrected and there are flat owners stuck and unable to get a mortgage or sell their flats.  And then then there are the blocks of flats that seemed to have been thrown up in a hurry before any changes were made to the Building Regulations and new laws were put in place.  There are really are some laws which should be made retrospective!

Philippa Bond ● 245d

I agree. Building control was deregulated in I think the noughties and now developers can in essence mark their own homework.My experience of that is that the standards are 'variable' though to be fair my old Chiswick House built in 1865 was constructed by a jerry-builder so the problem is not all new!Problems in my current flat go back to the development which was built in the late 90s. After Grenfell it turned out we didn't have dodgy cladding but some fundamental issues had been ignored by the developer. Many of the fire doors were not, and the floors which should have been in the riser cupboards on every floor had never been fitted despite it apparently having been part of the original spec. We therefore spent a year or more and a lot of money (on our service charges because the insurance under NHBC had expired).For us, irritating. For many, disastrous.Of course, buildings repurposed under prior approval are a disaster on another scale, as Parkview demonstrates.

Guy Lambert ● 265d

There used to be a joined-up system of professionals who worked together to design and build with experts who independently oversaw and checked off the work.  The system became deregulated and fragmented in pursuit of the cheapest without enough questions being asked.Friends in Scotland preferred the Scottish Building Regs for being clearer than the English ones.Everybody now also wants to alter and add new stuff to their buildings without proper consideration and advice and holes are drilled through walls and floors breaking compartmentation and fireplaces and walls removed without enough understanding of what is keeping a building safe and standing.  Then there are all the extra loos, bathrooms and showers added and incorrectly plumbed... sending dirty water into our rivers.  We now seem to have a problem with both old and new buildings!

Philippa Bond ● 265d

I wish I could say I was surprised by the poor standard of construction work done but sadly I cannot, this is par for the course whether you are looking at converted office blocks or new build houses.  The simple facts are that the UK residential construction industry lacks the skills or the willingness to do a good job everything is about doing the job as quickly and cheaply as possible.  That is why new build homes usually have over 100 defects when sold - according to one expert (Buildscan) 157 defects on average compared to 59 in 2006 (and 59 is more than it should be).Personally I would not buy a house built in the last 20 years - anything older than that and the previous owners will have remedied the defects, although possibly also created some new ones!

Justin Stephenson ● 266d

Where I live the owner is Cypher Residential UK. It is owned by Moreland Residential UK. This is owned by Moreland Residential Holdings UK. It used to be owned by Dahlia Property Holdings Ltd of Gibraltar. Not any more. But I have a feeling it may be connected to Dahlia Property Holdings of Geneva. Or another version in Jersey, or British Virgin Islands or - well, who knows. Previously I think it was owned by a company in Panama called Moreland Majestic Ltd SA, as reported by Private Eye 10 years ago https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/3k8qu9/private_eye_has_produced_a_map_of_british_land/?onetap_auto=true&one_tap=trueLots of interesting stuff there

Guy Lambert ● 266d

I thought ownership was now supposed to be clearer!

Philippa Bond ● 266d

Looking through about 5 levels of companies it seems to be controlled by someone called Manjit Singh Randhawa who owns 75%+ of DNA Real Estate Ltd. Although this seems to be a holding company it has only £252 of fixed assets, £100 of Share Capital and a net balance sheet value of -£6347It also has a charge registered in the name of Thirteen Group Ltd. I can't see how much is involved. All of these are classed as small companies with exemptions from providing full audited accounts.I find trying to find owners is very challenging and I doubt this is the full story!My understanding about an Arabic owner came to me in an informal conversation I had last year with a planning consultant (who was working on a more traditional planning application on behalf of the landlords).When I was working as an accountant (a long time ago) life was a lot simpler - none of these exemptions. Companies used to be obliged to publish audited accounts and you could work out what was going on.

Guy Lambert ● 266d

EG Great West House - where I was once the building manager when it was Honeywell House - which I believe is now owned by someone/body from the Arabian peninsula)Surely, you can tell us who excactly?

Stewart Jones ● 266d

All true, but the thing about these 'prior approval' conversions is that there are no rights for the local authority beyond whether they have filled out the forms correctly.There certainly were (though some of this I think has been changed) no real restrictions on anything really. They could convert as they saw fit and let the market decide. Standard Conservative doctrine.So no space standards, little if any building regulations, no contribution to providing infrastructure (roads, doctors, schools, new stations - very relevant in Brentford with two proposals out there).Empire House is entirely different because it went through 'normal' planning permission so all the standards and conditions that apply to new builds apply. We (Hounslow) had an 'Article 4 Direction' which makes the planning potentially more normal in various places such as the A4 but that had finite life and expired, and in any case I understand the rules have been changed to support developers. We have a new A4D under process but we have to wait 12 months until it comes into force so existing buildings on the A4 are trying to move forward (EG Great West House - where I was once the building manager when it was Honeywell House - which I believe is now owned by someone/body from the Arabian peninsula)

Guy Lambert ● 267d

How can anyone forget the Grenfell Fire of 14 June 2017?  That was nearly SEVEN years ago and investigations still continue.

Philippa Bond ● 267d

Thanks for this - we didn't know so much about this particular building but did a lot of the rest.  What a situation it is for it to be recognised that in this day and age our systems and what should be our safeguards are allowing future slums to be built.  Something everybody whould watch.

Philippa Bond ● 267d

Katja, that's very kind of you but it is the young man who made this video who really deserves your thanks.Adam, good point about the complete stripping back to the frame of the building at Empire House. Given the likely cost of the units, you would hope for a high build quality.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 271d

Jeremy, just a short note to thank you for posting this. We were seriously thinking to rent a flat in Parkview. I have seen the poor reviews but thought, we give it a try.After watching your video, I am so thankful that you posted it. Thank you again 🙏😃

Katja Urban ● 271d

Empire House may be different to most conversions in that they completely stripped the building back to its concrete frame.

Adam ONeill ● 276d

I am no planning expert but my understanding is that towers converted under Permitted Development Rights do have to adhere to building regulations and other laws such as minimum unit size per person. Even so, I wouldn't touch a flat in converted office space with a barge pole unless it was from a reputable developer with a track record in the area. It will be interesting to look back in a few years what the experience of the people buing flats in the Empire House development has been. If they have problems we will probably hear about it on this site.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 276d

I have been living in Brentford since the 70's and having just viewed the video was not surprised that it does not meet a lot of standards. I just hope that the plan to build yet more and more tower block ones here do conform

Barbara Dudley ● 281d

It’s nothing more than your average developer scumbuggery, if that’s a word. Not long ago there was the news that a new build in Camden had to be evacuated as the foundations were done badly and the thing is buckling under its own weight, and that’s just one example.Unfortunately housing in this country is rotten to the core.

Francis Sheehan ● 282d

I wish I could say "astonishing" but those of us who have watched as more and more of these conversions have taken place are in no way surprised by any of this. We never learn do we?

Bruce Hammal ● 283d