Kevin McCloud analiza un plan de vivienda innovador en Birmingham que permite a las personas construir sus propias casas. El grupo de 11 hombres y mujeres construirán no sólo sus propias propiedades, sino también las casas de los demás.
Kevin McCloud checks out an innovative housing scheme in Birmingham that allows people to build homes for themselves. The group of 11 men and women will build, not just their own property, but each other's homes as well.
#architecture #art #desing
Kevin McCloud checks out an innovative housing scheme in Birmingham that allows people to build homes for themselves. The group of 11 men and women will build, not just their own property, but each other's homes as well.
#architecture #art #desing
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00:01It's all that I've ever dreamed of. Having my own house and having it exactly the way that I want it.
00:11Generally speaking, South Mills always are tough.
00:15If I had known, I wouldn't have done it.
00:22Why are you doing it? Why am I doing it?
00:25I want a house anyway. And...
00:31I want a house.
00:55Owning your own home can seem an impossible dream for anyone, but even more so if you're on a low or assisted income.
01:04But here in Birmingham, a local housing association are running an innovative scheme where a group of people who can't afford to buy their houses are being given the opportunity to build them.
01:15Most of the eleven self-builders here are on low or assisted incomes.
01:23They're a multicultural group selected by local housing association, Accord, to work as part of a team building their own and each other's houses.
01:33None of them had any previous building experience, so they spent two years being trained and started on site in May 1999.
01:41With eleven houses to build, this project will take them four years from start to finish, but they each have powerful reasons for taking on such a huge commitment.
01:55I've got a son and he's already boasting to his friends at school that, you know, his mum is building his house, so, you know.
02:02So, I'm doing it for him and I suppose I'm doing it for me as well, but it's a hard slog.
02:10Petrona is a single mum who hasn't decided which skill she'll specialise in yet.
02:17Carol, the only other woman in the group, knew she wanted to be an electrician from the beginning.
02:23What attracted me to building my own property was, because I'm on the council, yeah, and I've got two children at home, two boys, I'm more or less stuck in that flat till probably they grow up and they leave home type of thing.
02:40And the area in which I live in is not very nice neither.
02:44Paul Young is training to be a bricklayer. He was working on the railways before, and sees this as an opportunity to start a new career, as well as having a new home with his three-year-old son.
02:56Well, I live now, I mean, I'm in Nichols at the moment, in a block of flats, 12-floor. So, you know what I mean? I've got a choice, really, like, I'm going to stop there in a 12-floor flat or do me own house, put me own house.
03:14At 48, Calvin is one of the oldest members, and as the senior citizen of the group, he's been voted in as team chairman.
03:22Well, I'm the chairman, plus the foreman of the bricklayers, and I tend to keep the group together.
03:35There'll be 11 houses in all, eight with three bedrooms, two with four bedrooms, and one with five.
03:42They'll form a kind of horseshoe, tagged on at each end to the neighbouring estate.
03:47The houses will all look exactly the same, and apart from their difference in size, the group have had a very limited input in their design.
03:56They're all the same basic layout.
04:00Each house is constructed in exactly the same way.
04:03Concrete bases, timber frames, partition walls, roof trusses, tiles, and traditional brick cladding.
04:09Each house will cost approximately £30,000 to £40,000 to build.
04:16Their current estimated value is £60,000 to £70,000.
04:24In return for building the houses, they'll each own 25% of their finished home.
04:30This is called sweat equity.
04:32So, you're a group of first-time builders who are having to learn on the job.
04:42They've got a tight schedule and an even tighter budget.
04:46And perhaps their biggest challenge is that they're having to work together as a team.
04:54Angela works for the Housing Association.
04:56It's her job to hold the team together.
05:00These people, I mean, the group that have come together, I mean, how did they get together in the first place?
05:04We just advertised to members of the local community, Asian papers, housing offices, churches.
05:10We just went to all the necessary places.
05:12Some things passed by word of mouth, and people came along to meetings.
05:16And slowly, we started off with four people, and slowly from there, we just built as a group.
05:21Do they all have to be here every week? Is that the rule?
05:24Yes, oh yeah, everybody's got to be here every week.
05:27But we've worked out a system where you can sort of bank hours.
05:30If you do more than your required site hours, you can bank some hours.
05:33Southbuild can sort of take over your life, really.
05:35And effectively, when people come to join the group, I say to them,
05:38if you're going to do this, imagine that you have no life.
05:41If you have a partner, tell your partner she isn't going to see you.
05:43But, I mean, at what stage was it made clear to them that it was going to be that kind of commitment?
05:47Oh, from the beginning, I'm a great believer in telling, you know, tell it as it is and not glossing it up.
05:53So they come along to the meetings and I say, you know, if you have any problems with this,
05:57we're a multicultural group.
06:00Things like, again, if you have any racial problems, don't bother staying.
06:03Don't bother staying.
06:05The other person employed by the Housing Association to run the build is Peter.
06:09As site manager, he brings 40 years' experience in the building trade.
06:13As I'm coming to the end of my working life, I'd like to give something back and I think this was an ideal way of doing it.
06:20I'm running it like a small business, so therefore it's my business.
06:24I also work on the site hands-on.
06:27And what about the schedule? What about, I mean, they're not, they're a little bit behind, aren't they?
06:32We're a little bit behind. We started in May. We've got our services in. They will start picking up.
06:38Each team member has to give 20 hours every week for the next year and a half, in return for which they will own a share of their own home.
06:50Now, at any point in the future, they can increase that share by buying back more from the Housing Association, say, with a mortgage.
06:56Or they can carry on paying rent to the Housing Association, or they can sell their share on.
07:02Whichever route they choose, every self-builder here has the opportunity to become a homeowner.
07:09It's early December 1999. Four houses are already standing, put up during a special training phase when the group received extra help.
07:18That phase ends today. There are seven new houses to start from scratch, and just over one year to complete the project.
07:29The first to go up will be houses five, six and seven.
07:36The timber frames have been fabricated off-site. All the frame building team have to do is get them off the lorry and nail the pieces together.
07:45It's like a house in flat pack form, and we all know how easy the instructions for those are.
07:52And four and five. And seven.
07:57This is the first time the team are doing everything without outside help.
08:02The method of construction they're using is one that's really popular in America, but it's fast catching on here as well.
08:13All they do is lay down a damp proof membrane straight onto the concrete floor, put a base plate in, and what they've done here on top of that is build the entire structure in timber.
08:22Not only the internal walls, but also the inner skin of the external wall as well.
08:30While this team is specialising in timber frame building, others are developing different skills on the build.
08:36Right, Carol. Hiya. How's it going? Fine.
08:41You're an electrician, aren't you? I am, yeah.
08:45I mean, what level are you at then? I've done sitting girls level one.
08:49It qualifies me to actually go in and just do domestic wiring.
08:54What were you doing before then?
08:55Well, I work part time behind a bar anyway. Yeah.
08:58And I'm still continuing with that.
09:01So there's a lot of late nights and early starts type of thing.
09:05Plus I've got two children that I have to get into school.
09:07Oh my goodness.
09:09So what do you do during holidays?
09:11I work.
09:12School holidays? Yeah, I work.
09:13What do you do with the kids then?
09:15They're looked after by them.
09:16You bring them down here and give them a hammer?
09:18No, no, they're not allowed actually on site.
09:21They're looked after by my partner's mother.
09:23Hello, Mr Z.
09:25How are you?
09:26I thought you were a painter and decorator.
09:27You were carpenting today.
09:28Yeah, but I have learned nearly everything, you know.
09:30Have you?
09:31Yeah.
09:32What, have you been bricking as well?
09:33Yeah, bricking a little bit, yeah.
09:34What are you doing at the moment?
09:35I mean, how are you...
09:36No, I work as a security officer at night.
09:40And you work here by daytime?
09:42Yeah, yeah.
09:43So when do you sleep?
09:45I don't know myself.
09:48I get about four or five hours, you know.
09:50That's quite odd.
09:51I finish seven o'clock and then get up.
09:53And you have a family, don't you?
09:54Yeah.
09:55That's why I need...
09:56A large family?
09:57Yeah, a large family.
09:58That's why I need a big house.
09:59How many children?
10:00Seven.
10:01Seven children?
10:02Yeah.
10:03How many wives?
10:04My wife is one yet.
10:06One yet.
10:08The outer skin of the houses is conventional brick and mortar.
10:12Bricklaying is hard work.
10:14And already the strain is showing on the bricklayers, Paul and Tab.
10:19Now that we're behind a couple of weeks, you know, they want everyone to do more hours.
10:25I think the people who are working, they're going to find it hard.
10:28And the majority of us are working.
10:31It's just me, Kelvin, and Paul really, who aren't working and are doing part-time college life.
10:40Doing building work of any type is hard enough.
10:43But for this group, the greatest difficulty is finding the time and energy to work on their project.
10:49Each group member still has to go to college, look after their kids and earn their day-to-day living.
10:55And after doing all that, when most of us are ready for a good rest, they've still got to put in 20 hours a week of hard graft on a building site,
11:03for which they receive no extra cash.
11:06It's even more difficult for Calvin, the group chairman.
11:10He's been off sick for six weeks, and he's back now doing light work.
11:15But he's worried about making up all those hours.
11:18I cannot lift 90 degrees, so it will be a bit difficult for me to do any heavy-duty work at this moment in time.
11:26So I hope to get fit as quick as possible.
11:29I'll be doing a lot of light work for the meantime until I get fully fit to do the brickwork and also the matiling.
11:39It's early December, and already the group are finding it hard to put in enough hours on the build.
11:46The frames for houses five, six and seven should be up by now, and the roof should be on.
11:52But they're only just beginning to work above first floor level.
11:56It's still early days, but Petrona for one is close to breaking point.
12:02I knew it was going to be hard, but it's harder than that even.
12:13If I had known, I wouldn't have done it.
12:18Well, I think that, generally speaking, self-builds always are tough.
12:23And I don't think people who go into them at the very beginning, especially people who haven't had any experience of the building trade as such,
12:30realise just that it's just hard work.
12:33You've just got to get stuck in and get working.
12:36So I think people get a little bit of a shock there who have not been in the building game before.
12:41But this team are just not getting stuck in.
12:46They're simply not building enough.
12:48So Angela calls everyone for an emergency meeting.
12:51Sight hours and morale.
12:54I know the winter months are starting to set in.
12:57And I know that through about three or four group members, some people are concerned about the morale,
13:03and about the hours and so forth that are being done on site.
13:06One of the first things I want to do really is to thank Paul and Tab,
13:10who have really, really been putting in their hours and so forth,
13:14and working really hard above and beyond the call of duty, wherever needed, while here during the day.
13:19That doesn't mean that we're pointing the finger at anybody who is not during the day,
13:22because people's circumstances, employment, unemployment are different.
13:25And what they can put into the scheme is different.
13:28But I am concerned that the winter months are setting in now.
13:31Christmas is coming.
13:32And, you know, when the cold bites, people aren't really enthused to come out of their homes.
13:37And also, Ramadan is coming up.
13:39No, I know.
13:40And I'm conscious that Ramadan is coming up as well.
13:42You're doing well, but experience from the previous groups,
13:45this is the point where the groups start to falter because the winter weather is coming.
13:49And that level of enthusiasm isn't there.
13:52Does anybody want to say anything?
13:54Well, I had a word with you, didn't I?
13:58I'll be honest.
13:59I was thinking about leaving the scheme.
14:02I explained to Angela the reasons.
14:05And some of them are to do with my domestic arrangements, whatever.
14:08And also because I felt that I didn't have the flexibility to do the extra hours,
14:14and so I couldn't bank any time, and so I could never have any time off.
14:17And I thought that was quite difficult.
14:20It's only two months since I first came here, and already things are going wrong.
14:26Morale is low, they're falling behind schedule, and if that's not bad enough,
14:31some of the group members are even thinking of pulling out.
14:34Now, winter's setting in, and what was always going to be a difficult project
14:40is turning into an even bigger challenge.
14:43It's the new year, but has Angela managed to bring new energy and commitment
15:00to the self-built team in Birmingham?
15:03It's a good opportunity, and I'm grateful for having the opportunity,
15:06but I don't think I'll do it again, cos it goes into everything, man, doesn't it?
15:13I know, yeah. It takes up a lot of time. A lot of time. It does.
15:17You know, your kids suffer, your relationships suffer,
15:21your workplace suffers cos it's working.
15:24I work part-time as well, so everything suffers in the end.
15:32You know what I mean?
15:33You don't realise that. You don't realise all of that.
15:36Until you come on and do these weeks.
15:37Until you come on and do these weeks.
15:41The building work is still mostly outdoors, and the weather is appalling.
15:46With all the rain, and the team still struggling to put in their hours on site,
15:50Peter, the site manager, has a lot to battle against.
15:55Let's go down now and check these out, mate, will we?
15:57I think we lost, in the December month, 192 production hours.
16:05And we lost in November too, and we lost in January too,
16:09because it's the plasterboard that's really put us behind.
16:12We just haven't been able to get on top of those.
16:14Nailing up plasterboard isn't difficult, but it is a repetitive and tedious task,
16:21which nobody in the group appears to want to specialise in.
16:25What makes it even more frustrating for Peter is that with the bad weather,
16:29this is one indoor job on which the team could really be catching up time.
16:34And to add to his problems, they also have to deal with vandalism on site.
16:38We've got to put up with all these little things that keep happening, breaking Sunday evening.
16:45Not excessive. They didn't do any damage internally, which was a blessing.
16:51But it's there again, it's time and money, and you know, you're looking at 250, 300 quid before you turn around.
16:58But it's not all bad news. Petrona, at least, is trying to put her difficulties behind her.
17:04You had a problem before Christmas, didn't you?
17:06I took some time off. I took some time off.
17:08Yes.
17:09To spend with my son.
17:10Yeah.
17:11And recharge my batteries, which I've done, and which is why, you know, I'm back.
17:16Were you not thinking maybe that it wasn't for you at a certain point?
17:19Oh, you always think that. You always think that you'd rather be at home doing something else
17:23or, you know, just sort of concentrating on other things and...
17:28Well, you know, the whole idea is to get it finished, get it done,
17:31and then, you know, you carry on with what you want to do.
17:34So, it's a chapter in your life, but, you know, there is an end to it.
17:37So, I'm just looking forward to that, seeing it finished.
17:41By February, houses eight and nine are up and ready for the roofs to go on.
17:49Roof tiling is a fairly specialised skill, plus you need a head for heights.
17:54Patrona, Calvin and Tab are among those rising to the challenge.
18:10How are they? How have they been? I mean, they've been laying them yourselves, haven't they?
18:12Oh, yeah.
18:13Because this wasn't something that they were intending to do in the first place.
18:16Is that right? No.
18:17So, you were going to get roofers in, weren't you, to do this?
18:19Well, we was, but the thing is that we got in touch with Redland.
18:24Yes.
18:25And they actually do courses.
18:26Right. So, what, you sent them all off on a course?
18:29Including myself.
18:30Right.
18:31So, we'd...
18:32And you've done the whole thing?
18:33We've done all those.
18:34Those were ours, all those were ours, yes.
18:37Angela is keen to do whatever she can to keep up the new momentum of the build.
18:51Things have improved over the past three weeks, wouldn't you say so?
18:54I think so.
18:55Yeah?
18:56Yeah.
18:57Because on the timesheets, I can see that the hours are improving.
18:59Now that the summer daylight hours are coming along as well,
19:02the group are committed to putting in a few more extra hours
19:05to try and take the process forward.
19:08There has been problems with, like, type of heating and things like that.
19:12And there were, like, some people that were doing, like, sort of very long hours,
19:17very unsociable hours and needing a break, feeling a bit burnt out.
19:23The winter times really does seem to be that point where morale tends to drop.
19:27And I think the early darkness and all that sort of thing does that to you.
19:31You see night time coming, night time just means it's time to go home.
19:37It's spring, and the frames for the last two houses, 10 and 11, are up,
19:42and their roof trusses are starting to go on.
19:45As ever, Peter's there to guide and push everything along.
19:50It's unusual for self-builders to do the roofing,
19:53but Peter is determined that everyone on site should learn as many skills as possible.
19:58And, by putting up their own trusses and doing their own tiling,
20:01the group have made a substantial saving of £15,000,
20:05which they can now plough back into the build.
20:12All 11 houses are now up, and in a month or two,
20:15the first four will be ready to move into.
20:18This provides a welcome inspiration for everyone.
20:26Carol's working hard doing the electrics in Calvin's house to help him get in.
20:31How much more have you got to do in this place?
20:33In here.
20:34Yeah.
20:35Just these.
20:36And that's it?
20:37Is the house done then?
20:38No.
20:39They've still got to drill the lights.
20:41It is having 42 spotlights in here.
20:43How many?
20:4442.
20:45Or thereabouts.
20:46This is what you call second fix, isn't it?
20:48Yeah.
20:49Because all your cables are in, you've just got to stick the fittings in.
20:51That's right, yeah.
20:52I think we're all getting a little bit more exciting now,
20:55because the house has actually gone up now,
20:57and the frame's up.
20:59The roofs have got to go up this week as well.
21:02So when do you move in?
21:03I'm hoping to move in by the 29th to the 5th of June.
21:08Wow, that's very, very, very soon. You're excited?
21:10Yes, I am.
21:11I bet you are.
21:12And do you bring your family as well to bring in, yeah?
21:15Yeah, my daughter.
21:16Yeah?
21:17Yeah.
21:18The whole place is painted different shades of green.
21:20Yes, it is.
21:21Why did you consider doing the whole place in kind of different shades of the same colour?
21:25It's soft colours, and I'm a soft person, so that's how I love it, yes.
21:32Mmm, mmm.
21:33So how are you going to furnish it?
21:34They're having big cushions, poofies.
21:36Yeah?
21:37Right, on the floor.
21:38Because I don't like furniture.
21:39All right, so it's going to be very freestyle then.
21:41Yes, it's going to be like a bachelor's place as well.
21:44Oh, yeah?
21:45Are you a bachelor?
21:46Yes, yes, yes, yes.
21:49And, um, so I also hear you're going to have, I think the electrician told me, Carol, 42 spotlights.
21:57Yes.
21:58Because, um...
21:59Yeah, why?
22:00The reason is that I don't like wires hanging down, because I think it's old fashioned, but I'm going to have dimmers in here so I can dim out certain lights and switches to switch off certain lights.
22:11It's going to be quite a groovy pad, isn't it?
22:13It is.
22:14It is.
22:15Well, I've already figured out where I'm having my boxes already.
22:17I'm going to give me stars at hells.
22:20So where do these want to go then?
22:21In here?
22:22Big kitchen?
22:23Yeah, nice, isn't it?
22:24Oh, God, I've just broken one.
22:26No, that's all right.
22:27Sounds awful.
22:28It's about five times as big as my kitchen, I have to tell you.
22:32Well, I haven't seen it.
22:33It's enormous.
22:34Because it's a big kitchen, you know, so some money I paid from my pocket.
22:37Oh, really?
22:38Over and above what the budget was?
22:39Yeah, over the budget, you know.
22:40It's the best one we chose, I think.
22:41Best one?
22:42Best quality?
22:43Yeah, best quality.
22:44Absolutely.
22:45Yeah, so how much extra did it cost you?
22:46About £500.
22:47All right, well, that's not outrageous, isn't it?
22:49That's not bad, yeah.
22:50All this is very beautiful, but you are still behind.
22:53Yeah.
22:54How far behind still now?
22:56I reckon now that by now we should have been at least half way.
22:59We should have had at least six houses completed by now.
23:01So?
23:02We've only got four.
23:03What's that, three months behind?
23:05Yeah, probably two months.
23:06That?
23:07And you wanted to be in by Christmas?
23:09These schemes cost money, you know what I mean?
23:11And we can't afford to waste money because money for the group members is sweat equity.
23:14So the sweat equity that they're all getting, the percentage value in return for their labour,
23:19is getting diminished.
23:20Yeah, you're eating to your ownership, your part that you own.
23:23So you need more effort.
23:24Yeah.
23:25And of course Peter's going away.
23:26He's going away on holiday to Australia.
23:28Yes, yes, yes.
23:29Peter's going away in Australia to see his family.
23:31And you know, my concern was that because of the fact that he's not here, things are
23:35going to slip again.
23:37Before Peter leaves, he has to ensure that the pace of the build keeps going while he's
23:43away.
23:44He's decided that he has to push the plasterboarding forward.
23:47And so he's organised certain members of the group into a focused team.
23:52He's called it the A-Team.
23:56So what's your reasoning behind putting them together as a team?
23:59Well, to try and move the production along.
24:03Yeah.
24:04To try and get people in by December the 31st.
24:06Yeah.
24:07So if we try to board a house using as much of the labour as I can.
24:12When are you off?
24:13I'm off a week Sunday.
24:15I won't be back again until after the August bank holiday.
24:20Yeah.
24:21So how are you lot going to manage?
24:22Are you going to be, you're chair of the committee, Calvin.
24:25I'm chair.
24:26Yeah.
24:27Are you going to be running the site?
24:28Yeah.
24:29Are you?
24:30Good.
24:31Messiah on the Sunday morning Aryne.
24:36So, with Peter away the whole month of August, Calvin as group chairman has to step
24:42in and take responsibility for the site.
24:45Mr. Hazzard is almost finished.
24:47I don't want nothing there, Mr. Hazzard.
24:49That's going to be started next.
24:53I'll put the I'll put it in number two for now I'll be with you in a minute
25:15right do we have to have you this morning I just do what happening outside honestly do we have to
25:28have you got you go away stressing stressing despite all Calvin's hard work progress has been slow
25:49unfortunately the majority of the group including the a team are suffering a dip in motivation this
25:57isn't good news for Peter when he returns from holiday in September I would have liked to have
26:03come back and seen five six and seven boarded and unfortunately we stuck still stuck in five and
26:11six and we know we're near we know we're near finishing them too we've certainly got to go
26:20pull our finger out now to finish by the by Christmas there isn't any doubt about it Peter
26:26and Angela are so worried about progress they've called everyone to another meeting after the
26:32experience of last winter they want to propose bringing in outside contractors to help meet
26:37their Christmas deadline so the reason I call this meeting is that I need you as a group to look at
26:49yourselves and ask yourselves realistically and in conjunction with discussing me Peter whether you
26:56feel that you're going to be able to commit the hours and time required to finish your properties by
27:02the end of January at the latest for every week past that that we don't finish it costs you a thousand
27:09pound a week so that's a grander time that's been loved as unto your scheme so that grander time is
27:15eating into your equity money that you're entitled to fit for the em labor if the group comes to the
27:21decision that yes it is it does make sense to bring contractors in and what it and we and we do and
27:31we do get into our houses December January do we lose equity there no we don't because my
27:38old point in saying why we should look at bringing in contractors is that they will make sure to help that
27:44will you achieve that equity and and hopefully helps you to achieve that this scheme is finished
27:49by the end of January and everybody's in their house I fully endorse what Angela said because
27:53you need help let's get people in by Christmas at least for people to be in the house so I'd like
27:59you all to show a hand of whether you're for or against this motion for us to bring in some
28:04contractors to help out on steam so there are four months to go even with outside help getting all
28:28these houses finished by Christmas will mean even more hard work for everyone and there's another
28:35winter to get through it's October and the new contractors are on site concentrating on specific
28:54tasks such as finishing the exterior carpentry indoors they've taken over from the a team and
29:02are pushing forward the plasterboarding our group are still required to put in their hours but it seems
29:11the only people around during the day are the contractors so where are the self builders the group
29:18have been a victim of their own success they're all working now most of them bar about two so therefore
29:23we have no daytime label available because most of them work during the day so we've had to rather
29:28than waste those hours we brought some contractor plus trainee assistants on sides and then the group
29:33members come in and during the evenings and on the weekends and put in their hours as normal so of
29:37those group members that trained how many of them have got work and of the entire group members and nine
29:45of them have got work that's a lot that's really good and they were all on the dole before and all of
29:50them were on the dole bar three when we first we started okay and have they all gone into construction
29:56work have they used the skills that they've learned some have some have gone like the bricklayers and
30:00they've landed jobs in terms of bricklaying and so forth and others carpentry and so forth take
30:05Alvin for instance he's not pushy with his personality or anything like that but since he's been chairman of
30:09the group he's learned to get the respect of the South builders organize get things done he has
30:16really developed in personality and sort of what I'd call site administration skills Paul Young he's
30:23gone on to get himself a new job and again he was really quiet actually and he's gone and done his
30:28bricklaying and he's just this whiz now at mathematics and he cannot believe that he's been able to achieve
30:33something something like that is what you never came here to learn Carol's moved on and is working
30:39at Star City it wasn't that she was shy but she wasn't as confident in herself and she's come on
30:44leaps and bounds in terms of what she wants to achieve so are they going to be able to keep the
30:49motivation up all the way until Christmas there's no are they going to they will keep the motivation
30:54they've got to they've got to because to achieve as I said to get into their properties that's what
30:59they've got to do the schemes on track it's down to the South builders I've set all the things I
31:04can in place to encourage them to deliver basically and it just comes down to how bad do you want it
31:10really well I'd say they want it pretty bad because after a full day's work at their new jobs they're
31:17coming down here every night to put in their hours I wonder how the experience of building their own
31:23houses has helped them in other ways so did you get your job at the club effectively because you
31:31were working here I think so confidence boys yeah because obviously I've got a lot more confidence
31:37with doing the South build because you meet different people day in day out you know you you just can
31:43have a good personality as well which also comes across good if you go for a job interview that what's
31:49going to involve dealing with customers what are you doing what's your job I'm a bricklayer so you've
31:54gone from bricklaying here to bricklaying for a job do you find working nights a bit slow compared to
32:01working during the daytime always problem with artificial light and yeah what it is everyone in
32:06the day be fresh you know they have this nice sleep and they come to work and they be fresh and and
32:11whilst we're coming from work and we'll be quite tired and everything so yeah it is a lot slower and
32:17right time of yeah and you walk out into the gloom looking for a screwdriver or all right yeah
32:22exactly or sheet of plasterboard it's pitch black hmm it's not enough to work hard the buildings have
32:30to pass regular monthly inspections Eric Marshall the site inspector has been visiting for a year and a
32:37half and I want to know what he thinks of the quality of the work here and they'll have to be taken off
32:43are they and they need to be square with the with the window there absolutely yeah right that'll be
32:48done again and if you look over here yeah they've got the type it's far too near the surface and it
32:55hasn't been covered look so it's split it's split it's coming near the surface I'll just go upstairs now
33:00and see what the rooms are like upstairs right see if there are any more defects do you find many they
33:07seem quite small points to me but does Eric think these houses are up to standard how do they rate
33:17against them commercial builders well they're not too badly bad at all really when they've done all
33:23put all these things right it will look as good as a professional builder the technical success of
33:29these self builders is a real achievement and socially this scheme feels very progressive however I do have
33:36reservations about the architecture and I wanted to ask the head of the Housing Association Chris
33:42Handy why these houses look so like Brookside clothes walking down the street these houses really don't look
33:49that different from those that are put up there by commercial developer they're not how shall I say
33:54architecturally that innovative nor are they particularly innovative in terms of their their environmental
34:00friendliness you know their their green value their conventional brick-built houses aren't they we don't
34:06want social housing to look as a social housing because there's been a problem if you like of some
34:12stigma attached to social housing in in the past so we're trying to get away from if you like showing
34:19housing to be if you like for needy groups so you're briefed to the architect here was designed as
34:25something which looks similar to what's going on up the road it wasn't our brief to the architects it was
34:30the self-builders and I think that that's a critical issue as well that the the group itself wanted housing of
34:37this of this nature of traditional construction I mean there's another another advantage in that as
34:43well in that what we wanted to do as part of this project is to I suppose equip people with real technical
34:49skills so that they could get jobs on the job market so the traditional construction techniques have
34:56helped them do that it's no good teaching people unusual business building skills that are not
35:00going to be able to use in the job markets it's late November and for the self-builders the rewards
35:07for their efforts are finally in sight the budget for the build includes a thousand pounds per house
35:13for kitchen units and appliances but that's it they have to pay for all their own furniture
35:26members of the group are now concentrating on their own houses
35:30this bill has been underway for 18 months now and it's now December this is the month which
35:44they were supposed to have finished and actually they pretty well have Calvin's house is number three
35:52and he's already moved in and is making it a home hey what a bad I remember you saying you didn't
35:58want any um you didn't want much furniture you know just pool face yeah the stereo and your sound
36:05system that's a major piece of furniture in here my goodness yes that's a thousand watt pioneer the
36:12yeah this is gonna be a club this place oh you can say when my friends can come out chill out yeah
36:19you can play music sit down talk about rastafari and all that oh it's it's huge Calvin kitchen it's
36:31massive it is massive isn't it dining area here breakfast bar everything units uh what's this
36:40dishwasher dishwasher no washing machine tumble dryer yeah and fridge it's got its own house yes
36:47there fridge freezer how many bedrooms have you got four bedrooms yeah very I mean you know it's all
36:55but actually I think I grew up in a bedroom that size it's fun yeah so I've got the same what airing
37:01cupboard in here now it's yeah tank tank and airing cupboard nice bathroom another bedroom yes this is
37:17the main bedroom yes but was there was there a time there Calvin during this build where you felt
37:25actually you know it's not within my grasp I don't think I'm ever going to to get it did you or did was
37:32the time you thought I'm just gonna give up no I never thought that because it's too much of a strong
37:38hole I've waited five years so no I didn't think of giving up you never once thought that but what
37:47was the worst time is when I was off sick oh really yeah with your back with my back I couldn't come in
37:54wanted to come in but the doctor said no you can't come in and how long were you off for for about two
38:00months so how did you make up all that time then I just came in and I just work really yes what was the
38:06best time what was the greatest moment in all of it or is that when all the brickwork finished I
38:12really yes I know what though and he and I went oh yes the brickwork what just because you were
38:20relieved to get it all done yes because that is the hardest part I think is the brickwork Paul one of
38:27the other bricklayers lives right across the street from Calvin's he's ready to start decorating and then
38:34sort of end up like building my own house sort of thing you know you know you know no no no I can
38:39do it yeah well most of the things anyway yeah yeah you know you and not that you know we like
38:45because you like we're not we're not all our neighbors and we like how could you help each
38:49other now you know if we need anything we'd be more like to treat each other well yeah a bit
38:54different to kind of moving into a brand new estate and taking five years to get to meet your next-door
38:59neighbor I see yeah you see we already know we already know each of all ready so yeah that's
39:03a good thing about it yeah the community is there before you've moved in that's it now we've got our
39:07own little community now yeah but Peter you I mean you said look you thought you might be retiring
39:19after this one but if you have you have you found a new energy a new excitement working with these guys
39:26well it's it's a good way of finishing off your career or you know you're ready to trade that you
39:33are helping the others which has been the main aim for me right at the beginning yes any you said that
39:38you've taken so much out of the industry over the years it's been good someone that's been good for
39:41me and so to be able to put it back in there's been a plus and when these people are now working
39:49yeah got a good life in front of them earning some decent dough and that's good to say are you pleased
39:57I'm very pleased indeed I mean one of the things that we've we've geared ourselves towards is the
40:02quality of the work that's carried out on the site as you said the clerk of works has come down and
40:07snagged and the things that have been found are just minor things yeah we've had the building inspector
40:12from Birmingham City Council come down and he's expressed how high quality the work is considering
40:17they're just trainees and so forth so I'm really pleased well that's what it's all about isn't it
40:21them and their skills and also earning a proportion within the properties that they've built to increase
40:26that sense of ownership that this is ours yes we built it but this is ours we also own some of it as
40:31well even the very last house that'll be finished is ready for decoration for Patrona this means a whole
40:39new inspiring start well I bought this cat originally yeah and that was like going to be like a
40:46centerpiece of the room there's there's actually two of those is this going to be an Egyptian room
40:50it's going to be inspired I don't want it Egyptian I'm not going to go like way over the top and have
40:55like all kinds of sort of Egyptian kind of you know furniture things like that I just want to
40:59incorporate the colors and you know so you just walk into the room you kind of you can see what
41:04it's meant to be by looking at these with the gold and the designs and the eye there yeah and the
41:09hieroglyphics yeah yeah I'm gonna do that yeah what are you gonna do well with the hieroglyphics what I'm
41:14going to do is I'm going to put my name backwards my name backwards is a nortep which sounds Egyptian
41:20yes which sounds Egyptian and I'm going to yeah I'm just going to put like a no I'm not no no I'm
41:27not but you know I'm going to sort of use that and do like a signature in the room to just say you
41:33know I've been planning this scheme for about four years and everything yeah yeah as long as you've been
41:38thinking about the house you've been planning this scheme yeah yeah yeah the Egyptian idea yeah did
41:43this motivate you to build the house to get involved with the project no no but I must admit though if
41:50you get an opportunity to to build your own house you know when it comes to decorating it you do tend
41:54to sort of use you know come by ideas that you know you wouldn't normally get to do so it's yeah it's
42:00all been very very inspiring it's just a way of just you know ending it all and freedom in other words
42:05there's a freedom of having a blank canvas to work on come see me kitchen hey it's all in it's
42:16just currently I'm finished well you've got your machines to go in haven't you yeah yeah are they
42:21they're going to be all stainless is that right unfortunately no only the cooker is going to be
42:27all right yeah well that's kind of nice because that's the thing that's on display yeah yeah the
42:31handles are wrong oh they need they need to be changed put something kind of groovy yeah you
42:37need something a bit more around I want stainless steel or nickel on those yes in all of this what
42:42was the worst moment for you I think it was last winter the winter of 99 when it's the first winter
42:49that we'd that we'd had and you were building through yeah we were building through we didn't quite
42:54realize what it would take you know to keep coming on site in bad weather and when it was cold and we
43:01were hungry we wanted to go home and things like that and people started to think oh you know I'd
43:05rather be at home or whatever and that as well I think we all got a shock with that what's kept you
43:14going knowing what it could be when it's all over knowing that it's a fresh start for me it's a fresh
43:19start for my son knowing that he's looking forward to it you know it's looking forward to sharing his
43:23friends around and you know you know my family's seeing it as well yeah and a big plus for you
43:29then personally I mean to to say that you've achieved that presumably knowing yeah the knowledge
43:35that I've actually done this I that I did this off my own steam and I was determined to do it I
43:41taught myself into doing it that you know it's been because it's been quite an experience been hard
43:46work and what was the best moment what was the highlight walking in and seeing my kitchen oh really
43:51yeah when did you do that last week walked in and seeing it very exciting yeah it's part of you
43:59it looks like a house looks like a house you know it's got a kitchen for Carol too it's a first chance
44:09to make her own home these are wall placards that I'm gonna put up on the walls yeah how much stuff
44:20have you got quite a bit actually I didn't realize this is all glazed bread glazed oh you've been buying all this
44:30yeah amazing you're gonna decorate the whole place looks I bought these actually this is your fantasy home
44:36isn't it yeah yeah my kitchen I want my kitchen and my living room when did you start to to plan and buy all of this stuff when did it's when did you start getting the bug for all of this
44:48three years yeah that far ago so even before you'd built the house you'd already dreamed what it would
44:54look like yeah I don't I just don't want one room to look nice I want all rooms to look nice I want it
45:01to look like a show house because it's all that I've ever dreamed of I'm in my own house and happy and
45:08having it exactly the way that I want it and this this this is the only way I can do it by going out I
45:16mean I probably brought too much um so but I'll find somewhere you'll find some effort to go won't you
45:24yeah but I mean it's it is exciting yeah I mean I've got a big dolphin coffee table as well
45:31it's just been stuck in a box since 1997 because that's when we brought it
45:36it's just big massive dolphin tower it's lovely I mean I was going to I was going to ask you what
45:44you know what the best moment of the build has been but it's kind of all of it because it's almost
45:50pointless because the best moment for you is going to be moving in isn't it well basically yeah moving
45:55in and getting all my stuff out and putting it in different areas and my colour scheme as well I'm just
46:01going to like I say I'm going to keep it neutrally with a green eye for going through the top of the
46:07ceiling and that trailing down the walls the whole I'm going to colour wash it a warm colour
46:14the living room is going to be um marbles effect on the walls the kids bedrooms I've let them choose
46:20their own colours relay so they're going to have four different colours on their walls
46:24mm-hmm and the bathroom and shower room I've even gone for a dolphin tile effect yeah yeah on the
46:32bathroom and the shower room it's all very exciting now but there must have been times whether or not
46:37when it was really hard I mean well what was the worst moment for you in this build
46:41truthfully if you're not careful um it can ruin relationships we've we haven't been a family for
46:54four years because we're never all together yes so it hasn't been such a worst moment as just a trial
47:01getting through the whole thing yeah it's like hard explaining to the children as well
47:06you know I try and say to them I know where we're living at the moment isn't very nice but we still
47:12have to live here we still have to look after it you know I mean but you know and like I was saying
47:20before you feel guilty sometimes because you can't devote your time to them but hopefully it'll be a future
47:26where um what we're proud of and the children will be proud of too yeah I see this as an investment
47:35that I can leave them do you know what I mean
47:46I've been really quite privileged for the last 18 months watching these people change and grow as
47:52they build their houses of course these aren't exactly stunning pieces of architecture but what they do give
47:58everybody here is something that many of us take for granted and that's a permanent home a secure base
48:06which they can now build their future
48:18so
48:27you
48:29you
48:48You