SPECULATOR BUILDERS

Grey River Argus, 17 October 1936, Page 4

SPECULATOR BUILDERS

A COMMENDABLE EXAMPLE. The term “speculative builder” has been sometimes saluted with more brickbats than bouquets. Therefore it is encouraging to find that England has a building firm whose operations have been favourably reviewed in the “Journal of the Royal Institute of Dritish Architects.' ’

“Speculative builders in England, the writer remarks, “vary from the worst —the ‘build-and-run ’ type —up to reliable firms who maintain a tradition of good quality work. 1 hese last usually operate in their own neighbourhood where their reputation will inevitably govern their future success. It is also to be expected that where, as in case, the founder of the parent company is imbued with ideals of service those ideals will not easily be lost under the pressure of commercial enterprise. The firm is therefore mil generally tvpical of speculative builders in this country, though it is by no means unique. Il is Ibis class id speculative builder which most deserves encouragement. '“The company is guided in its estate work by principles and a policy ■which may be described in general terms. Having regard to their reputation they hold that good budding pays, apart from question of design. Moreover, it would not be wort i while employing an architect unless they did build well. The choice of •ircliitect is important. The employment of a staff junior—-a “ tame architect ’ ’—is considered to be bad policy; wheieas the appointment of a consulting architect of acknowledged reputation in house design not only gives the best results but is also a guarantee of qttal ity in the houses and (heretore a gwm ‘selling point.’ In other words, it pays the speculative builder to pay for the best advice he can get and to take it. “Sites for development are chosen and enough land bought to fulfil a known demand in a district. , thorough surveys are made, including such matters as the kinds and conditions of trees, shrubs and hedges, the nature of the subsoil and all the external factors likely to influence the proposed development. Care is taken that as far as possible the development shall not subsequently be spm.eo bv other building on adjacent mtes. ‘“Actual layout of the site is “ ,n ’ sidered to be all important. The principal aim is not merely to eonserve existing amenities hut to create a harmonious unit of development that fills its place in the countryside. It is worth noting that purchasers of the first houses built on an estate are given a guarantee that in no circumstances will the houses built later be of less value or poorer quality than their

own. “Those aims doubtless appear ou paper to be unduly altruistic and io militate against the profit-makisg function of a commercial undertaking. The builders say that they could undoubtedly make larger profits more immediately bv putting up the ordinary cheap villa of the kind that is km.,w> to sell readily. It is an acknowledged fact that the plain house of good de si<m does not sell so well as does the meretricious villa. But apart from any altruistic aims of educating public taste, they hold that the policy of building architect-designed houses Mint are wed planned, well sited, in harmony with their surroundings and of which the values are guarded as far as possible against deterioration will in the long run be commercially oetter for the builders.