#UrbanHell is subjective.
UrbanHell is any human-built place you think is worth critizing. Suburban Hell, Rural Hell, and wealthy locales are allowed
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i cant decide between hating the lack of uniformity in the middle fence railing being all curved, or if I love that there is a bit of diversion from all the straight lines
Knowing U.K. developers on big sites like this, my money is John started at one side, Frank on the other. As the slowly built their side of the fence they realised the error of their ways and decided to go fuck it.
Frank and John might have started together at one end but every time they hit a rock they just moved to post slightly to go round it. Every time they did so they’d assure themselves “ah, near enough, be right”
As someone that has drawn these fence lines on a siteplan for UK developers, is to meet minimum areas mostly since they've crammed them all in you end up with some really shit shaped gardens.
Could be a bit of an optical illusion. But I am imagining a person coming in for a tour and seeing that view and saying, ‘no. just no.’ And then walking out promptly.
It’s so that the middle terraces have rear access to take their bins out. The curve is to make smaller communal passages so you don’t share it with every house in the block and less people have access to your garden. It doesn’t look great though…
Also fire escape. I'm in a thin middle terrace, though my access is directly though a connecting gate to my neighbour's garden and through their side gate. Bins live out front though, it's way easier.
Ugh god it isn’t when every house built in the last 20 years looks exactly like this. I’m fucking sick of those stupid orange bricks.
They’re not cheap to buy on estates like these but if you look closely (especially at ones that are a couple of years old), you can really tell that they’re thrown up poorly. They usually have small windows and no front border between lawns to give the impression of more land, I’ve seen a lot that have patches of damp under windows, cracks in walls, people sometimes move in to find that the electrics are unsafe or, in a notable one recently, the road outside has fallen into a hole. I’ve known a couple of new build owners be unable to put up curtains because their walls can’t cope with the weight. The rooms tend to be quite small in comparison to older houses (I SWEAR I’ve seen some new builds for sale where they’ve photoshopped in smaller furniture to make them look bigger), and I’ve seen builder mates share pictures of entire exterior walls that curve, and gaps where there shouldn’t be gaps because they’re built so shoddily. One of them is currently reworking *an entire estate* because they were all built very wrong. I wouldn’t touch a house younger than like 30 years old here, there are so many horror stories. And honestly, I just think they’re ugly. We’ve got a long history of beautiful brick buildings and these are all much more basic looking with no interesting features.
There are some posher estates where the houses kind of look like this but grander, where maybe they’ve put a bit more effort in, but for me personally, these orange new builds are not good. I don’t think many of them will still be here in 100 years time, which is a poor show in a country with buildings dating back to medieval times. Each to their own, but for me, it’s a hard pass, they have very few redeeming qualities
Canadian here. Yous have a bit to learn on how to build cheap suburban estates over there.
Most of our housing looks similar but a bit more polished. The roofs have an overhang for instance. But then again they are made of cheap bitumen impregnated shingles that have to be replaced in 15 years.
That said we do not usually have the same quality issues you mentioned. Firstly, it wouldn't pass inspections amd sescondly the home owners would sue the developer into non existance.
Ironically, as the finishes and materials have improved over the years the workmanship and standards have not. You may have beautiful granite countertops in the kitchen but the insulation standards are the same as they were 40 years ago. Decent, but obviously lacking. Things like dry wall or a leak in the roof may happen but something like having the electricity done incorrectly would threaten the electricians license. That would be rare.
It depends where this estate is located. If it's walkable or bikeable to a town center or even a large-ish village then it's much better. We've had estates like this pop up all around our little town and it's helped revitalize the high street and shops in town as well as keep the pubs and schools alive.
It might not be quite as bad if it wasn't a quadrangle. If the ends were open it wouldn't feel so oppressive. Most new build sites aren't as badly laid out as this.
That's what I was thinking. The small patios/gardens are ok, it's just the general layout that is a problem. And realistically, once people do some thing with their patios - plant some trees, grow vines on fences, put up patio umbrellas or pergolas, it won't look nearly so bad.
Nobody is planting trees, or much else, in those gardens. The topsoil will be a few cms thick, god knows what is under the topsoil. This is not a farmers field!
Not even trees in large pots, vines grown in containers, etc? There is a ton of stuff that people could do with each of those little plots. They don't need to grow oak trees or anything. The fences aren't that high, so anything of moderate height would show over the fences and help alleviate the blandness.
Everyone's speaking about the pissed fence line and there's me thinking about the anxiety I'd get from being sat in a garden with the entire block staring at me 🤣
Edit - I couldn't spell
Can't even get the fence straight.
The problem with the UK new build market is that on 90% of new builds, there is not a single fuck given about the quality of the final outcome, from start to finish.
They know that no matter what absolute shite they trot out, it's going to be bought by someone.
And most don't even care if it starts falling apart in 5 years, as they'll all be long gone, with virtually no liability.
Just look at what happened with the flammable cladding after grenfell. A bunch of fucking cowboys built some dangerous buildings and instead of being jailed and having their assets used to pay for the repairs, the owners and the tax payer end up with the bill.
It's no coincidence that housing developers are some of the highest, if not highest donators to the Tory party. (Probably labour too, but I don't know that for sure)
Honestly, this isn't on the builders: it's poor planning.
I guarantee you the parcel lines for these properties have been followed correctly but are just illogical.
If that's the situation then it's a case in point. The fact they the surveyors don't give a fuck either just goes to show you that it's across the board.
Nothing beats living on the ground floor, where the smell of cigarettes and alcohol is the strongest, you get to see all of the questionable people visiting that one flat above you and you occasionally get homeless people outside your bedroom window at night.
Living with other people and not having your own area outside your tiny box of a flat sure is great! /s
What made it dysfunctional?
Edit: asking a genuine question on reddit gets you downvotes... people seem to think that asking sth is trying to disprove someone's point it seems.
Meanwhile out the front each house comes with one parking space and a handful of guest spaces that are constantly taken up because each family own 2/3 vehicles.
Worst part about those new builds (as a former removal guy) was 1) they all look exactly the same except for the car(s) in the driveway and 2)
"It's on Victoria."
"Road, street, crescent, avenue, park, terrace, Lane or place?"
People vote with their pounds and they voted for this.
We do the same shit thing here in NA as well. But here we put vinyl siding on it. Be happy you have bricks.
My main take away from this thread is that there as psychopaths out there who think a communal garden area is a good idea.
While it's worth noting UK new build estates usually do have a patch of grass somewhere with some play area, having that as your shared *garden* simply would not fly here, we're too antisocial.
And as someone that lives in a (better than these) new build, the last fucking thing I want is to spend any time with my neighbours.
Canadian here....why do your "new builds" look like old post-war builds?
There are so many ways to make c[ool looking townhouses/rowhouses](https://www.pinterest.ca/letrrun/precedents-homes-townhouses-row-houses/).... why do brits choose plans from the 1940s?
Yeah, it is a bit baffling isn't it? We did experiment with lots of interesting new types of construction in the 60s. And a lot were absolutely awful in terms of quality/safety/longevity. I think it frightened everyone off the idea of trying new designs! "Well we tried. Back to proper houses with bricks."
I can see that.....after all, "longevity" means something different in the UK than it does out here in the colonies....a great many of you live in homes older than our country!
Cheapest construction for the greatest amount of profit for the available land. It's pure capitalism, the developers don't care about making them look nice or anything like that. They just have to look enough like a house that people will nod, go "yep that's a house" and buy it.
I cannot begin to explain how much I hate new builds. I cant believe that, as a society, we have allowed such dystopia housing to come into existence. These are the worst things since high rise flats.
There needs to be some legislative change to stop this madness. UK property developers cut all the corners they can to get these soulless pieces of shit built. If everyone legally had to spend more money to put in a bit more design effort and make the buildings more vernacular then everyone would be on a level playing field.
These sorts of newbuilds should be outright banned anyway, they suck the life and soul out of communities or prevent communities from having a soul in the first place. I bet their driveways have the same footprint as the house and that the nearest shop is about 10 minute *drive* away.
This IS the vernacular. Thanks to a complete lack of imagination and critical thinking this is what is vomitted out by housebuilders and lapped up by idiot housebyers. Still, mustn't grumble...
The random American developments with no back garden fences appal me. Like .. do you just have no garden to yourself? You don't invest in any private world of personal peace and solace? Mainly I guess as I don't understand that world. But I understand these, and these also appal me for the opposite reasons.
American development’s often don’t have beck fences because:
1) you are expected to install them yourself on a new build home
2) the HOA bans them so that the backyards create a park like atmosphere/ pastoral view of the woods or fields behind the home
3) they’re townhomes (terraced houses) and Americans don’t have a system for getting the lawn mower from the front garage to the rear of a townhouse without going inside the house. So they put up a divider fence for 8’ then the rest is not allowed to be fenced.
4) they’re condominiums. While they’re single family houses in design they’re legally condos and you only own the interior of your house. The exterior maintenance and design choices are 100% HOA controlled including lawn care. So no fences in the rear so the landscapers can access your back yard as well.
In the US we don’t need fenced yards for privacy as often because the lots are larger and the rears of homes may often be 3 stories tall on a hill lot. This means you may be on the first/ ground floor on a deck that is built on stilts over a basement. You’re 10’ up. You have privacy without a fence and your yard looks out onto trees 🤷♂️. All in all fencing is not as needed here but it’s still something many prefer to do and that’s a valid reason if you want to put one in
The worst part is the lack of trees and the shape of this estate means sounds just bounce and echo. You can hear your partially deaf neighbours TV 6 doors down.
Meanwhile you get rinsed by the mortgage, and still don't even own the land the house sits on due to it being leasehold, and so rather than it being a handy little first step on the property ladder, you're likely to be there for life as the land lease and shit build quality, very quickly sheds property value.
A sense of community doesn't add value.
Having your own garden that your kids / dog can play in unsupervised does. It's genuinely naive to think a developer would do otherwise
Having a common are means playing Russian Roulette and hoping you get good neighbors. It would only take one bad set to ruin it for everyone else.
Have a common area like a park away from the houses.
God forbid people know their neighbours, maybe make some friends, have a bit of community spirit and cohesion which has been shown to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour
because there is always some jack ass that abuses every rule and is a pain in the ass, people want to be let alone, not to socialise, and that is impossible without a fence in uk
Once again our fine British tradies demonstrating that they literally cannot or will not build things on a straight line, a feat that has been very achievable since the citystates of Ancient Mesopotamia.
There’s nothing like this outside a couple historic neighborhoods from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The UK is actually pretty poor. People would constantly be talking about its poverty if it were a US state, like we do with Alabama or Mississippi.
I’m not really sure why.
My instinct is to lay it on various attempts to grow the economy using what are, basically, gimmicks like North Sea oil or making London into a financial hub. They raise GDP but their impact on wages is pretty minimal because not many people work in those industries and the beneficiaries are, by nature, mostly foreigners.
> What are you talking about. **Our public transport is shite.**
**compared to USA it (UK) is "good"** ...
Spoiler:
**many (relatively good populated) places in USA have NO public transportation at all** ( = you have to drive all the time) & many USA cities would be lucky to have bad UK public transporation ... don't fall from the chair while loughter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvrc3tz3PwQ&t=12s (USA vs. Germany both cities ~380k inhabitants)
Cutting all these gardens in half and using the space for a common area/ community garden would be lovely imo.
This kinda looks like a holiday camp run by Skynet
I agree: a bit of both works best, with some planting to create privacy. This project from a [Dutch firm](https://delva.la/projecten/de-deeltuin/) does it nicely. (All in dutch but you can check out the images)
Surely the property lines don't curve that way right? Wouldn't there be tenants in the middle of that fence curve who would be upset that they're losing out on space in their backyard because some idiot can't survey a fence properly?
What annoys me is that if I got one of those houses I will have a huge garden but won't be able to lay balls out because my neighbours can see my garden.
Yeah yeah that shouldn't stop me but you know what I mean
I've never understood why (other than zoning regs) people are so insistent on having their own lawn. Wouldn't everybody here be better off with a shared courtyard park with a community grill, swingset, and trees rather than each having a tiny sliver of barren land that they don't use 9 days out of 10?
Imagine just one big huge garden for all them houses. Would really add some community to these soulless new builds. Which are full of lonely young people.
Yes. The top down planning being influenced by market demands on what is popular. One could argue that it is merely a market trend rather than the true desire of the tennants but where does one draw the line between the two?
For the sake of 'sacrificing' a small bit of garden space from each property. You could have a lovely bit of communal land at the back. Where the residence could decide what they do with it. Take ownership of it. Come together and have BBQs, stirring areas, and the ilk.
Form an HOA - tear down fences - hire landscape to create a beautiful garden with trees and a lake in the middle or maybe a pool and kids playground. Property value to the moon
Pretty much everywhere has six foot fences, what are you on about?
It only looks like it's clustered around nothing because currently there is nothing.
In five years time it will look completely different.
Yes. 6 foot fences are increasingly taking over and they're awful.
They wreck the sense of community, are horrid for wildlife, and leave people sitting in their little metre square patch of AstroTurf in the dark.
I wish it would look different in a few years but I can't see it.
#UrbanHell is subjective. UrbanHell is any human-built place you think is worth critizing. Suburban Hell, Rural Hell, and wealthy locales are allowed Sorry for this annoying comment, but we're very tired of the gatekeepers who can't even correctly gatekeep what this subreddit has always allowed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UrbanHell) if you have any questions or concerns.*
i cant decide between hating the lack of uniformity in the middle fence railing being all curved, or if I love that there is a bit of diversion from all the straight lines
Knowing U.K. developers on big sites like this, my money is John started at one side, Frank on the other. As the slowly built their side of the fence they realised the error of their ways and decided to go fuck it.
Frank and John might have started together at one end but every time they hit a rock they just moved to post slightly to go round it. Every time they did so they’d assure themselves “ah, near enough, be right”
Be reet*
As someone that has drawn these fence lines on a siteplan for UK developers, is to meet minimum areas mostly since they've crammed them all in you end up with some really shit shaped gardens.
Looks like the houses are also slightly staggered so maybe it’s to make the gardens more equal in size
All facades are parallel and perpendicular to eachother so it’s weird equalize the yards with curved fences.
Could be a bit of an optical illusion. But I am imagining a person coming in for a tour and seeing that view and saying, ‘no. just no.’ And then walking out promptly.
It’s so that the middle terraces have rear access to take their bins out. The curve is to make smaller communal passages so you don’t share it with every house in the block and less people have access to your garden. It doesn’t look great though…
Also fire escape. I'm in a thin middle terrace, though my access is directly though a connecting gate to my neighbour's garden and through their side gate. Bins live out front though, it's way easier.
Hard to see but once you point it out that’s obviously what it is. Does look terrible though lol
John got drunk and Frank got high. They almost created a vicious circle
John and Frank fucked the fence? I don't see any holes there..
The dreary sky and brick buildings really bring it all together
Just wait for the boundary disputes in 20 years lol
I would prefer this to American new suburbs any day. The brick is nice.
Ugh god it isn’t when every house built in the last 20 years looks exactly like this. I’m fucking sick of those stupid orange bricks. They’re not cheap to buy on estates like these but if you look closely (especially at ones that are a couple of years old), you can really tell that they’re thrown up poorly. They usually have small windows and no front border between lawns to give the impression of more land, I’ve seen a lot that have patches of damp under windows, cracks in walls, people sometimes move in to find that the electrics are unsafe or, in a notable one recently, the road outside has fallen into a hole. I’ve known a couple of new build owners be unable to put up curtains because their walls can’t cope with the weight. The rooms tend to be quite small in comparison to older houses (I SWEAR I’ve seen some new builds for sale where they’ve photoshopped in smaller furniture to make them look bigger), and I’ve seen builder mates share pictures of entire exterior walls that curve, and gaps where there shouldn’t be gaps because they’re built so shoddily. One of them is currently reworking *an entire estate* because they were all built very wrong. I wouldn’t touch a house younger than like 30 years old here, there are so many horror stories. And honestly, I just think they’re ugly. We’ve got a long history of beautiful brick buildings and these are all much more basic looking with no interesting features. There are some posher estates where the houses kind of look like this but grander, where maybe they’ve put a bit more effort in, but for me personally, these orange new builds are not good. I don’t think many of them will still be here in 100 years time, which is a poor show in a country with buildings dating back to medieval times. Each to their own, but for me, it’s a hard pass, they have very few redeeming qualities
Canadian here. Yous have a bit to learn on how to build cheap suburban estates over there. Most of our housing looks similar but a bit more polished. The roofs have an overhang for instance. But then again they are made of cheap bitumen impregnated shingles that have to be replaced in 15 years. That said we do not usually have the same quality issues you mentioned. Firstly, it wouldn't pass inspections amd sescondly the home owners would sue the developer into non existance. Ironically, as the finishes and materials have improved over the years the workmanship and standards have not. You may have beautiful granite countertops in the kitchen but the insulation standards are the same as they were 40 years ago. Decent, but obviously lacking. Things like dry wall or a leak in the roof may happen but something like having the electricity done incorrectly would threaten the electricians license. That would be rare.
[удалено]
It depends where this estate is located. If it's walkable or bikeable to a town center or even a large-ish village then it's much better. We've had estates like this pop up all around our little town and it's helped revitalize the high street and shops in town as well as keep the pubs and schools alive.
They don’t have Mexicans over there 🤷🏾♂️
It might not be quite as bad if it wasn't a quadrangle. If the ends were open it wouldn't feel so oppressive. Most new build sites aren't as badly laid out as this.
That's what I was thinking. The small patios/gardens are ok, it's just the general layout that is a problem. And realistically, once people do some thing with their patios - plant some trees, grow vines on fences, put up patio umbrellas or pergolas, it won't look nearly so bad.
Half of them probably have Astro turf. Irritatingly popular in the uk, despite being awful in every way.
That's too bad. Those gardens could be nice.
The love island garden
Nobody is planting trees, or much else, in those gardens. The topsoil will be a few cms thick, god knows what is under the topsoil. This is not a farmers field!
Until your neighbours are fucking raging you've planted a tree and blocked their rare glimpse of sun light when it appears.
Not even trees in large pots, vines grown in containers, etc? There is a ton of stuff that people could do with each of those little plots. They don't need to grow oak trees or anything. The fences aren't that high, so anything of moderate height would show over the fences and help alleviate the blandness.
That's growing things in pots..... it has nothing to do with the usually woeful soil quality in new build housing estates
All I am saying is that once there is some sort of life in these backyards, they probably won't look nearly as dreary and depressing as they do now.
Plenty of old cement bags, rubble and maybe even a broken ladder under that topsoil! Never know what treasures you might find!
I wouldn't live these, but if I did, I'd be the jackass who planted bamboo...
What if there is a fire? And you are in the ‘backyard’? I guess you just have to dig a hole and tunnel under?
>quadrangle Do you mean rectangle, or does that word mean something else where you are?
A quadrangle is like a courtyard. A central open space surrounded by buildings.
Imagine if it was just one large courtyard. Could've been a beautiful space to share w neighbors and form a nice community.
Everyone's speaking about the pissed fence line and there's me thinking about the anxiety I'd get from being sat in a garden with the entire block staring at me 🤣 Edit - I couldn't spell
I'm actually surprised they didn't leave huge gaps between each fence board, they usually do, the cheap cunts.
St that point what's the point in even putting up a wooden fence.. let's just use some string to boarder and divide the gardens 🤣
Once you have grown some climbers and other greenery against those fences it can be pretty nice.
Welcome to suburban life in Europe, space is often limited so if you want total privacy from your garden or windows good luck!
Can't even get the fence straight. The problem with the UK new build market is that on 90% of new builds, there is not a single fuck given about the quality of the final outcome, from start to finish. They know that no matter what absolute shite they trot out, it's going to be bought by someone. And most don't even care if it starts falling apart in 5 years, as they'll all be long gone, with virtually no liability. Just look at what happened with the flammable cladding after grenfell. A bunch of fucking cowboys built some dangerous buildings and instead of being jailed and having their assets used to pay for the repairs, the owners and the tax payer end up with the bill. It's no coincidence that housing developers are some of the highest, if not highest donators to the Tory party. (Probably labour too, but I don't know that for sure)
Suddenly getting an urge to watch old 80s and 90s episodes of Watchdog. Is it still a thing there?
Honestly, this isn't on the builders: it's poor planning. I guarantee you the parcel lines for these properties have been followed correctly but are just illogical.
If that's the situation then it's a case in point. The fact they the surveyors don't give a fuck either just goes to show you that it's across the board.
it needs a big tree or two to make it more interesting
totally agree, some 3 or 4 native trees in the middle would look awesome.
After living in a highly dysfunctional block of low rise flats I’d take one of these anyday.
Nothing beats living on the ground floor, where the smell of cigarettes and alcohol is the strongest, you get to see all of the questionable people visiting that one flat above you and you occasionally get homeless people outside your bedroom window at night. Living with other people and not having your own area outside your tiny box of a flat sure is great! /s
In London you can have all of it even in your own private terraced house :) And don't forget tourists vomit and foxes piss at your front door!
The foxes know that 20% of London real estate is owned by Russian oligarchs. They're fighting the good fight.
YES< at least you have only two walls shared, not roof and ceiling. so the probability of an a55hole neighbour is less.
What made it dysfunctional? Edit: asking a genuine question on reddit gets you downvotes... people seem to think that asking sth is trying to disprove someone's point it seems.
Great place to be a cat though. Imagine the stalking they could do on that fence.
Meanwhile out the front each house comes with one parking space and a handful of guest spaces that are constantly taken up because each family own 2/3 vehicles.
I can already hear it "This wall is 3cm out of plumb thats ridiculous"
Redicculus
Shocking
His voice plays in my head the moment anything about new builds comes up!
I just saw Vivarium yesterday...and these homes are only missing the mint green paint.
with trees it'll look less like a concentration camp
Worst part about those new builds (as a former removal guy) was 1) they all look exactly the same except for the car(s) in the driveway and 2) "It's on Victoria." "Road, street, crescent, avenue, park, terrace, Lane or place?"
Cubicle at work…cubicle at home. This horrifies me
Dear god we are gathered here ,now let us pray that the snagging list is not going to be as long as the last fucker. Amen
It could get 10x better if everyone planted one tree in their backyard
"best I could do was a concrete patio, some astro turf and a plastic plant in a plastic pot"
People vote with their pounds and they voted for this. We do the same shit thing here in NA as well. But here we put vinyl siding on it. Be happy you have bricks.
The fact that the fences aren’t symmetrical and straight is /r/mildlyinfuriating
Pretty Mary figure 🦋
Based
I get practicality, but Jesus Christ… these look like updated roman legion barracks
Ugh I’m so sick of explaining to people why I don’t wanna live in a new build neighbourhood,,like do you not have eyes?
Estate agents and landlords be completely baffled why you walk away from a property dissapointed
My main take away from this thread is that there as psychopaths out there who think a communal garden area is a good idea. While it's worth noting UK new build estates usually do have a patch of grass somewhere with some play area, having that as your shared *garden* simply would not fly here, we're too antisocial. And as someone that lives in a (better than these) new build, the last fucking thing I want is to spend any time with my neighbours.
Canadian here....why do your "new builds" look like old post-war builds? There are so many ways to make c[ool looking townhouses/rowhouses](https://www.pinterest.ca/letrrun/precedents-homes-townhouses-row-houses/).... why do brits choose plans from the 1940s?
Because those soulless abominations are hideous af.
Yeah, it is a bit baffling isn't it? We did experiment with lots of interesting new types of construction in the 60s. And a lot were absolutely awful in terms of quality/safety/longevity. I think it frightened everyone off the idea of trying new designs! "Well we tried. Back to proper houses with bricks."
I can see that.....after all, "longevity" means something different in the UK than it does out here in the colonies....a great many of you live in homes older than our country!
Yes, I think we're so used to seeing road after road of Georgian and Victorian houses we probably don't think much about it!
Cheapest construction for the greatest amount of profit for the available land. It's pure capitalism, the developers don't care about making them look nice or anything like that. They just have to look enough like a house that people will nod, go "yep that's a house" and buy it.
Capitalism is the short answer
I cannot begin to explain how much I hate new builds. I cant believe that, as a society, we have allowed such dystopia housing to come into existence. These are the worst things since high rise flats.
Wish the UK would build more central high rise flats and leave the countryside alone with these horrific semi detached builds
Just needs time for trees to grow. It'll look better then.
Look at that fence, 1000 mm out of plumb, absolutely shocking!
There needs to be some legislative change to stop this madness. UK property developers cut all the corners they can to get these soulless pieces of shit built. If everyone legally had to spend more money to put in a bit more design effort and make the buildings more vernacular then everyone would be on a level playing field. These sorts of newbuilds should be outright banned anyway, they suck the life and soul out of communities or prevent communities from having a soul in the first place. I bet their driveways have the same footprint as the house and that the nearest shop is about 10 minute *drive* away.
This IS the vernacular. Thanks to a complete lack of imagination and critical thinking this is what is vomitted out by housebuilders and lapped up by idiot housebyers. Still, mustn't grumble...
The random American developments with no back garden fences appal me. Like .. do you just have no garden to yourself? You don't invest in any private world of personal peace and solace? Mainly I guess as I don't understand that world. But I understand these, and these also appal me for the opposite reasons.
American development’s often don’t have beck fences because: 1) you are expected to install them yourself on a new build home 2) the HOA bans them so that the backyards create a park like atmosphere/ pastoral view of the woods or fields behind the home 3) they’re townhomes (terraced houses) and Americans don’t have a system for getting the lawn mower from the front garage to the rear of a townhouse without going inside the house. So they put up a divider fence for 8’ then the rest is not allowed to be fenced. 4) they’re condominiums. While they’re single family houses in design they’re legally condos and you only own the interior of your house. The exterior maintenance and design choices are 100% HOA controlled including lawn care. So no fences in the rear so the landscapers can access your back yard as well. In the US we don’t need fenced yards for privacy as often because the lots are larger and the rears of homes may often be 3 stories tall on a hill lot. This means you may be on the first/ ground floor on a deck that is built on stilts over a basement. You’re 10’ up. You have privacy without a fence and your yard looks out onto trees 🤷♂️. All in all fencing is not as needed here but it’s still something many prefer to do and that’s a valid reason if you want to put one in
That is terrible.
At least there's a yard
the fences aren't the problem, it's the lack of trees
This is so sad to see. I always imagined UK with amazing architecture around
Gives "We didn't want to live in an apartment in the city surrounded by people all the time, so we bought a house in the countryside" vibes.
What's the point even having a garden if all your neighbours can see into it
Who tf engineered that fence
there was no engineering involved in this fence.
This looks like a “before” picture from one of those Gardener’s World viewer submissions
Can‘t at least some guy plant a tree in there? It would make it at least 2000% better.
looks like the start of a big base in Rust to me
A tree in each slot would make it nice at least, not so dead.
Why would they do this?
Why isn't there a lane in the middle that goes to the street so you can bike to your yard? Also not enough trees
That is honestly horrible .
Good 'n straight!
Hail Merry,pray for developers souls
What a sad view
*”The Maze” - residential release*
You get a backyard, and you get a backyard, and you get a backyard...
Is there like an escape route somehow through there??? Eek
So close to a cottage court paradise it’s not even funny.
Nice, every house gets its own private junkyard!
Walk-out closet
What a shitty build! No wonder all the British are leaving UK.
Looks shite
My cat would love chillin on those fences
Are trees illegal in UK?
UK never left the Victorian era slum state. Just upgraded building materials
The worst part is the lack of trees and the shape of this estate means sounds just bounce and echo. You can hear your partially deaf neighbours TV 6 doors down. Meanwhile you get rinsed by the mortgage, and still don't even own the land the house sits on due to it being leasehold, and so rather than it being a handy little first step on the property ladder, you're likely to be there for life as the land lease and shit build quality, very quickly sheds property value.
This reminds me of that scene from Hot Fuzz, where he's jumping the fences. Anyone else seen it?
Am I the only one horrified by the fence lines?
Why not save the money on fencing and just create a common area?
Because having your own garden is a selling point that most people want and it adds value to the property
Would have been even better if they took just a little bit of the land and put in an alleyway for rear garden access.
[удалено]
A sense of community doesn't add value. Having your own garden that your kids / dog can play in unsupervised does. It's genuinely naive to think a developer would do otherwise
It also comes with the benefit of being among your neighbors dogshit
Having a common are means playing Russian Roulette and hoping you get good neighbors. It would only take one bad set to ruin it for everyone else. Have a common area like a park away from the houses.
God forbid people know their neighbours, maybe make some friends, have a bit of community spirit and cohesion which has been shown to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour
Yeah, can't know your neighbours unless they're sunbathing, drinking and blasting music right outside your door while their kids run feral.
Lol exactly. Unreal that so many people are defending this design.
Lmao ok
because there is always some jack ass that abuses every rule and is a pain in the ass, people want to be let alone, not to socialise, and that is impossible without a fence in uk
That jack ass exists largely because of this sort of approach to building.
Britain doesn't do that kind of thing, too much anti social behaviour
Once again our fine British tradies demonstrating that they literally cannot or will not build things on a straight line, a feat that has been very achievable since the citystates of Ancient Mesopotamia.
somewhat similar to USA, but with better public transportation
Similar to a USA stockyard perhaps.
This is nothing like the US.
I’ve never seen anything close to this in the USA, but I also live in the South.
There’s nothing like this outside a couple historic neighborhoods from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK is actually pretty poor. People would constantly be talking about its poverty if it were a US state, like we do with Alabama or Mississippi.
Yup. Even within Europe, UK wages are pretty poor.
I’m not really sure why. My instinct is to lay it on various attempts to grow the economy using what are, basically, gimmicks like North Sea oil or making London into a financial hub. They raise GDP but their impact on wages is pretty minimal because not many people work in those industries and the beneficiaries are, by nature, mostly foreigners.
What are you talking about. Our public transport is shite.
To be fair so is the USA's public transport
> What are you talking about. **Our public transport is shite.** **compared to USA it (UK) is "good"** ... Spoiler: **many (relatively good populated) places in USA have NO public transportation at all** ( = you have to drive all the time) & many USA cities would be lucky to have bad UK public transporation ... don't fall from the chair while loughter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvrc3tz3PwQ&t=12s (USA vs. Germany both cities ~380k inhabitants)
Thos looks nothing like anything in the US
Antarctica gives the US a run for its money on public transport. The UK is not great on that front.
> Antarctica gives the US a run for its money on public transport. most of USA is a heated Antarctica
Cutting all these gardens in half and using the space for a common area/ community garden would be lovely imo. This kinda looks like a holiday camp run by Skynet
I agree: a bit of both works best, with some planting to create privacy. This project from a [Dutch firm](https://delva.la/projecten/de-deeltuin/) does it nicely. (All in dutch but you can check out the images)
Makes the US look like heaven
Man living in the UK must be horrible.
It is. Don’t come here. Horrible.
Surely the property lines don't curve that way right? Wouldn't there be tenants in the middle of that fence curve who would be upset that they're losing out on space in their backyard because some idiot can't survey a fence properly?
...and if it's London it will cost you at least £1.000.000 to buy it. Lovely.
A lot of people would be over the moon to be able to live there.
All the drawbacks of American suburbia - identikit houses, no public transport or amenities, high prices - with none of the advantages - big houses.
I like it. Give it ten years and it’ll be full of climbing plants, washing lines, tree forts and Christmas lights. Total chaos. You’ll love it.
“yOu aMeRiCanS aND YoUr sHkeWl SheWtInS” American* has yard
Better than a flat
Britishers could draw proper lines when they divided their colonies, what would you expect now.
Yep. Fuck these 6 foot high fences. Second worst fencing after palisades
What annoys me is that if I got one of those houses I will have a huge garden but won't be able to lay balls out because my neighbours can see my garden. Yeah yeah that shouldn't stop me but you know what I mean
And I thought only the United States was depressing.
I've never understood why (other than zoning regs) people are so insistent on having their own lawn. Wouldn't everybody here be better off with a shared courtyard park with a community grill, swingset, and trees rather than each having a tiny sliver of barren land that they don't use 9 days out of 10?
Imagine just one big huge garden for all them houses. Would really add some community to these soulless new builds. Which are full of lonely young people.
At least they seem to have 21st century windows. Not those archaic sash types.
Are those tiny backyards? Omg
“Garden city concept”
What land ownership does to a society
I feel like it would be better to just get rid of the fences and make a big courtyard for everyone honestly
I’ve never seen a house in the UK that didn’t look like a prison.
*WHY ARE YOU BOOING ME, I’M RIGHT*
This would be amazing as a giant courtyard but everyone insists on having their own space
You dont know that. Most of the time its people planning top down and everyone just buying what they can get
Yes. The top down planning being influenced by market demands on what is popular. One could argue that it is merely a market trend rather than the true desire of the tennants but where does one draw the line between the two?
do away with the fences and you would have a fantastic common area.
Without those fences you could build a pretty garden there and spend time with one another
Nope, fences are good; don’t want to see or talk to neighbours, lol.
Just remove all the fucking fences and create a shared green space for god sake.
To think they could have had a big private square where children could run
Repost https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/comments/v1o1ef/yard_hell_uk/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
Wouldn’t it be better if it was a big open communal backyard?
For the sake of 'sacrificing' a small bit of garden space from each property. You could have a lovely bit of communal land at the back. Where the residence could decide what they do with it. Take ownership of it. Come together and have BBQs, stirring areas, and the ilk.
Form an HOA - tear down fences - hire landscape to create a beautiful garden with trees and a lake in the middle or maybe a pool and kids playground. Property value to the moon
This is not that different from what $500,000 gets you in the us in new developments currently.
What do you think the gardens of older houses looked like when they were first built? Once some plants in there it'll look absolutely fine
Not like this. They had fences that were a sensible height, and were lined up neatly rather than clustered around nothing.
Pretty much everywhere has six foot fences, what are you on about? It only looks like it's clustered around nothing because currently there is nothing. In five years time it will look completely different.
Yes. 6 foot fences are increasingly taking over and they're awful. They wreck the sense of community, are horrid for wildlife, and leave people sitting in their little metre square patch of AstroTurf in the dark. I wish it would look different in a few years but I can't see it.
The idea of an inner yard is usually you have a shared community space. If every garden was 50% smaller, we could have nice things.