PrimeLocation has admired Wayne Hemingway from afar for some time. His career has been extraordinarily diverse starting with a ‘vintage’ clothing stall at Camden Market, London during the 1980s which he developed into fasion giant Red or Dead, and which he and wife Gerardine sold in 1999 reportedly for multi millions.

He then set up a general design practice offering urban (i.e. housing) design, landscaping, garden sheds (sold in B&Q) and much more.

Wayne is also a keen cyclist and is patron of the Sustrans National Cycle Network which he helped win a £50m National Lottery grant a few years back, and has designed an affordable folding bike. Also, he ensures that any of the housing developments he designs (13 so far all over the UK) have full-on cycling facilities.

So given this interesting track record and his almost cult status as a quirky spokesperson for design, we chased him down for an interview. Wayne is not an easy man to catch, nevertheless.

His schedule is manic to say the least plus he’s not prone to smiling in front of cameras, we’ve noticed – no exception in our video – although a member of the team here says a snap they took at an exhibition recently disproves this rule.

Nevertheless Wayne gave us an hour of his time down at his gorgeous, self-built house in near Chichester in West Sussex – and we’ve turned it into a six-minute or so video.

Ahead of Grand Designs Live at the end of this month, Primelocation went to see the star of the show, Kevin McCloud, during which he held court about his eco-homes development called The Triangle, in Swindon, nearing completion – and his vindication following its unexpected success.

At the moment, your company Hab is involved in building 42 eco homes in Swindon. What’s the response been like?

The response has been extremely good. We’ve now allocated our social housing tenants, they are in 21 of the homes and the other 21 homes are going not to open market sale but we’ve done sort of open market rent-to-buy and open market home shared ownership. We’ve had a fantastic, overwhelming response. Which after five years of work on the scheme is a wonderful vindication.

Kevin McCloud's eco-homes project, The Triangle in Swindon

So were people sceptical about the project?

One property developer said to me, you’ll never sell temporary housing, you’ll never sell terraced housing, people want detached and they want traditional with little lead porches. I said, really? They said, yeah, it’s safe. People like the idea of safety, they like the idea of a building which will never age. I said well what about the fact that all the interior layouts are useless and that you’ve got huge amounts of circulation space in tiny rooms? He said, no, that’s not right, people don’t want it. And I honestly thought at that point, no you’re wrong, people do respond to good design.

What is it you think people want?

Five million people watch Grand Designs, they’ve come to understand the principle of compression and release, what a big white window will do for you, what a high ceiling will do for you, what a view of the sky will do for you. They’ve come to understand that to be given a tiny, low ceiling hutch isn’t good enough and it’s lovely to be vindicated in a very quiet way.

What are the properties in the development like?

We’re building terraced houses, really, really affordable, standard housing association budget stuff with small gardens, but lots of shared space. With small bedrooms, but with a larger sitting room. With small parking spaces, but a big shared garden and playground area. And so we give, we take; we try and play tricks.

Do you think this way of living will be successful?

In a way the big moment of judgement will not be the day that everyone moves in at all, it will be a period over the following year, as we see people, we hope, form their own community, it may not work, we don’t know, but pray God it does and pray God that they don’t decide collectively, because they can, to tarmac over the vegetable garden and turn it in to a car park.

Read more of our exclusive Kevin McCloud interview and get half price tickets to Grand Designs Live.

This is a guest blog by writer Roger Hunt.

When a plastic window salesman comes to my door I like to keep them talking. Why? Well, it gives me a tiny crumb of satisfaction that I’m wasting their time and maybe stopping them calling on someone who’s going to fall for their sales patter. It’s petty I know but few things upset me more than seeing perfectly good wood windows being replaced with ugly, unsustainable and far from cheap unplasticised polyvinyl choloride or uPVC as its better known.

Windows make up the face of a home and contribute hugely to its character. Estate agents agree. In a survey by English Heritage 82% of them felt that original features such as sash windows tend to add financial value to properties and 78% believed they helped to sell a property more quickly. 

© Boris Baggs, courtesy of English Heritage -an original timber door (left) that compliments the characters of a terrace row of Victorian homes, an effect destroyed by the plastic replacement on the right © Boris Baggs, courtesy of English Heritage

Replacing original windows is incredibly wasteful and it’s worth remembering that the timber used to make them was usually of very high quality. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find wooden windows that are 100 or even 200 years old and still going strong. If they are damaged it’s possible to make relatively inexpensive repairs which is something that’s virtually impossible to do with plastic windows – they invariably get shipped off to landfill.    

 Modern wood windows made from sustainably sourced timber by reputable firms are of a high standard and are expected to last at least 60 years. With plastic windows it’s not unusual to see signs of deterioration quite early in their life despite claims they’re ‘maintenance free’. That’s why there’s now special paint to “transform weathered and discolored uPVC”.

 The common argument for replacing wood windows is energy efficiency but this is largely down to the glazing within the window rather than what the frame is made of. Wood itself is extremely thermally efficient and there’s lots you can do in terms of draught proofing and adding secondary or double glazing – specialist companies can help with this.  
 When it comes to sustainability, wood is naturally renewable and as trees grow they soak up CO2 from the atmosphere. uPVC is a product of the petrochemical industry. 

 Then there’s that all important question of price. High performance, double-glazed timber windows need cost no more than their PVC-U equivalents: research for the Wood Window Alliance reveals that wood windows work out between 2-7% cheaper than uPVC over their lifetime.

 So what are you going to do next time the plastic window salesman comes calling? I’m going to carry on talking!

Roger Hunt is one of the UK’s leading architectural, environmental and property writers. Follow him on Twitter at @huntwriter.

When you’re looking for a new home, one of the options available is to buy a new-build property.

Like any other home purchase, it comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, all of which should be carefully considered before you commit to a purchase.

Here’s a rundown of some of the key pros and cons to think about.

Pros:

•    You may get the chance to choose your own fixtures and fittings. Many developers offer this (assuming the house isn’t fully completed already) and it means you get to choose things to your taste, like the colour of walls, bathroom tiles or the type of door handles, so you don’t have to decorate when you move in.

•    Extra incentives are often available, too, like brand new appliances in the kitchen.

•    There’s no chain involved. This can be a major bonus, as you don’t suffer the consequences of getting caught up in a lengthy property buying chain, and completion can often be quite quick.

•    Compared to older homes, new-build houses are built to rigorous safety standards. Fire retardant materials are standard these days, for example, and homes come with fire safety doors and smoke alarms.

•    Due to increased awareness of the environment, new homes are more likely to use less energy, emit less carbon dioxide and have less of an impact on the environment.

•    There’s less maintenance. When you’re buying a new home, a big advantage is that you’re less likely to have to do much maintenance, especially in the early years.

Cons:

•    Some new houses are prone to being built close together, as developers are often keen to fit as many new homes as they can onto the available land space.

•    Due to pressure on space, some new homes tend to end up with smaller rooms than older houses.

•    Although you’d expect brand new homes to be perfect, often they’re not. You may come across minor problems with fixtures or fittings, or with the quality of the finishes. Once builders have moved on to their next job, it’s often tricky getting them back to finish things off properly.

•    The gardens in new homes often need a lot of work. The soil quality can be poor and, although it may look like there’s new turf laid, you can’t guarantee that it’s laid properly.

•    Depending on where you’ve bought and how far into a development you’ve bought, you could end up temporarily living on a building site for a while, whilst homes around you are built.

Search here for a new home to buy in the UK.

If you weren’t convinced of Britain becoming more eco friendly, the “I Own Britain’s Best Home” award has gone to an eco friendly home near Attleborough, Norfolk.

The owner of Woods End, Amanda Barrington, can say that she officially owns the best home in the country. Impressive.

On the market: click pic for full details

What’s more impressive is the house itself. It only costs £500 a year to heat! Imagine that! Granted, building your own house to save on heating costs is a tad extreme, but this house isn’t huge or ostentatious and showy.

It fits its riverside location, it works with its surroundings, and without sounding too much like Kevin McCloud, it’s been designed with integrity.

The 3000 sq ft property is set in two acres of woodland. It’s built with Douglas fir and clad with redwood cedar. It’s got four bedrooms split over three levels. And, well, it’s beautiful.

Without a doubt, the eco credentials helped Amanda get the award, but it’s a great house. I can’t wait to see what she’s going to build next. She’s selling Wood End and starting another project.

With more properties like this being built, there’s an awareness that eco friendly solutions are not only possible when building a property, they’re practical and aesthetically pleasing as well.

Sure, this is an extreme house, but the elements of this property could soon become the norm in property building.

Woods End is currently for sale through Chesterton Humberts. Call 01603 661199 for details.

There’s a lot of aspects of city living that are brilliant. There’s no doubting the fun, vibrant atmosphere. And being able to get Chinese food at practically any time of the day will always be a bonus as far as I’m concerned. But if you’re living in the centre, you’re probably going to have to miss out on a garden. But there’s got to be some green-fingered options out there, hasn’t there?

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is a stunning city and it’s got a great whack of pretty scenery all on it’s own. But it’s an old town, so the properties in the centre are often listed building. If you’re lucky enough to find a garden property like this one, I’d snap it up, there won’t be many of them in the city centre. Offers are in excess of £395,000, so for a central flat, that’s not too bad.

 
Newcastle

Would you consider a communal garden? Newcastle isn’t very abundant with green space in the city, but if you lived here, I’m pretty sure you’d be able to cope. Stunning isn’t it? Granted you might not be able to grow your own veg, but think of the garden parties you’ll have. It’s got three bedrooms and it’s on the market for £750,000. A bargain, I think.

London

Finding secret green spaces in London isn’t as hard as you’d think. But finding one that’s actually more then two foot square is another matter. So have a look at this place. Yes, that is a hot tub you can see just in the corner. The koi pond is just out of view. Extravagant? Moi? A tad. But it’s central, and £1.15 million isn’t so bad for such a swanky pad in Baker Street. Honestly.

Manchester

It rains rather a lot in Manchester, but at least that’ll give all of your pretty flowers a chance to grow (hey, I’m looking at the upside here, OK?) I’ve been assured that not only does this central Manchester penthouse has a roof garden, it’s also got a hot tub. And, it’s also got that view, which makes it all worth while.

I’m tempted to get the gardening gloves out now.

We’re increasingly being told about the environmental impact buildings can have on the climate, not least from people like Prince Charles. So it may come as a surprise that the least eco-friendly building in London has been revealed as being good old Buckingham Palace.

The Queen’s des res scored 0 out of 10 in a survey of 170 buildings in London by renewable energy firm Navitron. They were exploring the energy efficiency of buildings in the capital city and many were found to be woefully inadequate. By using thermal imaging techniques, they were able to see how well insulated the buildings were – or were not – and whether heat was contained within the buildings or madly escaping.

The thermal imaging survey of Buckingham Palace revealed it to be a hotbed of activity. Rather than heat being contained within the Palace, it was shown to be pouring out through the building in every area possible – through the roof, the walls, through curtained windows and even through cracks.

As it was built in 1820 and contains over 600 rooms, it’s not surprising that the Palace is experiencing problems with energy efficiency. The Queen has, however, apparently set up an energy-saving committee to try and tackle the problems and reduce consumption.

But it wasn’t only the Queen’s residence that was problematic. It was only last month that the Government launched a new scheme aimed at helping households reduce their emissions by 50% by the year 2050, yet some of the key Government buildings in London, such as the Ministry of Defence, MI6 HQ, the Treasury and the Home Office, were all found to be major polluters.

The full list of top 12 non-green and leakiest buildings in London is as follows:

1. Buckingham Palace
2. DECC (Defra)
3. The Ministry of Defence
4. Horse Guards Barracks
5. The Shell Building
6. The Home Office
7. Houses of Parliament
8. The Treasury
9. Portcullis House
10. MI6 HQ
11. The Albert Hall
12. St James’ Palace

If you’d like to try and reduce energy emissions in your home and make it more eco-friendly, then some simple ways of making a difference include swapping single glazing (as in the palace) for double glazing, improving draught-proofing in your home, using energy-saving light bulbs and turning off lights when you’re not in a room. For more ideas, take a look at our guide to energy saving.

If eco issues are big on your agenda when choosing where to live, then you may be intrigued to know that Bristol is officially the most environmentally sustainable city in Britain.

It’s true – Bristol has been named as top of the league in the second annual Sustainable Cities Index produced by sustainable development group, Forum For The Future. The Sustainable Cities Index is designed to track the sustainability progress of the 20 largest cities in Britain and looks at factors such as quality of life, environmental performance and what they call future-proofing, or how they’re managing recycling, biodiversity and climate change issues.

Bristol was commended due to its increase in activities such as recycling and composting – it has moved up the ranks a massive ten places since last year, so has made a real effort to become more eco friendly. Plus, it did well due to its effective waste collection service, having plenty of green spaces and good water quality.

Last year, Brighton and Hove in East Sussex was named as Britain’s most environmentally sustainable city, but it was pipped to the post this year due to poor environmental performance and only came second. Despite that, it was noted as having good transport services, a good number of green spaces, good recycling rates, a climate change strategy and good provision of education.

Interestingly, cities in the south dominated the top three rankings, with third place taken by the city of Plymouth, in Devon. Plymouth scored well on employment, life expectancy and recycling rates. It was also noted to have good water and air quality, which may be useful for potential residents to consider if they’re thinking of buying property and living here.

The rest of the cities in the top 10 were:

1. Bristol
2. Brighton and Hove
3. Plymouth
4. Newcastle
5. Cardiff
6. Edinburgh
7. Sheffield
8. Leicester
9. Nottingham
10. London

Wall insulation... that's hot.

Desperate times calling for desperate measures and all that, there seems to be a whole new stable of home improvement shows on TV vying for our attention all of a sudden. Apparently we need to start adding value to our properties. Apparently our homes aren’t magical box-shaped pots of leprechaun gold, effortlessly twirling, twirling, twirling towards improbable resale profit.

Like apparently every other human being in the UK, I lap these shows up – and I don’t even own a home (yet) to make improvements on. Still I watch faithfully, like a sad little King Charles Spaniel watches girl spaniels on Hampstead Heath, even though deep down in his puppy heart he knows he was actually neutered six months ago. Homes & Property, please show me how to convert my (imaginary) loft into a stylish dining room or home office! Room For Improvement, tell me again how I can turn my (landlord’s) cramped bathroom into a modern European-style wet room!

It’s just so fun. There’s something truly fabulous about taking a dark, tiny, underused space and turning into a… Scandinavian cheese and disco room! (For example.)

Compare, then, phrases like, ‘loft conversion’, ‘wet room’ and ‘brand new walk-in wardrobe’ to the following:

Energy-efficient boiler.

Window glazing.

Internal wall insulation.

(On the other hand... if done right, supposedly a converted loft can add 10% to your home's value.)

Slightly less inspiring? Why, yes. Almost completely unsexy? Oui oui. Quite a big value-add, though, when you really think about it and try to forget that designer wallpaper you had picked out for your new Art Deco spa room? Er, yes, actually.

According to our eco homes expert Sarah Lonsdale, carbon appeal is set to replace kerb appeal when it comes to attracting a buyer. A study by the Energy Savings Trust (EST) found that from a survey of 2,090 homeowners, 53% said they’d be willing to pay up to £3,350 extra for a home with greener features. Even more interestingly, 78% said that a ‘poor’ rating on an Energy Performance Certificate would lead them to haggle down the purchase price. With the incredible rise in gas and electricity costs over the past couple of years, I can’t say I’m surprised.

Homebuyers – is an environmentally-friendly home really more valuable in your eyes, or is a lousy EPC rating just another unchecked tick box you can use in price negotiations?

Homeowners – sexed-up loft conversion or sensible boiler?