If todays planning rules existed in pre history we would still be living in caves and root shelters.
Legality of living in a yurt in the UK...
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And if no planning rules existed today, we would all be living in the equivalent of Victorian slums, or shanty towns, with open sewage and no running water.
The increase in comforts is due to evolution and increased wealth, not planning.
The primary school in Mayfield, East Sussex had outdoor toilets up to around 2002.
But planning and the virtual impossibilty of building in green fields has caused the expense of new built houses, also the smallest new built houses in Europe, with the smallest gardens.
Modern British houses have a pityful standard compared with rest of northern half of Europe. Insulation, bathrooms, kitchens.
Do not believe me? Go and travel, stay in b&b’s and similar.
The population is increasing, more homes are needed. Land needs to be made available for building decent homes on.
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Add building regs to that.
I'm all for stricter enforcement of planning rules and building regs. Without those, building firms throw up flimsy crap on unsuitable land (floodplains for example) with dangerous wiring, inadequate insulation etc.
There are quite a few that still do anyway. You'd be amazed what building inspectors miss when they check building work and it's really easy for builders to cover things up when they cut corners. If I ruled the world I'd open up big chunks of land for self-build projects. Let people build their own starter homes to the standard they can afford and take the profit away from the big building firms. This is where planning departments should be earning their keep by controlling development for the good of communities not for the benefit of peoples' profits.
The councils allow building on known flood plains. Builders are happy to build on them.
Faults on both sides. And nobody tkes responsibility.
Faults on both sides. And nobody tkes responsibility.
Reflecting in Laurentius’ post, Victorian plumbing and sewage, how do they solve this in a yurt?
As there is no plumbing be it drinking water or for sewage?
As there is no plumbing be it drinking water or for sewage?
You've answered it yourself; no plumbing.
Everyone I know who has lived in a yurt has built a composting toilet system some distance from their dwelling (over a hundred yards away in one case - the yurt(s) got moved around but you don't easily move a toilet system). Plumbing? what plumbing? Water brought in in plastic jerrycans.
So it's camping, in a slightly more permenant tent.
Though, when I do festival camping, we do have hot and cold running water (and shower).
So I may have just invalidated that argument!
Though, when I do festival camping, we do have hot and cold running water (and shower).
So I may have just invalidated that argument!
So back to pre Victorian days....
Imagine people wanting to live like this.
In fact, the Etruscans (the dominant Italian culture before the Romans) had an excellent Sewer system. About 2500 years ago. Fresh water - Romans.
Then it went downhill for a bit, for a bunch of hundreds of years.
How much firewood can you stack up? I'm sure it will be less needed than here.
Most local village people still burning round wood expect to have 5 cords, split, stacked and seasoned for an average winter.
Do yurts have windows? I'm very fond of windows, even moreso with our short winter days. Solstice sunset is 1:52 PM.
A cold wet winter in the semi darkness with a 50 yard sprint in the rain to the dunny?
I expect to burn 10,000lbs of compressed wood pellets, 5 tons, again this winter (October - April), indoor bathrooms.
Dashing through the snow to the "outdoor" from November to March? Not.
Most local village people still burning round wood expect to have 5 cords, split, stacked and seasoned for an average winter.
Do yurts have windows? I'm very fond of windows, even moreso with our short winter days. Solstice sunset is 1:52 PM.
A cold wet winter in the semi darkness with a 50 yard sprint in the rain to the dunny?
I expect to burn 10,000lbs of compressed wood pellets, 5 tons, again this winter (October - April), indoor bathrooms.
Dashing through the snow to the "outdoor" from November to March? Not.
You could always wee in an empty beer can?
I think that is what I would do if I lived in a Yurt.
And eat less fiber.
Caravans have a bathroom. That is Ok.
I think that is what I would do if I lived in a Yurt.
And eat less fiber.
Caravans have a bathroom. That is Ok.
I'll be damned if I'll be cold. I don't need 75F all winter but 50F (maybe) would be ridiculous in a dark yurt with a rug for a floor and no bathroom.
They are homes of the desert that expect to be moved. Fine by me for someone else. I like my house as it is.
They are homes of the desert that expect to be moved. Fine by me for someone else. I like my house as it is.
You mean in a "chamber pot?" We kept them under the bed when I was a small kid/toddler. We still had an outhouse as late as the 1960s even thought he house had had indoor facilities since the 1930s.
I think it should be normal to be able to buy a field, and build a house ( or yurt, caravan) on it. If this is allowed to happen, the cost of the houses will drop. Today, a decent sized building plot is incredibly expensive.
To build on an empty field gives a quality living, specially for children.
To build on an empty field gives a quality living, specially for children.
What would happen is all plots of land without planning g permission would rise a great deal and be closer in price to somewhere with planning.
Back in the 1920s this was indeed possible, but as with uncontrolled slum development in the cities which led to Dickensian squalor there was uncontrolled development in the countryside, essentially called "ribbon development" whereby houses were built along the main roads connecting cities with no break, some of them were not particularly well built either.
In the UK we live in a small Island, unable to produce enough agricultural produce to survive as it is. Uncontrolled development may be an individualist ideal but it leads to a degradation of the environment for the many. Without planning rules you could have your house in your field, but there would be nothing to stop anybody building a chemical plant in the next field belching noxious fumes.
Planning regulation at its best (and of course it is subject to corruption like anything else) provided mimimum widths for streets, and maximum daylight. It seperated industrial and residential usage and much else. It is fine building your shanty for you, but when it comes to selling it, well you take responsibility for the next person and the next. So many pre building regs houses were a liability, heck building control started after the fire of London, and that was for a very good reason.
Poor enforcement of building regulations and you get incidents like Grenfell, need I say more?
Of course it can all be taken too far in rural areas, and often is. I don't see why there should be a problem with a yurt, but there is a problem with a certain type of "traveller" who camp on public land with no regard whatever for any laws, and if you have ever had them set up camp near you, you will know what I mean.
We can build our own sheds, tents, tipis, yurts, greenhouses, polytunnels, barns and what have you, but we cannot live in them all year round.
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