You've probably seen Mikhail Riches' Goldsmith Street, Norwich in the press: it's on the Stirling Prize shortlist of six. But before we get into the details of what makes it an interesting and deserving project, there are two things you need to know. The first is that this 93-dwelling scheme, of 45 houses and 48 apartments, is 100% social housing - not affordable, not shared ownership, not with separate private and social playgrounds, just good old social rent housing that Norwich council built itself. The second crucial fact is that even though residents only finished moving into their new homes in June, they can immediately purchase them through Right-to-Buy -with a government discount. There is some ringfencing of what Norwich spent to build them but if the value of the homes goes up, the council will have to observe discounts of up to £82,800, which means the maximum allowance has more than doubled since 2012.
展开▼
