Window pain for council
OBJECTION TO UPVC FRAMES
THE city council has defended a move to install plastic window frames in a 185-year-old house it has just bought.
Overlooking Kingston Square, the property in John Street also lies within the council’s Georgian Conservation Area.
The terraced homes in the street are among the oldest residential properties in the city centre.
An appraisal report published by the council on the character of the Conservation Area specifically refers to many properties in the immediate neighbourhood retaining their original wooden “well-proportioned sash windows”.
It goes on to highlight the “fine appearance which slender glazing bars provide and the three-dimensional quality which a sliding sash recessed into the widow brings.”
However, the original wooden windows in the four-bedroom property are all being replaced by UPVC ones as part of a major refurbishment after Hull City Council bought it for £160,000 earlier this year.
The house had previously been unoccupied for a number of years.
Neighbour Audrey Dunne said she was dismayed by the decision over the replacement windows even though she welcomed the facelift going on next door.
She added: “Renovating this period house for occupation is good because it has been badly neglected over the years, the problem for me is the replacement of sustainable traditional timber window frames with plastic UPVC. No matter the quality of the proposed UPVC, these oil-based materials are totally out of order in conservation areas.
“They ruin the authenticity and charm of historic buildings and are easily identified as unsuitable.
“Historic England, and other equally concerned parties are totally against such destructive replacements, and so, supposedly, at least on paper, is Hull City Council. Ecologically, the lifespan of UPVC windows is about 20 years only.
“After that they are indestructible and end up in landfill sites.”
She said her own original wooden window frames were still in good condition and showed that like-forlike timber replacements next door would stand the test of time if looked after properly.
“If the current timber windows have to go because of their condition then so be it, but I hoped the council would have been responsible enough to go for new timber ones.
“By fitting UPVC ones, they are sending out the wrong signal in a conservation area.
“They should be setting an example. In my opinion, UPVC windows destroy the authenticity of old properties.”
In a statement, the council said: “Although 27 John Street is in the Georgian Conservation Area, the property itself isn’t listed.
“While we are replacing the windows with UPVC frames for reasons of value for money and in order to complete the refurbishment more quickly, we are doing so in a style which is like-for-like with advice from the planning department.
“It isn’t the first time that this material has been used in the area with a number of privately owned homes in John Street already refurbished with UPVC windows in compliance with planning guidelines.”
The council said the property had bene acquired as part of an ongoing programme which allows the authority to refurbish and bring back empty properties into use as affordable housing to rent.
It added: “Annually, the council makes 20 to 30 strategic acquisitions across the city under this initiative. Since 2012 it has directly brought over 300 homes into use as council homes and more than 1,000 properties have been refurbished and let across the wider partnership.”