Chartered Engineer • Founder • Civil Engineering I solve problems most people don’t understand. London & Nottingham 🏳️🌈
London, England
Joined January 2013
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My 89 year old grandparents win the award for most adorable email ever 🥰🥰🥰
Feeling blessed
Delighted to share I'm now a Chartered Engineer (CEng) 🎉
A lengthy process, but great to have my work in flood risk, drainage and flood protection recognised. Thank you to everyone who supported me, and to both @theIET and @CIWEM
#CharteredEngineer #CEng #FloodRisk
Whilst I am sure the architecture by
@PpeterPeter is great, I'd suggest doing some due diligence on those involved in the construction. I understand the project was developed by Kuropatwa Ltd - later renamed London South Build Ltd and now in liquidation believed to owe creditors, including HMRC, circa £3.5m.
A narrow strip of unused land beside one of London's busiest roads has been transformed into 97 homes.
Designed by Peter Barber Architects, Edgewood Mews in North London features two rows of distinctive brick buildings arranged around a car-free pedestrian street.
The buildings facing the North Circular Road help shield the residential area from traffic noise, creating a quieter space between the two rows.
Half of the homes are designated as affordable housing, and the development also includes a café, a corner shop, and underground parking.
The problem isn’t necessarily leasehold, it’s building standards. Handling over the freehold to residents does not fix building standards, arguably it makes it worse. I am all for “freeing leaseholders” but that has to focus on all the issues, not just the legal definition.
.@AndyBurnham says he’ll free leaseholders.
But in a secret consultation, the government says it won’t set enfranchisement rates to cut freehold buy-out and lease extension costs.
Summer’s over. Give freeholders the 99!
Respond to the consultation or let vested interests win.
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
Flat out. “Many banks won’t lend money on a property if the service charge is more than 1 per cent of the purchase price, which has made some flats unsellable. @Hamptons1869 estimated this month that 37 per cent of flats in England and Wales — almost 2 million — have a service charge that could stop buyers getting a mortgage.” The government are focused on building more, not the welfare of those who went before and are now paying the price. @JSimpsonjourno @thetimes
thetimes.com/article/e3f28f0…
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
“I know the importance of having a safe place to live.”
Then please come to 53 Agar Grove.
We’ve spent six years and around £500,000 fighting serious defects in our homes. Zack Polanski has asked to visit.
@Sagal_AW, will you come too?
I know the importance of having a safe place to live.
When I came here as a child refugee, that’s what Camden gave me.
That’s why I’m committed to tackling homelessness and delivering secure, affordable housing.
camdennewjournal.co.uk/artic…
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
Someone needs to speak to @JamesCleverly.
Build, baby, build.
But buyers HATE the product.
Why sign up to a leasehold flat with unlimited service-charge liability and fees from a monopolist — leaving your home potentially unmortgageable and unsellable? thisismoney.co.uk/money/mort…
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
It was only once Riverside House finally caught fire that homeowners realised the sprinklers didn't work. In fact, they never had. At first, the company managing the block insisted they didn't even exist, and the story only gets stranger from there... sheffieldtribune.co.uk/they-…
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
“We built a load of unsafe homes and it’s not fair we have to fix them”
Home building is becoming increasingly unviable across many parts of England and Wales.
Rising policy, taxation, and regulatory pressures mean build costs have risen by on average around £76,000 per home since 2020.
At the same time, demand-side constraints and ongoing barriers - including planning delays - are compounding the challenge.
The risks associated with building today have seen SME numbers dwindle, planning applications plummet, and housing delivery nose-dive, with just 208,000 new homes completed in 2024/25 - down 16% from the 2020 peak.
Policymakers must give serious consideration to the real-world cumulative impact of layered regulation on housing delivery.
For too long, the industry has been treated as an easy target for additional taxation and policy burdens - but there is a limit to how much private businesses can absorb.
That’s why we are calling for a moratorium on any new policy costs, taxes, and levies affecting home building, while a full review of cumulative regulatory impacts is undertaken.
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
Government considering a ban on builders/developers being able to choose their own building control inspectors...
This would be a big and necessary change to a broken system
insidehousing.co.uk/news/gov…
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
I've watched Dan's @dannybster woes over the years with his leasehold flat, where it's clearly been built by laborers with little to no skills.
How have we ended up a country where you cannot trust a new build property, especially flats?
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
The Tories are literally the party who created the student loan rip off. They were literally in power between 2012-2022 when these changes were implemented.
The audacity!
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
I cannot see a world in which this doesn’t result in a U-Turn.
Unilaterally changing the terms and conditions of a loan post that loan being taken out would be unlawful for any lender in the UK & the government would almost certainly call that what it is, loan sharking.
Aside from how horrendous the RPI +3% interest rate is, the changes to the assurances around thresholds is a disgrace.
Rethink needed here.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defends student loan change
bbc.in/4rxtB4i
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
Student loan scandal
If it was kept at the same amount you borrowed, in real terms, that would make sense. But the fact they’re using RPI, which is something they refuse to use for pay rises, and then adding 3% on top of that, that’s just incredible
thetimes.com/money/family-fi…
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
Imagine if pensioners lost £8 a month in benefits, they’d be starting a movement
Phillipson defends student loan change and says average repayments will rise by £8 a month bbc.in/477XX5f
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
I was told “borrow money to go to university and you can repay what you owe once you start earning enough”.
Not “go to university and later we will feel free to seize as much of your income as we decide to fund the state’s other spending commitments”.
Martin Lewis has been asleep at the wheel for this on 10 years. Kept telling graduates not to worry as it wipes after 30 years and not to over pay- but now the interest is hitting home he’s more involved. Also telling graduates they may not have a legal angle without being a lawyer?
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
Probably the worst thing one generation ever did to another - and all the major political parties supported it!
I thought you would be interested in this story from The Times:
Ex-education secretary calls for cut in 'horrendous' student loan interest.
This has surely been true for years. Utterly disgraceful rate for our youngesters to pay… thetimes.com/article/db976fd…
Simon Crowther CEng retweeted
£99987 and counting: graduates trapped by ballooning student loans.
Govt froze repayment threshold. By 2030, likely to be at minimum wage.
At the margin graduates pay 20% income tax + 8%NIC +9% repayment. Insane.
Loan keeps increasing, if not repaid.
theguardian.com/money/2026/f…