YOU’RE INVOLVED WITH A NEW CONCEPT, THE MULTI-GENERATIONAL HOME. WHAT’S THAT ABOUT?
It’s a key issue these days. I’m passionate about multi-functional homes and multi-generation homes, because quite often houses can be quite ordinary and boxy, but we’ve proven during Amazing Spaces that nowhere has to be ordinary at all.
We’re living in a unique time, the housing crisis is probably the worst it’s ever been in terms of demand and the type of housing available, and I think the multi-generation home is one way we can tackle that.
IS IT RIGHT TO SAY IT’S A ‘KIT’ HOME – BUILT OFF-SITE AND ASSEMBLED LATER? DO YOU THINK THAT’S THE FUTURE FOR HOUSE BUILDING?
Yes. This is my personal view, but I think the housing industry is miles behind where it should be in terms of technology. You only have to look at other industries like cars, telecommunications, product design . . . So many things are now factory-built to a very, very high specification and quality control, then sold and used very quickly.
IS COST THE REASON WHY IT HASN’T TAKEN OFF?
Well, it’s expensive because we haven’t started doing it. It’s like any product, once it’s taken off, it comes down in price. The industry as a whole, and the government, need to get together to get the factories set up, and that takes a huge amount of investment. We can’t say ‘that’s too expensive so we won’t bother’. At the moment everything is a short-term fix. It’s like sticking a plaster on a broken leg. We have to do much more over a longer period of time.
YOU ALWAYS SEEM SO BUSY – DO YOU GET MUCH TIME TO WORK ON YOUR OWN PROJECTS?
Yeah, I do. People assume that when you’re a TV presenter, you don’t have any other sort of job. But for me, first and foremost I’m an architect, a builder and a developer – that’s what I love doing. So I’ve still got my architecture practice, my building company and my development company. All it means is I work all the time.
DO YOU HAVE A DREAM PROJECT?
Selfishly, it would be building my dream house. It would probably be somewhere a bit warmer, and it would be by the sea. I’ve designed many of my own houses over the years.
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO SOMEBODY EMBARKING ON THEIR FIRST RESTORATION OR NEW-BUILD PROJECT?
Get professionals around you who can really advise you in the areas you’re lacking. As you know from watching the programmes, people do make some really major mistakes where they think they can design it themselves, but they can’t and they get it wrong. Getting a project manager is an investment, not a cost.
THE PEOPLE WHO APPEAR ON YOUR SHOWS ARE SO BRAVE
Particularly on Restoration Man, I think they’re amazing. These are people who are generally jumping into the unknown, taking on grade one or grade two listed buildings, many that have been abandoned for years. They do use a phrase sometimes that makes me laugh but is true: ‘If I wasn’t so naive, I wouldn’t have taken on the project in the first place’.
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU WORKING ON?
Apart from my normal businesses, I’m making series three of Amazing Spaces, which will be out in May. I’m making series four of Amazing Spaces at the same time. I’m making series five of Restoration Man, which will be out in October. And I’m making series six of Restoration Man, which will be out in late spring next year.