Designed for living - designer homes at Donny Brook

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Affordable designer homes

London is currently the largest construction site in Europe, and a large proportion of that building work is housing.

Trying to get on the property ladder in London is almost impossible for any first time buyer.

It's even harder if you want something a bit different from the standard new build or traditional conversion.

With the shortage of land and the increase in house prices, are we really building the sort of homes that suit 21st century London life?

Maxwell Hutchinson took Ryan, a first time buyer, under his wing to see what innovative solutions there are out there.

Together they visit three housing developments located in and around London – Barons Place in Southwark, Donnybrook in Bow and Newhall in Harlow.

They discover how to buy fresh, funky and, above all, affordable homes in one of the most expensive housing markets on earth.

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Links relating to this story:

• BBC London - Max files
• RIBA

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London's autograph hunters

Autograph hunters lie in wait for the stars

These days we are all fascinated by the day to day lives of celebrities.

From David and Victoria Beckham to Katie and Tom Cruise, no matter the time or the place, in London there is always some celebrity to be found.

So wherever the stars gather - not far away will be the autograph hunters and photographers eager to spend a few seconds with their idol in the hope of leaving with a souvenir.

Some autographs go for thousands - others are hardly worth the paper they are written on.

So is money the main reason the autograph hunters do it- or is it the thrill of the chase?

Links relating to this story:

• Autograph Auction

Incinerator Bottom Ash

Residents of Gerrards Cross protest

Local residents in Gerrards Cross are not naturally inclined to take to the streets in protest, but one unpopular neighbour has motivated them to do just that.

Their neighbour is none other than Britain's biggest retailer - Tesco.

For 17 years they have been trying to move into the area by building a new store, but this is no ordinary supermarket - it was to be a groundbreaking construction built on a specially designed tunnel over a railway line.

However it is not mere "nimbyism" which motivates them - rather a strong suspicion that one of the building materials used to construct the store's foundations - what is known as Incinerator Bottom Ash - is toxic and is exposing them to health risks.

The material is known as Incinerator Bottom Ash or IBA. It's what's left on the incinerator floor after municipal waste is burnt. After some processing - it's been quite widely used in road building where it is sealed under a cover of asphalt.

Tesco planned to use incinerator ash as a filler material around and above the tunnel it was building - and the Environment Agency approved its use.

Tunnel collapse

Tunnel collapse exposed residents to health threats?

When a huge section of the tunnel collapsed in June 2005 - bringing down not only hundreds of tonnes of rubble and concrete but also the incinerator ash - a massive clear up job was needed.

27,000 tonnes of building materials including Incinerator Ash was shipped out and dumped in a farmer's field in an area of outstanding natural beauty in the Chilterns.

It was only yards from the home of Ruth Marshall and her two young children.

Ruth became concerned about the vast "Pyrennian" mountain of ash when her children appeared to suffer breathing problems.

Unbeknown to Ruth, the local council had conducted an analysis which found levels of heavy metals and dioxins which exceeded guidelines established for commercial or industrial land - even more startling in a rural location.

Shocking results

When we revealed to her the results she was unsurprisingly shocked and concerned.

In fact the local authority recommended that the material could only stay on site if it was dampened to prevent dust blowing and also covered. It ordered the spoil's removal from Coleshill at the end of last year.

Thousands of tonnes of the material remain however at the Gerrards Cross site. Greenpeace have tested some of the material from the site and their test results show high levels of lead and dioxins.

Scientist Dr Paul Johnston believes that "some of the other chemicals (in the material tested) that are present are known carcinogens". He also said "the levels of lead that are present in this material would certainly give me cause for concern"

Is Incinerator Bottom Ash a health risk to residents?

Environmental expert Alan Watson has also expressed his concern.

He says the material on site shouldn't be left like this - fine dust exposed to the elements and free to blow around… places where children would come into contact with it.

Michael Kissman from Tesco says "the material is inert and safe and it has been signed off be the relevant authorities including the Environment Agency".

Despite the concerns of experts Tesco insist the material has been tested by the relevant bodies and it is safe.

A number of residents however have been concerned about the dust containing IBA that they were exposed to from the site. Local shopkeeper Kalpana West said "The dust was settling literally everywhere.

Strict proceedures

Tesco says "we have strict procedures in place we have strict procedures in place for when we work the material in case of the creation of dust such as damping down the site, which will be adhered to when we work the material.

"At the moment the material is being left, it's in a safe state it's in a constant safe state with a hardened crust and poses no risk to the local environment".

Incinerator Bottom Ash requires a licence from the Environment Agency before it can be used in construction which Tesco received.

However, in this case it was never envisaged that the material would be exposed to the elements for such a long time.

As the Health and Safety Executive are continuing their investigations into the causes of the collapse all work has ceased on site therefore a quantity of Incinerator Ash mixed with other material also remains on site.

Worryingly the Environment Agency claim they have no jurisdiction over the incinerator ash once it has been incorporated in other building aggregate - officially it ceases to be defined as incinerator waste.

Thus it has remained in a place open to the elements - free to blow across the town - apparently unregulated and unchecked by the Environment Agency.

Residents feel that the buck for this material is passed to and fro.

Meanwhile the bewildered resident of Gerrards Cross are left facing another summer of dust and growing fears that their green and pleasant corner of England is being contaminated.