Lockdown Survey for UCL and UDL

Hi all,

University College London and Urban Design London have created a survey to find out how our homes and living environment has worked during lockup. I’ve been approached by UDL to circulate this survey among TRA, community groups and amenity societies etc and I thought posting it here might be the best way to kick-start its circulation!

Here is the intro:

'Since the 23rd March, the UK was put into lockdown in an unprecedented attempt to fight the spread and impact of the Covid-19 virus. Families, sharers, couples, and individuals have been spending more time at home – and together – than ever before, whilst balancing numerous everyday roles.

This survey will help us understand how well or poorly the design of our home environments – our homes and the neighbourhoods in which they sit – have been supporting us during the period of lockdown. The intention is to learn from this time of stress about how we should be designing or adapting our homes and their environments for everyday life in the future’

The survey is can be found here

Done. Actually quite quick and easy, not too long like some of the surveys can be. Thank you!

done !
and yes it was quick and enjoyable

Done!

It is interesting as my priorities have already changed in matter of weeks of what is important for home. Now wish had set up spare bedroom as functioning study. Going forward I know our work is discussing more working from home (even when we can go back to work and will likely be some of the last as can work from home with phone and internet). Also even just having a balcony now massively needed!

The funny thing about living and working in the country is that very little has changed bar the kids waking going from 7am to 11am. The house has been through this sort of issue many times before having being built somewhere in the 1700’s.

However, we are happy to have had one change in 8 weeks and that was to become part of the Covid testing today.

I could never have imagined sticking a cotton bud up my nose could be cause of interest.

I’ve filled this in, but one of the compulsory questions, about the support you’re getting from your employer, is unanswerable by retired people like me. So I had to lie, and try to explain why.

I don’t remember that exact question, but for something similar I just opted for the middle, noncommittal answer and wrote “not applicable” in the box below. As always with these surveys, I wish it were possible to see the whole list of questions before starting, as several times I found myself thinking “I’ve already answered that”.

It focused the mind though.

I hope the survey will influence Planning and limit some of the increased density proposals we’re seeing more and more these days. Our first building regs in this area came about as a reaction to a Scarlet Fever epidemic, but a lot of the healthy measures designed into those houses have since been compromised or obliterated by extensions and new builds.

When we moved to our current house some 18 years ago, my husband and I were both still working. In my case, often from home. So we compromised on some things and prioritised looking for off street parking - because we both worked unsociable hours and had to carry a lot of work stuff - and two spare bedrooms (a dining room pkus a big landing space would have worked equally well) we could use as separate studies. That last has proved a boon. BEefore the lockdown, many people have said why do we need so much space, but it’s all about individual priorities. We have only a courtyard garden and a balcony. I would love a bigger garden, but we had to compromise. Being able to work or do our own things in our own spaces is important to us.

Having an en suite shower as well as a bathroom is a great luxury too. My posh soap is mine all mine