The interior is confidently handled, from the pale limestone flooring of the kitchen and dining room to the American-sourced Kohler sanitaryware. Sofas and chairs are of the comfy-modern kind you can now get from good stores anywhere. Rejecting Wimpey's standard arrangement of conventional radiators, the Hemingways have demonstrated how better-looking, better-positioned rads can actually enhance the interiors for not much money. They have also tweaked the conventional bathroom layouts to make them more usable by two people at once. In the top front bedroom with its lofty roof, they have shown how storage can be arranged vertically up a wall without you having to scramble through a hole into an attic. In the kitchen, Gerardine has used the available space to make a double-decker arrangement of handsome kitchen wall cabinets.

As for the Staiths development overall, Hemingway professes satisfaction. "We've had to compromise so much, but we're really happy with it. This development is so much better than the rubbish stuff next door. It's way off perfection - we don't expect it to win any architecture awards - but we've kicked it one stage forward."

Now, of course, the couple is in great demand. Wayne has become a national spokesman and campaigner for better housing, there are other Wimpey developments to come - including a huge 1,140-home one at Dartford in the Thames Gateway. "We've learned loads from Wimpey," says Wayne. "There's been lots of cynicism, but also a willingness to give it a go. And they've made a new career for us."

So are we likely to see a new developer emerge - Hemingway Homes? "We've got an advantage," says Wayne. "We get coachloads of planners coming round here to take a look. We could set up a massive housing practice. We've created a brand. But…" and there is just the slightest pause, "there are no plans to use it at the moment."

http://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk - what Wayne and Gerardine are up to.
http://www.gwcity.co.uk/staiths - the official Staiths South Bank site.