Why doesn’t every town have a community wood store?

I’m working today from my attic office, which I built a couple of years ago when my children moved into separate bedrooms and I had to surrender my study. It has a desk made of offcut panels that were being given away by the DIY store. There’s an alcove bookshelf next to me which is clad with my neighbour’s old wood flooring. It’s held together with stripwood that was once part of an easel.

I should add that this is all cobbled together in a fashion that would not pass muster anywhere else i...