Creativity, innovation, and policy changes are the three key things needed to help solve the housing crisis, writes Ravi Pankhania
Having a warm, dry, comfortable home is a basic human right – not that you’d assume as much from the state of the housing crisis in this country.
While it seems that everyone has a different view on how we should be approaching housing scarcity in the UK, what most of us can agree on is the need for a completely fresh approach – a multifaceted one that combines creativity, innovation, and policy changes.
There are numerous practical steps that can be taken to get the market on more steady ground, as well as several concepts that would be favourable to incorporate into the approach. Keeping an open and flexible mind when it comes to policy changes, and being future focused in our thinking, is equally as important as addressing the most pressing matters at hand.
Challenges times
When looking for examples of successful creative conversions, look no further than the work some developers are doing in transforming offices into apartments.
While it is true that offices are not the best starting point to produce new homes, we should rise to the challenge as the City of London and developer HUB have done. The former plans to use Square Mile to create 1,500 new homes by 2030, while the latter recently paid £30m for an office block close to the Barbican, which will be transformed into low carbon flats.
Empty properties are another key area we should look at. The UK has an estimated 230,000 homeless people, yet there are over 250,000 empty properties across the country.
Revamping old homes for new housing, affordable or otherwise, is another way to address the shortage of accommodation – but for projects to be encouraged, they need to be supported by clear policies and efficient planning processes, ones that don’t scare developers off.
Permitted Development Rights (PDR) have been introduced to speed up the construction of new homes, by bypassing the need for planning permission in certain contexts, such as converting commercial buildings into residential. Yet a recently commissioned government report has suggested this can lead to ‘worse quality’ homes and rising office rents. Clearly these need be re-thought with the wider community context in mind.
Balancing housing needs with conservation efforts is another significant challenge. As a recent report from a leading architect firm revealed, ‘much green belt land’ isn’t actually green, in fact, only 59% of London’s Green Belt is agricultural land. There are many examples of former industrial and unsightly sites and uses that have a negative impact. If the sites were developed respectfully, their impact would be positive and ‘greener’ than the existing.
Allowing councils to borrow more for the construction of social housing, something which has historically been capped, could lead to improved living conditions for many.
In the UK, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which local authorities use to manage their housing stock, deals with income from council rents, as well as expenditure on housing management, maintenance, and debt servicing.
Lifting the cap on the HRA would mean local authorities are allowed to keep a larger portion of the income from council rents to invest into building new social housing.
Social returns
Local authorities, developers, and policymakers have a responsibility to ensure that housing meets the broader needs of society, not just those related to financial gains. The value of social return should be given equal consideration to economic return to ensure that inappropriate and inadequate development is avoided.
Social return encompasses the broader benefits and positive impacts that a housing development brings to the community and society at large – such as improved quality of life, community cohesion, enhanced well-being, and positive effects on public health.
There is no question that a distinct, clear planning use class should be introduced for housing for older people that is designed to Housing our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation (HAPPI) principles – a set of design guidelines developed by the UK government in 2009, emphasising the creation of housing that supports active and socially connected lives for older people.
Population forecasts from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest there will be an additional 4.2 million seniors by 2040, at which point 25% of the population will be aged 65 or over.
The Mayhew Review, published at end of 2022, provided independent verification of the scale of the accommodation challenge. It recommended that the government adopt a seniors housing target of 50,000 units a year to 2040 to keep up with demand
Inclusive design
Local authorities should be required to address the principles of inclusive design in internal and external environments, and the needs of older people in line with the HAPPI principles, particularly in plan-making and land allocation.
Ultimately, partnerships are critical in ensuring favourable outcomes for developers, homeowners, and the government alike.
While initiatives such as the Help to Buy scheme have faced criticisms, they are crucial in giving first homebuyers more control and inspiring developers into action – but the financial model perhaps needs tweaking and developers need to be sure that there will be demand for the homes they have built.
Creativity and a willingness to experiment with different approaches are both key to finding effective solutions to housing scarcity. Add in some of the practical and theoretical approaches mentioned, and we stand a chance at beginning to tackle the monumental challenge in front of us.
Ravi Pankhania in managing director of Nacropolis Group
Read next: Is it time to scrap the housing minister role?
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