What do we mean when we say we must build the ‘right’ kind of housing?

  • Socia housing are homes that are rented to people in housing need at a lower cost than the private rental equivalent.

    Tenants rent their homes from housing associations or local councils instead of a private landlord. The rent prices of social houses are determined by local income levels rather than national stipulations, meaning social houses are very affordable.

    Unfortunately social housing has been on the decline for decades. Over 1 million households are waiting for social homes. On average, nearly 30,000 social homes are sold or demolished each year and less than 7,000 are built.

    We desperately need a commitment from Government to build tens of thousands new social homes each year. And these have to be in places where there is need - people shouldn’t have to uproot their lives, moving many miles, just to find a secure place to live.

  • New housing is built in this country all the time. Unfortunately, according to research by Sourced Franchise, the average price of a new-build is £425,000. Most of us would agree that this is far above what we would term ‘affordable’ for many people in England.

  • There needs to be more regulation so that new-builds can’t be sold to investors simply wanting to profit from letting them short-term or leaving them vacant to accrue value. We must build homes for people to live in.

  • Homes that are built to a high safety standard and which do not contain elements such as flammable cladding that will require remediation down the line.

  • It is an outrage that current developments must only conform to EPC D. The required energy efficiency if the UK is to meet our legal obligation to hit net zero emissions is a least EPC C. Developers should be forced to build homes to a high energy efficiency rating. It will make the homes they build future-proofed and ensure residents have lower fuel bills.

The importance of getting housing ‘right’ - a note from our Director, Rebecca Moore.

Currently in England, we mainly build the type of housing that makes developers the most money. It’s that simple.

Somewhere along the line, we seem to have lost our way; a home is a fundamental human right. A home is a place of safety and stability. It should be a place from which families can thrive. However, there are not enough good quality, low-cost homes available for everyone who needs one.

There are currently more than 100,000 families in temporary accommodation (TA). This TA is very often not fit for purpose. For example, you can take a look at Shelter’s brilliant report here on how many people are Still Living in Limbo. When you consider that the government spends £1.7billion on this unsuitable temporary accommodation each year, you realise that change needs to come now.

Still, every year, more social homes are lost than built - usually around 20,000 more lost. Building more social homes would make financial sense as well as social sense, as Savills noted in a 2018 analysis of Labour housing policy. So that’s a start.

But we also need to put better restrictions in place so that new housing cannot be used to make already wealthy people richer. In our report, Nobody’s Home, we highlight how London developers are being allowed to build the wrong kind of housing - so often this means towers of luxury flats that nobody on anything like an average income could afford. So instead, they tend to end up as part of somebody’s investment portfolio, gaining income on sites like Airbnb…or simply sitting empty, gaining in value year on year.

London is by no means alone. In our more recent report, Pretty Vacant Manchester, we demonstrate the phenomenon is also happening in Manchester. Indeed, this trend can be seen across the country.

Then, of course, we turn our attention to the climate crisis and the important part that housing can play. We have a commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. There are currently no legal requirements on a minimum EPC rating for new build homes, however the government has said that all social housing, including existing homes, must meet a minimum standard of EPC C by 2035. Which means any homes built between then and now which do not meet that standard will need to be retrofitted. Within a decade of being built. This needs to change.

We’ve got a lot wrong in our housing policy and this is increasingly well-recognised. What we mean when we say ‘build the right kind of housing’ is housing that contributes to alleviating our housing crisis. Housing that is genuinely affordable both to rent or buy as well as to run, for those in greatest housing need. Housing that is safe and minimises its environmental impact. Homes to be lived in, not to stand empty.

Let’s stop building empty homes.

Rebecca - Director, Action on Empty Homes.