Written by:
Sophia de Sousa
Last night, I attended a Negroni Housing Roundtable, part of the Negroni Talks Series at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. It brought together a broad range of people with diverse expertise and interests in housing to debate the complex subject of the housing crisis and how to help the government deliver on its pledge to build 1.5m new high quality homes.
Before the event, I was asked by the event Chair to say a few words at the event on the theme of “What?” in housing. In particular, he was interested in exploring what it is that we actually need, and how this aligns with what the housing industry and the Treasury are telling us about housing demand. This was not about giving a presentation, but about throwing out some quick provocations for discussions to help kick-start discussion and debate. The event organisers will issue their own summary of the rich and challenging discussion at the event, but I thought it would be interesting to share the provocations that I put into the mix. What follows is more of a set of notes than a narrative piece but hopefully, it can help spark discussion and debate more broadly.
To do this, I formulated a series of “What…” questions around housing, with a focus on how we might better understand a) what it is that we need and b) how to put the policies, practice and systems in place to get there. These are questions that have emerged from projects we have been involved in and conversations we have had within communities and across sectors. I’ve tried to organise them around the key themes of: reflection and learning; political leadership; and driving systemic change.
What lessons can we learn from past (including recent) housing development to inform our approach today and in the future?
Every moment in history is different, but we should be investing more in gathering both quantitative data and anecdotal stories (from those who commission, build and occupy homes and neighbourhoods) in order to learn from what has happened in recent years in housebuilding and from previous generations of housing development. In a market-driven economy, we need evidence to challenge the status quo.
For example:
- What data do we have about not only how many new homes have been built, but how many existing empty properties have been brought back into use and how many buildings and homes retrofitted?
- What data do we have about who is buying the new homes being built, whether the homes are being lived in, and by whom?
- What data and anecdotal evidence do we have about the social infrastructure (schools, doctors, green spaces, shops, cultural facilities) and the quality of life in existing and new housing areas?
What can shifts in national policy achieve?
Whilst local leadership is crucial to successful housing delivery, what role can central government play in driving positive change nationally and in helping to level the playing field in terms of quantity and quality of housing supply and its socio-economic and environmental impact?
For example:
- What changes to national standards and building regs would improve the environmental credentials, quality and liveability of the housing being built?
- What could national policy do to empower the public and third sectors and communities as partners rather than just clients or consultees in shaping our homes and neighbourhoods?
- What might longer term, cross-party housing and growth strategies do to limit the disruptive impact that political cycles and changes to national political leadership have on local authority strategies and planning policies?
What are some of the systemic changes that might help us do things better?
There is a danger in continuing to do things the way that we have always done them just because systems are set up to support current practice. How can systemic change sit alongside policy to improve both the housing offer and the quality of our homes and neighbourhoods?
For example:
- What changes do we need to make regarding the frameworks and metrics for how we measure success and value for money?
- What are the infrastructures for collaboration that we could put into place to enable more equitable and inclusive cross-sector partnerships and community empowerment?
- What are the opportunities and objectives for social value that we can and should build into housebuilding?
And finally, some “What ifs…?”
We come across a lot of simple but potentially transformational ideas in our conversations within communities and across sectors. Many of them we hear again and again. Some of these are posed here as “What if…” questions:
What if…
- …the government finally levelled the playing field on VAT so that new build was not financially incentivised over refurbishment and retrofit?
- …we invested in more sustainable building methods and trained a new generation of green builders to use them?
- …the housing and growth strategy were fully integrated with the health strategy?
- …we invested more in supporting and enabling community-led and co-housing in both rural and urban areas?
- …we gave more power to communities to decide how to allocate CIL strategically in local areas through development trusts or other models?
What are your “What” and “What if..” questions?