As we enter 2016, with the London mayoral election on the horizon, we can be sure that the capital’s housing crisis will remain front page news. It is a situation that alarms me.
As a parent, I worry that my children’s generation will simply not be able to buy a property and live in London. As a director with a largely millennial workforce, I am anxious that increasing numbers of young, talented people are being priced out of the city.
There are two paradoxes at the heart of the housing crisis.
First, the problem is most acute at the lower end of the housing market – yet there is less incentive to deliver affordable homes than market-value ones. We cannot reverse market economics, but I do feel that collectively we have a duty to prioritise the delivery of affordable homes at locations where that approach is viable.
Second, while we all appreciate the scale of the problem, I don’t think anyone appreciates the scale of the solution. We are all conditioned to derive maximum value from an individual site – be that commercial value for shareholders, social value for the community or design value.
The problem we are seeking to address affects the whole city, and the solution must do the same. We need to think big if we are to deliver the volume of affordable homes that London needs.
Having established that the solution must be cost-effective, and scalable, our practice arrived at modular housing.
This isn’t a new concept, or one that is particularly popular. For many, modular equates to makeshift, a view that may derive from our days in temporary “terrapin” classrooms growing up.
In reality “modular” refers simply to the assembly of pre-manufactured components. It is the same process through which cars are made, as is your computer and your mobile phone. There really is no reason to suggest that modular homes are inferior in quality, or less attractive to buyers.
By standardising design, do we not impinge on creativity? Well, no, actually.
The ability to create high-quality homes – or commercial buildings for that matter – within stringent parameters is the mark of a great architect. Designing modular homes, comprising the minimum number of components, is something that greatly excites me.
To find a solution that sits within the National Planning Policy Framework, The London Plan, the design and planning frameworks of the London boroughs and the myriad of building regulations, is an even greater challenge. Delivering a solution that can be manufactured in existing UK factories is the ultimate test.
The housing crisis demands the very best in British ingenuity to solve it. Once “the workshop of the world”, Britain now lags behind China and other lower-cost nations in terms of manufacturing, but the know-how and infrastructure remains.
If we could use the various manufacturing facilities now sitting empty to produce low-cost modular housing, we could go some way to alleviating the housing shortage. And we’ll also be creating the other thing the government is committed to deliver: jobs.
It is worth further consideration. Watch this space.
Richard Hyams is director, Astudio
