A scale solution to the affordable housing crisis

The housebuilding industry is said to be on-track to deliver the government’s target of one million new homes by 2020. The challenge is to continue expanding supply in the highest-demand areas to improve affordability.

The cost of housing is said to have knock-on effects across the economy. As people are forced out to the suburbs, cities become less dynamic. Workers waste time on ‘energy-sapping commutes’. People from the regions cannot afford to move to cities where they might find work. Businesses cannot clear land to build. It is perhaps no coincidence that Britain’s growing housing crisis has coincided with stagnant productivity.

Tackling the housing crisis is seen as crucial to capturing the votes of younger people priced out of home ownership in many areas. Home ownership is slipping out of reach: on average, house prices are now almost seven times people’s incomes. No matter how hard they work, it’s said to be becoming more and more difficult for young people to save up and buy a home of their own. In the last decade, home ownership reportedly fell for the first time since Census records began.

More families are renting from private landlords: There are now more than nine million renters in private rented accommodation, including almost 1.3 million families with children. Renting can be unstable, with soaring rents, hidden fees and eviction a constant worry. And it can mean living in sub-standard conditions too – one third of private rented homes in England reportedly fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard.

The ultimate impact of the housing crisis is the huge numbers of people forced out of their homes altogether. The number of homeless households has risen to more than 50,000 a year. Some of these households – many with dependent children – will then wait for years, sometimes in temporary accommodation. And more than 2,000 people a year will have no roof over their head at all, ending up sleeping rough.

Bjorn Conway, chief executive officer at ilke Homes is speaking all about how ilke Homes is approaching the urgent UK need to increase the supply of high quality, desirable and affordable homes at Explore Offsite Housing, which takes place on April 10 and 11, 2018. He will be joined by an array of industry professionals such as, Brian Ham, executive director of development at Home Group; Paul Williamson, managing director: modular construction at Swan Housing; Peter Andrew, deputy chairman of the Home Builders’ Federation; Sir Edward Lister, chair of Homes England and more.

For the full list of speakers go to: www.exploreoffsite.co.uk/2018-events/explore-offsite-housing/conference-speakers/