How can we really improve housing quality?

Did you know estimates say architects design less than 10% of all new homes in the UK? It is an eye opening stat, and shows why there are so many concerns about the quality of new housing.

Big housebuilders

Many of the issues come back to the fact the industry is dominated by large companies. They produce the vast majority of new homes in the UK. At the opposite end you have smaller businesses. We've lost most medium scale companies (SMEs) because it is simply too hard for them to operate; the tough conditions ensure a delay on a single project could cause them to close.

With large companies, the goal is to build quickly and cost effectively at scale. It helps them to keep costs down because they use the same materials and techniques on every project. It's good for the subcontractors too.

Sadly, the dominance from big housebuilders does lead to a lot of negativity. Critics say it means the developments lack character, all looking the same. It can be have a big impact on the sense of place and the communities. In the worst cases, it means new homes are car reliant.

The thing to do here is to get more architects involved and provide support for SMEs. Most importantly, there should be more collaboration to look for opportunities to deliver better home designs and places cost effectively.

Master development

One option that gets a lot of backing is to create a masterplan for an area, focusing on the infrastructure first. Then, land can be developed in parcels to fit into the wider framework. It can create better places, especially if parcels go to different housebuilders and developers.

Thinking about what we have

Is it better to build new, potentially risking urban sprawl or the loss of green space, or focus on redevelopment? There are plenty of old buildings and pieces of unused land that could potentially become high quality homes with the right designs. This can actually make existing places better too, getting rid of vacant properties that can often become derelict, even dangerous, eye-sores.

Viability

It is also important to look at the viability problem. A lot of councils are struggling to create enough social housing. A major issue is it is often not viable because the building and maintenance cost is more than they can get back in rents over several decades. Exploring modern construction methods could be key here, offering the potential to deliver more cost effective, sustainable, high quality homes.