The Future of English Housing - HOUSE

Let me set the scene with statistics found via multiple sources such as The Rowntree Foundation, RICS, ODPM and other Government departments:-

In the 2008-09 period there was a net increase in general housing stock of just under 167,000 homes. A gross total of 55,770 new affordable homes were supplied in this period. Private, New Build accounted for 43,220 homes.

Alarmingly in 2009 empty housing accounted for about 3 per cent of the housing stock (abt 700,000 homes). It is interesting to note that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has estimated property adjoining neglected empty homes can be de-valued by up to abt 20% of market rates.

England has an extremely diverse array of house forms and about 21% of all homes have solid walls. These Hard-to-Heat Homes are often categorised as suffering from damp, indoor pollutants, noise, safety issues and over-crowding.

A further interesting statistic is that at current rates of demolition of poor housing it would take 1,100 years until today's new Homes are pulled down. The quality of homes being built just are not robust enough for that length of use.

Lets delve deeper and look at private sector housing in the south-east of England as defined in the English House Condition Survey 2003 (via ODPM). Some of the main findings derived from the analysis are -

The South-east region has a higher proportion of private sector dwellings than other region in the country and amounts to 2.981m dwellings or 17% of the national housing stock. 29% of this stock (853,779 dwellings) fails the Decent Homes standard. 28% of households are living in non-decent homes (819,264 households) - the difference is accounted for by empty properties.

The South-east region has a significantly higher percentage of non-decent properties in rural locations than in England as a whole (30% compared to 21%).

The vast majority of non-decent dwellings in the region failed on thermal comfort considerations (75%) and representation was disproportionately high in rural locations (32%).

29% of dwellings failed on the basis of poor repair - again disproportionately high in rural locations (31%).

82% of dwellings failing on the grounds of thermal comfort did so for reasons of poor insulation - 35% in rural locations.

In terms of tenure - 19% of properties in the private rented sector failed the Decent Homes standard and since the PRS represents only 12% of the total private sector stock, this demonstrates a disproportionate problem of condition in this sector.

Let us look at some other statistics:-

1. Construction employs 10% of the UK workforce.
2. New Housing accounts for 20% of the overall Construction market.
3. 3% of Government spending is for Housing Benefits.
4. 70% of us own our own homes.
5. Growth is always shown in self-build projects in recessionary times - currently housing starts are about 15,000 to 20,000 strong (according to VAT return statistics).

Government targets currently say England needs 2m homes by 2016 and a further 1m by 2020. That was before Recession and Credit-Crunch arrived and screens the fact that the last few years has seen year-on-year targets improve but mainly by building at higher densities on increasingly smaller parcels of land and as such these are not sustainable statistics. The economic decline has seen housing net additions deteriorate by about a third on their 2007 peak of 207,000.

These shortages cause pressure on house prices and for this reason we blindly smile when values improve in these downturn periods (demand exceeds supply). However, high values make it very difficult to obtain high enough rental yields to attract Institutional investors.

The result? First Time Buyers (FTB) cannot afford to buy or to rent. Middle income groups with high loan ratios (to value) cannot afford to move upwards due to pressures on their incomes and employment prospects. Indeed the statistics show that the average age of an unassisted FTB has now reached 27yrs. In other words, youngsters are increasingly supported by their parents by staying at home.

Enough - it is a mess - a ticking social time bomb.

Our new 2010 Government must focus on a whole raft of key issues:-

• getting vacant homes occupied,
• Improvement Grant availability transferred to where it is needed (away from simply those who simply apply),
• get new Home building re-invigorated (and improve the Planning system to make it far simpler and quicker to get housing started),
• get the Banks back to actually lending on non-outrageous terms,
• produce a state of nil Homelessness,
• create/transfer tax advantages and breaks to self-build investors and Groups,
• eliminate VAT on all Energy and Thermal improvements,
• maintain a very high Inheritance tax threshold to provide incentives for people to pass on family homes to the next generation,.........

This is an uphill task when we also must have a Social Care Service for the elderly - all whilst we pay off the massive debt built but under the Labour Government reign for worldwide reasons of downturn.

All this must also reflect the Energy Crisis - global warming included.

A quantum shift is needed NOW to begin making an impression before we are too late. New housing must depart of traditional design and materials where and if these produce far lower carbon footprints.

This does not mean all new housing looks like a Hobbits Commune. What it does mean is that increasingly conflict will exist in Planning terms when dealing with inner cities, Conservation Areas, Listed Buildings and prominent sites. For any building, or community to thrive it must remain economic and relevant to its situation and increasingly I see regulation and Nimbyism (not in my back yard) used to stifle good ideas, practical innovation and resultant radical design features and carbon reduction.

The dividing line is not simple to define but over-protection is a problem. Society cannot continue to pay lip service to what technology has to offer for the benefit of our environment. Obviously this must be tempered with common-sense and no lack of protectionism for truly fine and Listed structures or even whole districts that define our heritage, our uniqueness and all that this is good within our society.

Housing Watch Words and Phrases have become -

• Evolution of design and materials
• Reduction in Carbon Footprints
• Flexibility of Planning and Building Control
• Less form filling and red-tape
• More building to defined standards rather than to standard features

So: what of the future of English Housing?

Funnily enough the scrapped idea of seller surveys within HIPs would have been a brilliant way, if it extended to all housing transactions without exception, to identify non-Decent homes and homes below acceptable habitation standards, of homes without acceptable energy and thermal profiles, so that funds and expertise could have been targeted for social gain.

New housing is further blighted by Nimbyism and red-tape and therefore delays. Delays cost money and usually a correlation exists with eventual dumbing down of ideas and the rate of possible improvements.

Consider that England must be the Nation with the greatest housing diversity on the planet. This reflects our long and proud history and is something I make a survey living from. Diversity is good and does need to be protected.

However, new forms of building exist and can help to save the planet and our battered economy. A revised balance of change, a balance in favour of the new way, to achieve short term and sustainable widespread change, must prevail. What is wrong with homes that are net contributors to the energy grids rather than consumers of energy? If this comes at the cost of radical design then I call for change and not inappropriate protectionism.

The immediate problem is simply to greatly increase the rate of net new and additional housing units being created sympathetically right across the Country. This means that the means by which the paid-up-Nimby-brigade can delay and prevent such change must be reduced; by law and regulations, and quickly.