I’ve talked a bit about my thoughts around the lack of affordable housing. It’s not a case of needing to build x number of homes a year. Here’s my plan below to address the uk affordable housing supply issue.
No one size fits all for affordable homes
There is not a one size fits all to sort this out. Octopus Real Estate published some research a few months ago which shows a fall by 22% in the number of new affordable homes built. This is mainly due to the higher borrowing costs. Housing Associations are having to balance this out with a greater focus on their existing homes to make sure they are safe.
Affordable housing pipeline data
We’ve tried to track this information. Currently we’ve gathered affordable housing pipeline data up to 2030. However, we are doing this off our own bat. We don’t have access to a central data source for this information. To be honest we don’t think this exists.
What is interesting is that based on our data currently as shown above in the graph is that the majority of affordable new builds are for affordable rent. What is apparent and regularly reported is that not enough social housing is being built. Based on the data we’ve gathered we are pretty confident that we are correct about the new builds and they are mainly affordable rent currently. Based on our own data shared ownership ranks 2nd with social housing 3rd followed by rent to buy.
Affordable housing by location and type
Based on the information we have gathered we are also able to see what homes are being built in which location. This is publicly available information that we have gathered and compiled. To recap there will be gaps, however it is a good indicator as to what the new build pipeline looks like for affordable housing. We currently have data up to 2030. If you are reading this article and think you could help us to fill in the gaps please get in touch.
Affordable housing concerns need addressing
2024 or even as late as 2025 could see a change in government. Regardless of your political leanings there needs to be a plan to fix the affordable housing shortage. Without these homes people cannot look to get on the housing ladder and there will become a rift which will affect those 2nd or 3rd time buyers to move up or down (downsizing) the ladder.
It’s not just a case of saying we need to build 300,000 properties a year (remember that target that came and went!). There needs to be a clear plan. If it is 300,000 do we know which areas of the UK need these homes? Also, do we know the types of homes? No point building new apartment blocks or flats if nobody in that location wants those types of properties even though they are cheaper to build.
Data sharing to see what type of affordable housing is needed and where
There needs to be a sharing of data if that’s possible between government departments, housing associations, councils, house builders and property portals to see what types of homes people are looking for and where. It’s a good start to understand the demand and supply issues (using my economics degree here!). Also, it is not just about building new homes. Is the infrastructure there to support them? I’m not just talking about roads, but schools, doctors, hospitals, basically is it ready to be a community.
This is the first and most important part, to get a plan in place with good qualified data. I’ll be writing about how the plan could be actioned in another article.
Written by Paul Malone, MovingSoon Founder.
