How To Address London's Imminent Housing Problems

Build affordable homes

While there are many affordable housing estates being constructed across the country, they are set in the middle of many more mock-Georgian-style houses and townhouses that are far beyond the budget capacity of most first-time buyers. 

More houses are being built right now, but if these are placed on the market at high values, they will do no good to the current housing problem. Rather than this, the government should be focusing on construction projects in houses that are more affordable and within the capacity of the majority of first-time homebuyers projects such as Impact Housing facilitate the building of such houses. These would be modest terraced or semi-detached houses with two or three bedrooms. 

This will allow the millennial generation to work if they see that homeownership is a possibility and will set their efforts in this direction. This will be a positive infusion of life that will help rectify the housing crisis.   

Reduce investor power

Manchester is a city where the housing crisis is being felt the worst. Once this burgeoning city was the “fastest-growing city” in all of Europe, according to statements by Deloitte. Back in 2016-2017, the local city council gave the green light for over 60 residential development projects for a grand total of 14,667  new houses and flats. Big surprise, not a single one of these houses were “affordable”. 

In 2016, over 50,000 people were living in downtown Manchester and this number was expected to rise to 80,000 people by 2024. It was refreshing to see a sprawling skyline growing with rooms and accommodation for this greater population. But on closer inspection, it was apparent that the flats and houses being constructed would not be available to the average first-time homebuyer. 

It is no exaggeration to say that most homes and flats available in Manchester are beyond the reach of most first-time home buyers and feature clear “investors only” provisos. Considering that the rent in Manchester runs at about £1,100 a month, before utility bills, it is a no-brainer for most Millenials to shack up with mom and dad and avoid the scathing costs of renting. Even those that could possibly afford such a move find it disadvantageous. 

A good way to reverse this trend may be to stop the new housing projects from being sold exclusively to investors. Rather, these should be made available to the buy-to-let industry and first-home buyers. This will help to meet greater demand. 

Alternative housing options

Some people that are having a hard time gaining traction in the current property market due to the rising housing crisis, have begun to lo

Buying a house is an expensive thing. Many people who have had a hard time collecting the cash for a costly house have begun looking at alternative options. Boats, shipping containers, and sheds are just a few of the options for affordable accommodation. But for these alternative solutions to be used, it will be effective. It will be important to adjust the way people see these alternative housing options. Many people assume that sheds and containers are unsuitable for living conditions especially when compared to traditional housing options. But this is not the case. Containers and sheds have been transformed into some of the coziest and most stylish accommodations. 

Containers have even been used to address other aspects of the housing crisis. In Bristol and London, many retired containers have been repurposed to shelters for the homeless and have been instrumental in moving people off the streets. 

Reconsider green belt land

Finally, there is one solution albeit a somewhat controversial one. This would involve utilizing the area of land referred to as the Green Belt that protects the countryside from the cities that are being developed. While it will be very important to keep certain areas away from development, there are other points to consider. For example, London’s Green Belt could provide as many as 1.6 million new affordable houses. 

In the end, there are more than 28 million houses and flats across the UK, and 300,000 will have to be built each year to keep up with the demand. There are many solutions that could improve the housing crisis we are facing, but they all have the same basic goals of combating homelessness, constructing more houses to meet the demand, and keeping prices low enough to attract first-time homeowners back to the housing market.