Guardian: Ten solutions to the housing crisis – in pictures

[Tony Gosling]

Ten solutions to the housing crisis – in pictures

The British dream of property ownership has 
turned into a nightmare, with many unable to 
afford a mortgage and others struggling to find 
any sort of shelter. Here are 10 smart and 
creative alternatives that could put a roof over all our heads
lots from abroad too
Rowan Moore
The Observer, Saturday 6 July 2013 18.00 BST

A problem with building new houses, especially in 
the countryside, is this: the owner of land that 
gets planning permission makes a killing while 
everyone who has to look at the results loses 
out. The theory behind CLTs is to share the 
benefit of the profits more widely so that they 
pay for affordable housing, say, or a village 
hall, and generate income. New housebuilding 
becomes a common enterprise. Might the 
government’s theory of localism actually mean 
something? It could change attitudes: at present 
local authorities, reflecting the views of their 
voters, tend to regard them as pollution, with 
the result that they tend to look like 
pollution.There are CLTs in Buckland Newton and 
in Worth, both in Dorset. They have also been 
architecturally undistinguished; a proposal for 
Horsmonden in Kent, by the architect Pierre 
d’Avoine for the developers Baylight, promises to do better.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2013/jul/06/architecture-housing-crisis-solutions

#CO-HOUSING: Springhill, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Springhill is the first British “co-housing” 
residential development – it shares common space 
for play and recreation, including a room for 
communal dining. Cars are left at the periphery, 
with only pedestrians allowed inside, and 
decisions about the estate are made jointly. The 
intention is to make a community where people 
support each other, and children grow up with 
friends in easy walking distance. It's not for 
everyone – not for those, say, who value some 
anonymity and detachment – and risks being as 
excluding to people outside its boundary as it is 
welcoming to those inside. It requires a 
willingness to play by the rules and turn up to 
meetings, and you still have to find the money to 
buy into it. But, like Community Land Trusts, it 
follows an important principle, which is that it 
sees homes not as isolated units of investment, 
but as parts of a greater social whole.#


RENT NOT BUY: Bedford Square, London
The Thatcher government backed the idea of a 
“property-owning democracy”. People would be 
given independence and the chance to better 
themselves through owning a home. As it turned 
out, being shackled to a mortgage did not 
necessarily mean greater independence or an 
increase in public spirit. Nor, historically, was 
owning your own home fundamental to British life. 
A century ago renting was normal, even for the 
well-off. Some of the most admired examples of 
privately built housing, such as the Georgian 
squares and terraces of British cities, were 
built largely for rent. Building for rent can 
give property developers an interest in the 
long-term quality of their buildings – when they 
sell it is no longer their concern. Contemporary 
examples of really good private developments 
built for rent are hard to find, so here is one 
from the past: Georgian Bloomsbury.


COUNCIL HOUSING: Boundary Estate, Shoreditch, London
What a great idea! Local government uses its 
ability to assemble land and raise money to build 
homes that serve the needs of low-income families 
and improve the quality of an area. It can set 
new standards of such things as internal 
dimensions, construction standards and communal 
space. It is such a good idea it was pioneered in 
Britain in the late-19th century, with 
developments such as the London County Council’s 
Boundary Estate, and has been followed all over 
the world. It has since been associated with the 
failures of postwar mass housing, of tower blocks 
accompanied by lurid tales of social breakdown. 
But some modern estates, such as Golden Lane in 
London, have been snapped up by discerning 
buyers. It may have gone out of fashion but, 
given the dismal quality of most market-led 
housing, it is surely time for a return to the 
first principles of the council house.


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