REAL WORLD


A


ccording to the Department for Communities and Local Government, around 125,000 new


homes were built in England in the year to March 2015 – just half the number needed to meet demand. And this phenomenon is nothing new. Look at a graph showing the number of new homes built over the past 40 years and you’ll see an inexorable downwards slide. The result? An estimated shortfall of more than half a million homes.*


If the demand is there, why such a shortfall in supply? Some developers and planners argue that the UK’s planning system remains slow and bureaucratic, despite recent reforms; others believe that in abolishing national and regional housebuilding targets and putting the emphasis on local decision- making, the government has encouraged ‘Not In My Back Yard’ syndrome, and put further barriers in the way of building.


Availability and affordability of building land is a major factor: the average price of residential building land increased by 170% between 2000 and 2007, compared with a 124% increase in the cost of housing.** Then there is the impact of the 2007/08 financial crisis, which put many smaller builders out of business and restricted access to credit. It also triggered an acute skills shortage, with many construction workers leaving the industry to find employment elsewhere.


Barriers to building


And it’s not just the private sector that is affected. Local authority construction is still feeling the impact of the prohibition on house building and the introduction of the right to buy council houses, both of which date back to the Thatcher years. Housing associations have been left to pick up the slack, but umbrella organisation the National Housing Federation argues that unnecessary restrictions are limiting their ability to build. At the same time, the social housing budget has recently been cut by around 60%.


The impact is hard to ignore. Recent figures published by housing charity Shelter*** show that, on average, house prices are now nearly seven times people’s income. More people are renting from private landlords, subject to uncontrolled rent rises and living with the constant fear of eviction. And in 2013/14, more than 50,000 households were classified as ‘homeless’.


Then there are the people in the middle, with steady jobs and reasonable salaries, who find themselves sharing accommodation and struggling to meet their housing costs each month. Students are not exempt: Shelter estimates that 50% struggle to pay their rent, and the National Union of Students has spoken of ‘an absolute crisis’.


It’s a perfect storm. Little wonder LSBU’s Dr Michael Leary-Owhin, director of the MA in Planning, Policy and Practice and co-editor of The Routledge Companion to Urban Regeneration, prefers to speak of crises in the plural. ‘In London and much of the south east, we are seeing massive over-demand, including for housing as an investment. We’re losing viable businesses, office space and industrial land, while still failing to meet the need for affordable housing. In other parts of the country, there is such an over- supply of cheap housing that properties can be snapped up for a few thousand pounds.


Changing demographics


‘There is in fact no absolute shortage of housing in the UK. It’s the way it is distributed that is causing the crises. A significant amount of housing is left unoccupied, or used as second homes and holiday homes or to house the growing student population. Much is under-occupied. And new housing only accounts for about 5% of total housing stock annually, so it’s not just a case of building our way out of trouble.


‘In London in particular, we’re also seeing a change in demographics. As prices rise, families on low and medium incomes are replaced by affluent young professionals, who then stay for a while before moving on. Ethnically, and socio-economically, the city becomes less diverse. And with that high level of turnover comes a loss of community.’


So, what’s the solution? Is there a way to meet demand without disproportionately impacting on certain groups? Can regeneration bring benefits to all, and lead to dynamic, sustainable communities? Over the following pages, we look at how our alumni and staff are engaging with these and other related issues, and focus on two major regeneration projects: one right on our doorstep in Elephant and Castle (see opposite) and another in Hackney (see page 16) that is putting the emphasis firmly on engagement with the local community.


‘‘ In London and much of the south east, we’re losing viable businesses, office space and industrial land, while still failing to meet the need for affordable housing”


12 | SOUTH BANK | Autumn 2015


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