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A new research report published by RICS titled The Future of UK Housebuildingexplores the contribution that sustainable, affordable housing could and should play in the UK housing market. With construction rates in the UK at 80,000 fewer homes than needed annually, the housing crisis continues to grow, making it more and more difficult for low-income households to find appropriate and low-cost housing. Yet, as the report points out, there are several sustainable building designs that could be used to reduce the cost of housing as well as reduce the time to complete a project. Cheap and swift green building designs could include:

• Modular homes constructed off-site in 12 weeks
• Recycled materials such as Thermo Poly Rock, a recycled plastic material that makes use of waste that would otherwise be sent to the landfill
• Use of recycled shipping containers to create multi-storey complexes of 100 to 250 pods
• Energy efficient housing designs that reduce utilities costs, making them more affordable long-term
• Efficient use of water indoors and outdoors to further lower utility costs
• Implementation of renewable energy systems, such as solar hot water, photovoltaics, small scale hydro, wind turbines, heat pumps, fuel cells, and biomass heaters/stoves
• Renovation and refurbishment of existing buildings

These are just some of the ideas put forth in the report, all of which address the joint issues of sustainability and affordability. According to one of the authors of the report, Dr. Chris Goodier, “While there is no quick fix to the problem, it is important that the Government and industry consider more innovative solutions to development. Without them, problems such as overcrowding, undersupply and unaffordable housing seem set to continue. UK housebuilding has long been associated with expensive, time consuming methods and can mean that environmental standards are difficult to maintain. More innovative, modern off-site and modular designs are not only extremely cost effective, but can be constructed with ease in a very short period of time.” In planning the strategy for sustainable low affordable housing, it is important not to overlook the impact of aesthetics in the built environment. The RICS report briefly discusses this, but it is clear that more innovation is required before we can truly say that we have found the ideal solution which balances affordability, sustainability and the aesthetical quality which is so important for our wellbeing. However, ultimately, if sustainability can be used to make housing more accessible to low-income families, and we believe it can, it could result in multiple benefits to society and the building industry as a whole.

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