Theresa May has already expressed that it is her personal mission to ‘fix’ the current housing shortage in the UK, which is impeding on young people desperately trying to get on the property ladder.
She’s placed the production of housing at the forefront of the national agenda and will rewrite planning laws, as well as forcing private housebuilders to pull their weight and do what is necessary for Britain.
Tens of thousands of more homes are needed to keep up with the current levels of demand and there are fears that if the right steps aren’t taken, Britain will turn into a ‘rootless generation’, with people that never stay in one place for any significant length of time.
The crisis has caused much debate, with many politicians and architects stepping forward to share their thoughts about what is needed to address the housing shortage in the UK.
Just last week architect Patrik Schumacher expressed his opinions regarding affordable housing for millennials, stating that while properties still need be centrally located in cities such as London, they should be significantly smaller.
Generation rent is already struggling with crowded shared accommodation and the rising cost of renting, should the sacrifices being made go even further?
The number of people that own their own home has dropped significantly over the past 35 years and this can mainly be attributed to higher housing prices and lower earnings thanks to an increasingly strained economy. Most people in their 20s now spend almost two-fifths of their salary on rent, an eye-watering figure to say the least.
It’s interesting to consider the situation in London though, where zoning restrictions are meaning that wealth is being redistributed to homeowners and landowners.
Would an increase in the options that are available to renters, including more opportunities for co-living and smaller units open up the market and provide those that want it with the choices that they need?
We’ve already seen the introduction of micro-homes, minuscule flats barely bigger than the average bedroom but intended for two people to live in.
Perhaps these ever-shrinking properties say something about the values of working professionals, who prefer spending more time at work and enjoy evenings schmoozing in trendy central locations.
For some, smaller flats are probably fine, but for others, less room is certainly going to cramp their style.
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