Housing Futures: our homes and communities. A report for the Federation of Master Builders

Forward by Ron Storer, President, Federation of Master Builders: The housing system is intrinsically linked to almost every major area of government policy from the economy and taxation to the environment and education. It is driven by a huge range of factors from the behaviour of individuals to global economic forces. It is also in most cases the greatest asset and debt held by a household. There is a wide variation in the amount of money people spend on their housing ranging from those who own their property outright to an estimated one million households who spend more than two thirds of their income on housing costs. And yet despite its importance economically, socially and environmentally the current housing system is in crisis; namely housing supply is failing to meet demand and the current stock is unsuitable without major adaption to meet future needs. There is now an urgent need to take action to make our existing homes greener and more energy efficient. Given that our homes contribute 27 per cent of the UK's total carbo emissions and that 85 per cent of our homes will be still be in use in 2050 it is imperative if the Government is to meet its legal requirement to cut carbon emissions that a more concerted effort is made to transform our existing housing stock. A large scale programme of retrofitting is required to transform our 26 million homes. Such a programme could have a significant role in helping to reduce fuel poverty, creating new jobs in the construction sector as well as tackling energy saving. housing futures and what this might mean in terms of developing a coherent joined up policy across government and the construction sector to tackle the issue. I'm delighted that Professor Anne Power accepted our challenge and has produced this first class, thought provoking report. The report sets some big challenges for construction and specifically the FMB which we need to address and act on if we are to turn the rhetoric into reality. I believe the FMB can rise to challenge and would like to extend an invitation to everyone else with an interest in our homes and communities to work with us to ensure that we turn these challenges into the opportunities that will deliver the housing that this country deserveshousing, environment, homes, housing stock

Report to incommunities on the About Turn project

This is an independent account of the work of the Incommunities About Turn project to support households in difficulty with ther tenancy. The project has run for 3 years and has a track record in dealing with difficult tenancies. LSE Housing has examined the tenancy records, evidence from staff interviews and family development, in order to highlight how much progress is being made, what barriers and difficulties are faced and how this work fits within the wider national and Bradford city context. Our aim is to present an overview of the costs and benefits of this project from the perspective of new social priorities in te housing world and its difficulties with the most marginal tenants

‘Teach in’ on energy and existing homes: restoring neighbourhoods and slowing climate change.

Homes that have already built account for 99% of our total housing stock. We estimate that 86% of the current stock will still be in use in 2050. Building new homes is carbon intensive and implies many wider environmental impacts. But the existing stock can be made more efficient, at a reasonable cost, to realise many environmental and social gains. Homes are responsible for 27% of our total CO2 emissions through their energy use, for half of public water use, and they generate large amounts of total UK waste. Large savings can be achieved using technologies that are readily available, cost effective and cheaper than many alternatives. In addition, construction waste contributes to 33% of the total UK waste stream. LSE Housing held two workshops in June 2008 to explore how to retrofit the existing stock. The workshops specifically looked at demonstrating the links between neighbourhood renewal, social cohesion and energy conservation. Participants included managers of existing homes, regeneration companies, local authorities, and housing associations as well as policy makers. The aim of the workshop was to share experience on how to make the existing stock both more attractive and more energy efficient with big gains for the environment and communities. Tackling resource efficiency in existing homes requires a comprehensive package of measures to deliver a step change. But the payback from implementing these changes will be great. This report summarises the aims of the workshops, together with the views of participants on the main barriers to retrofitting the existing stock, and key ideas on ‘where to start’.

Report to incommunities on the About Turn project.

This is an independent account of the work of the Incommunities About Turn project to support households in difficulty with ther tenancy. The project has run for 3 years and has a track record in dealing with difficult tenancies. LSE Housing has examined the tenancy records, evidence from staff interviews and family development, in order to highlight how much progress is being made, what barriers and difficulties are faced and how this work fits within the wider national and Bradford city context. Our aim is to present an overview of the costs and benefits of this project from the perspective of new social priorities in te housing world and its difficulties with the most marginal tenants.

Managing the unmanageable: debt and financial resilience in Newham

This research aims to understand the links between work, low pay, benefits, credit, debt, and savings among low-income households in East London. Our work around debt and financial resilience in Newham goes back a number of years to 2011 when Newham Council first approached LSE Housing and Communities in order to carry out qualitative research into financial resilience in the borough. Our final report (Facing Debt) in 2014 produced some key headlines and recommendations around 4 main areas: financial management, debt, welfare reform and overall impact of financial pressures on people’s lives. We wanted to follow up with Newham residents in 2017 to talk about their money management and financial pressures to see how the picture had changed. Welfare reform was only just beginning when we first interviewed residents in the borough about debt and was much more established when we conducted the fieldwork for this study, in the summer of 2017

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - managing the unmanageable: debt and financial resilience in Newham

An executive summary of CASEreport 123 (https://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cr/casereport123.pdf) which aims to understand the links between work, low pay, benefits, credit, debt, and savings among low-income households in East London