Homebuilding charity Habitat for Humanity Great Britain has launched a new blueprint for converting disused office and retail space into social housing, after completing two such conversions in the borough of Barking and Daghenham.
The charity, the UK arm of the group associated with former US president Jimmy Carter, today launched an app for people to identify empty office and retail spaces that could be turned into homes. It also launched a new tool kit, allowing other groups to replicate its conversions.
Tum Kazunga, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Great Britain said: “Our aim is to increase the capacity of social housing across the UK and Europe by working with a collaborative network of local housing authorities, charities and private sector partners.
“Inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and forced displacement affect the most vulnerable, and providing social housing by repurposing unused buildings is one of the quickest ways to provide housing support, which is our absolute focus in Europe.
“The Empty Spaces to Homes toolkit is a stepping-stone to bring new homes to communities.”
Proposals to convert empty offices into housing have picked up steam as businesses rent out less office space in a post-pandemic shift in working patterns. Yet many of these efforts have been hindered by complicated planning red tape as well as practical issues surrounding plumbing and natural light.
The hope is that the plan would help organisations to navigate the bureaucratic and practical challenges around retrofitting buildings into new social housing.
Kazunga also noted that the scheme focused on retail as well, where declining footfall has led to empty spaces that could be filled by housing.
“It’s something that has been given impetus by the pandemic, but also by issues affecting the high street generally,” he said. “We’re seeing a decline of the high street and there are a lot of vacant spaces opening up.”
Kazunga noted that vulnerable groups, such as the disabled and those escaping domestic violence, feel the worst consequences of the country’s housing crisis: something he hopes the scheme can fix.
“The common denominator, which is a sad reflection of where we are as a society, is that there just isn’t enough housing to support these vulnerable people,” he said.
