Aster helps produce new report into UK housing crisis

Aster has supported a new report from think-tank ResPublica which proposes an innovative way to tackle Britain’s housing crisis.

The study, Going to scale: How a National Housing Fund can unlock Britain’s housebuilding capacity, argues that a £100bn, 10-year fund could provide up to 75,000 new homes each year.

The fund would primarily work with small- and medium-sized developers to build homes which could be rented out by housing associations to key groups like nurses, firefighters and young professionals. These people would then be able to buy the homes after five years of renting.

Because the houses would be rented initially and not placed on the open market, existing sales by developers would not be affected.

 The report, which has been produced with the help of insight from Aster, was launched during an event held at the House of Commons [on 17th November].

Aster chief executive Bjorn Howard said: “We’re passionate about being part of the solution to the UK’s housing crisis and are working towards our vision of everyone having a home, so we were pleased to be able to support the production of this report.

“Tackling the huge shortfall in housing across Britain will take partnership working and innovative thinking which is why we think initiatives like our joint venture partnerships and commitment to shared ownership are so important.

“For these reasons we welcome ResPublica’s report and hope the idea of a National Housing Fund will further stimulate the housing debate and innovative ways of alleviating the shortage of high-quality, affordable homes across Britain.”

The government estimates that Britain needs at least 200,000 new homes a year. However, last year just 143,500 were built – a shortfall of 56,500.

 Read more about the Going to Scale report on the ResPublica website.