As we have previously reported the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has announced a relaxation of legislation allowing for the conversion of offices into homes without the need to seek planning permission.
The government believes that converting commercial property to residential use can help to address the current housing shortage. However, while offices may make perfectly suitable homes can the same be said of garages?
Would you want to live in a garage?
Yet this is exactly what architectural practice Levitt Bernstein proposes as a solution for the overcrowding issue in East London. The firm has created computer generated images to show how a row of lock-up garages on the Lockner Estate in Dalston, could be converted into “pop-up houses” and hopes to begin the task in the near future.
Each unit measures 11.5 square metres and offers an individual or young couple a very basic – but very affordable – lifestyle. Equipped with only a bed, kitchen and wet room/bathroom, prospective tenants will be able to pack in only a small table and two chairs before reaching the maximum capacity of their tiny homes.
However, one in every five units will be converted into a communal living area, with facilities for laundry, dining and more complicated cooking provided.
And best of all, the costs related to the renovation are relatively low. Each micro house is expected to cost around £13,000 to renovate, translating to a weekly rental charge of only £11 for future tenants.
Architect Georgie Revell, one of the project’s designers, says; “The proposal targets under-used spaces in high density areas where land value is high and rising.
“We believe it offers a creative and practical interim solution between other development opportunities and we are really excited about the potential to develop the scheme with Building Trust and out partners.”
The scheme is known as Pop-up HAWSE, or Homes through Apprenticeships With Skills for Employment, and will work with young construction apprentices in built up areas to both solve housing shortages and give young people experience in employment.
While the components for each unit are built off-site, the apprentices will be responsible for the on-site construction, thus giving them an opportunity to include a hands-on role in their CV.
Pop up HAWSE first caught the attention of local authorities when it won a housing design competition created by the Building Trust, a charity which promotes sustainable and ecologically friendly architecture in low-income areas.
While East London is its only current area of operation, Levitt Bernstein has been approached by a number of local authorities across the UK, indicating that pop-up homes may soon be a nationwide phenomenon.
Jo McCafferty, of Levitt Bernstein, believes that the scheme could do a world of good in local communities choosing to participate.
She says; “The proposals not only offer a home but education opportunities in construction techniques.
“It is a way of regenerating street frontage and a practical interim solution between other development possibilities.”
Yet not everyone is sold on the idea of pop-up housing. With an increasing number of UK workers struggling to find full-time employment, whole families can often find themselves without a roof over their heads thanks to an inability to pay rent or mortgages – and fitting an average UK family of four into a 11.5 square metre home is certainly not a viable solution to this issue.
Architect David Roberts believes that the housing shortage can only be solved by tackling the root problem of rising house prices.
He says; “Personally, I think ‘pop-up’ housing is morally bankrupt.
“Any architect who is serious about homelessness should be addressing the causes of the problem, rather than using developer-speak consistent with the commercial forces making housing unaffordable for so many.
“There is political capital in presenting this as a temporary solution to underused land as much as to homelessness, but the houses are pretty much caravans.”
Do you think pop-up houses are a creative way of utilising unused commercial properties whilst also chipping away at the issue of homelessness, or do you agree that they are simply a way of papering over the deeper cracks in the housing market?
Will the scheme prove popular across the UK if it is introduced on a large scale, or will people turn down the low rents due to the lack of space and the need to share living space with neighbours living in similar circumstances? Finally, if pop-up housing was introduced to your area, would you want to live in a garage?
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