Building Research Establishment (BRE) – Written evidence (UKH0085)
About BRE
The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is here to contribute to a thriving and sustainable world, by developing science-led solutions to built environment challenges. We have played a vital role in supporting the development of the built environment for one hundred years; this includes a rigorous programme of testing products for safety and performance which contributes to the formulation of building regulations, measuring, and reporting on issues including energy efficiency, and operating assessment frameworks for the sustainability of buildings and the construction industry.
The UK has a proud track record at the forefront of research and development in the built environment sector which is exported globally. BRE has been working with developers and owners for many years to reduce the environmental impact of construction processes, materials, and operations, as well as providing information and advice on all aspects of the sustainability of buildings throughout their lifecycle.
We were founded a century ago to help tackle the housing crisis after the First World War. As housing crises continue to change shape, we are stand ready to work more closely with all interested parties, including Government and regulators, to fulfil the nation’s future requirements across buildings, infrastructure, and construction, at a time when sustainability, quality and safety have never been more important.
Summary
Much has been made of the UK’s current housing crisis, and there has been a consensus amongst policymakers that steps must be taken to tackle the UK’s enduring under-supply of housing. At the same time, the homes we need in the future will be significantly different to the ones we live in today, and thought must be given to how factors such as the need for climate change mitigation and resilience, adaptation to cater for an ageing population and shifting aspirations and lifestyles will shape future housing needs.
Energy use in UK homes accounts for 16% of our total greenhouse gas emissions, and this must be drastically reduced if we are to reach net zero by 2050 and meet the interim reduction target of 24% by 2030. There are 29 million existing homes across the UK, rising to an estimated 30.5 million by the end of 2022, all of which must be resilient to the effects of climate change whilst reducing their energy consumption, carbon emissions and running costs. Novel approaches to new buildings can be implemented to address these challenges, however almost all existing buildings will need to undergo retrofitting to meet the UK’s net zero carbon targets.
While high quality housing can bring significant gains in health, wellbeing, life chances and asset value, building sub-standard housing necessitates difficult and costly repairs or replacement in the future, has wider societal cost implications and may increase or exacerbate the incidence of poor health. BRE’s 2016 report, The full cost of poor housing, estimated that substandard housing in England costs the NHS £2bn in first year treatment costs alone, with additional societal costs reaching a further £18.6bn.
Ultimately, building higher quality and more sustainable new homes is more important than meeting specific numerical targets. This will ensure that we are not exacerbating the housing crisis by building homes in the short term that will not be viable in the future, and which will lead to further economic, social, and environmental problems further down the line.
There are significant barriers to housing delivery in the UK, including build out rates and the complexity, cost and speed of the current planning system. Sector wide trends and constraints, such as the availability of skills and materials and the highly cyclical nature of the construction industry, have a significant impact on the sector’s ability to build houses, and consumer trust in the quality and safety of modern methods of construction (MMC) must also be addressed in order to support demand for new build homes.
There is no ‘silver bullet’ solution to addressing housing demand, and while action is needed to unlock barriers to housebuilding, alternative solutions must be explored to meet current targets, such as retrofitting the existing housing stock to make it suitable for a wider variety of households, repurposing existing vacant non-domestic building stock for residential use, and bringing currently vacant housing into use. All options offer significant opportunities to bring more buildings into use while also ensuring their future climate resilience, improving their energy efficiency, and reducing the environmental impact of their construction by reusing existing structures and minimising waste. We recommend that the Government uses the impending Heat and Buildings Strategy to set out how it would deliver this.
We would like to encourage the Committee to consider the potential of repurposing vacant non-domestic buildings to residential – as currently being undertaken by companies including John Lewis and Acorn Blue – and bringing currently vacant housing back into use as a future topic of inquiry, to explore associated challenges and opportunities, and consider how local authorities can be supported to deliver effective strategies for utilising existing buildings in meeting the UK’s housing demand.
Essential to any housing delivery efforts must remain core principles – safety, quality, sustainability, accessibility, and affordability – to ensure that we are building homes that are fit for purpose. BRE has significant expertise in the composition of the UK’s housing stock, having delivered the English Housing Survey and its equivalents in Wales and Northern Ireland on behalf of the UK Government, and supporting the delivery of the Scottish House Condition Survey. We are keen to use this knowledge to assist the Government, industry and policymakers wherever possible to find solutions to issues in housing demand across the whole of the country.
BRE broadly welcomes the UK Government’s proposals for a Future Homes Standard for England, to take effect from 2025. However, it is important that this standard continues to evolve past the date of its implementation, to ensure we are developing future housing that does not create additional environmental burdens which must be retrofitted at a later date. We would be happy to share further information about our Home Quality Mark (HQM) – an independently assessed certification scheme for new homes – which could help to provide confidence around the quality of new homes, deliver positive social and environmental outcomes for residents and communities, and help to deliver the Government’s policy ambitions.
We are committed to continuing to develop our expertise and lead the sector as it adapts and reskills to meet current demand and innovates to create the homes of the future. To this end, we are currently undertaking a range of activities which seek to address the challenges outlined above, including to promote value-based decision making in procurement, to champion innovation within the sector and to develop standards which provide assurance about the quality and safety of MMC. We would be happy to share further information on these initiatives and would welcome the opportunity to assist the Committee with its inquiry in any way possible.
Substantive response
For nearly 50 years, BRE has carried out the English Housing Survey – a national survey of people’s housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England – on behalf of the UK Government. We also conduct the equivalent surveys in Wales and Northern Ireland and support the delivery of the Scottish House Condition Survey.
While there is a regular call for statistics on the UK housing stock, this is not a straightforward task. Relevant data must be compiled from the four surveys, which are conducted according to different timescales, methodologies, sampling criteria and survey tools. However, the key information used to describe housing in the four nations is comparable and in 2017, for the first time in nine years, the timing of the surveys aligned.[1]
The result is the BRE Trust’s report, The Housing Stock of the United Kingdom[2], which was published in February 2020 and combines the findings of housing condition surveys in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland into a single UK-wide report. Key findings of the report include:
Nation | Owner occupied | Local authority/Housing exec. | Housing Association | Private rented |
England | 63% | 7% | 10% | 20% |
Northern Ireland | 66% | 12% | 5% | 19% |
Scotland | 61% | 15% | 10% | 14% |
Wales | 69% | 7% | 11% | 13% |
–
Figure 1: Percentage of UK dwellings by tenure type
An ageing population
The ONS’ latest projections show that there are likely to be an additional 8.6 million people aged 65 and over in 50 years’ time, with a changing and ageing population structure driven by improvements in life expectancy and a decrease in fertility. [3] This will have wide ranging societal, cultural, and economic consequences, including changing housing needs, and this must be reflected in future planning and design decisions.
As people seek greater agency over their homes, there will be continued demand for good quality, affordable housing that is community focused and well-connected, to facilitate proximity to family, friends, and amenities. We welcome the consideration of this connectivity demonstrated in both the Planning and Social Housing White Papers and suggest that integrating this consideration across both planning and building regulations could make a significant improvement to the experience people have of living in their home.
Improving the accessibility and adaptability of new homes is essential to ensuring that they are suitable and safe for older residents, allowing elderly occupants and disabled people to live at home for longer. All homes need to allow for the needs of current residents as well as being easily adapted for all types of users and the future accessibility needs of occupants. This will create a housing stock that is multigenerational and able to adapt to the needs of changing demographics. We must also consider emotional and psychological needs in housing, which can require different or additional features in the home to physical disabilities. The Dementia Friendly home at the BRE Innovation Park in Watford demonstrates some of the adaptations which could be made.
It is often more expensive, and sometimes impossible, to retrofit homes to make them accessible for the needs of the ageing population or people who develop different mobility needs throughout their life. Increasing the standards from the start reduces the complications (both in time and cost) of retrofit. In the immediate term, there is an added benefit to creating accessible homes for those that need them, in that non-accessible stock is thereby released for use by other tenants.
It is important to note that the future older generation will have different preferences and aspirations to the current one, and this will change what they need from their homes. Digital connectivity, for example, is likely to become an essential requirement for owner occupiers of all ages, as digital literacy and internet usage amongst those aged over 75 increases year-on-year, having doubled since 2013.[4]
Climate Change mitigation
It is clear that reducing our impact upon the climate is becoming more important to us all, with over 93% of adults thinking that climate change is definitely / probably happening and over 32% of 18-34 years olds extremely / very worried about climate change.[5] This is now impacting housing choices, particularly in the build to rent sector where customers are asking developers about the sustainability considerations they have made and features they have embedded. Every major housebuilder also has a sustainability strategy, which is usually both public and investor-focused, although the impact of these is yet to be measured in a comprehensive and consistent manner.
Simultaneously, energy use in housing is responsible for approximately 16% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Thought must be given to how sustainable design, construction and management can create future homes which help to address the climate crisis and promote biodiversity net-gain, and also enable their inhabitants to make more sustainable lifestyle choices.
To prevent new housing from increasing total carbon emissions, homes must be built to a net zero carbon ready standard. To achieve this, BRE broadly accepts the UK Government’s proposals for a Future Homes Standard for England, to take effect from 2025 (or preferably an earlier date).
UK Government building regulations for England do not currently account for “embodied carbon” – the emissions associated with the energy used in construction materials and processes. As homes become more energy efficient and switch to low carbon heating systems, the relative importance of embodied carbon increases. Furthermore, considering carbon emissions to 2050 alone, embodied carbon will account for a significant share of carbon emissions for new and substantially refurbished buildings. The World Green Building Council estimates that, "“Carbon emissions released before the building or infrastructure begins to be used […] will be responsible for half of the entire carbon footprint of new construction between now and 2050."[6]
Looking beyond the Future Homes Standard, it is vital that building regulations begin to regulate the issue of embodied carbon in the construction of new homes. This will mean expanding the statutory scope of building regulations through primary legislation. BRE believes that an explicit commitment at a Ministerial level is needed to ensure that a whole-life approach to carbon is embedded across all relevant Government policies.
Climate resilience
Climate resilience is an increasingly essential consideration in the planning, development, and renewal of the built environment, to ensure that they are able to withstand and adapt to the effects of climate change. Increasingly, consumers and businesses are becoming aware of the potential impact that high temperatures, flooding and strong winds can have upon their home. As the demand for housing grows, for example, the amount of available space reduces, pushing an increasing number of developments onto areas prone to flooding. Increasing resilience to flooding can drastically reduce the risk of homes becoming flooded, and so the need for lengthy, expensive repairs.
Flexible working
As the Covid-19 pandemic changes the way we live and work, there are anecdotal reports of an exodus from major cities as people seek out quieter, more rural locations. Rightmove buyer inquiry data found that there was a 126% increase in city residents contacting estate agents about village locations in June and July 2020, compared to the same period in the previous year.[7]
Simultaneously, with people spending more time at home, there has been an increase in complaints – particularly to housing associations – and awareness of the quality of the indoor environment of homes, including air quality, ventilation, and sound insulation. Increased remote working has further highlighted housing inequalities, manifest in poor telecommunications access, unsuitable living conditions, and unequal distribution of caring responsibilities.
It is unclear whether the movement away from cities will continue in the long-term, however a wider shift to more flexible and remote working driven by technological improvements, and improved connectivity as a result of major infrastructure projects such as HS2, is likely to shape future demand as people search for different types of housing in more dispersed locations, as well as larger properties with outdoor spaces and external buildings to facilitate home working. The ability and possibility to work from home varies considerably, with the ONS finding that in 2020 approximately 26% of the UK labour market worked from home, and that this proportion varied considerably by sector and location.[8] Those who are unable to work from home – often key workers – will continue to require good quality, affordable homes that are close to their workplaces.
Changing aspirations
The UK is a homeowner driven market, with 63% of households living in a dwelling they own. Yet ownership rates have decreased for all generations under 65 years old over the past decade, and the proportion of households where the household reference person (HRP) is aged either 25 to 34 or 35 to 44 years old and is renting has increased by 44% and 68% respectively.[9] This reflects a significant trend away from home ownership and towards renting, largely as a result of increased property prices.
While the 2019-20 English Housing Survey found that the most common reason given by private renters for not expecting to buy was lack of affordability (68%), respondents also expressed positive reasons for renting, including flexibility (11%) and liking their current home (15%).[10] The private rented sector (PRS) offers benefits in terms of flexibility of movement, and good quality, well-managed PRS homes could offer an opportunity for the Government to ‘think outside the box’ in terms of how it provides safe, high quality, affordable housing and delivers its levelling up agenda. Indeed, there is growing interest in the build to rent sector and work has begun to simplify its treatment in the planning system, by defining built to rent as a distinct asset class within the National Planning Policy Framework glossary. There remains stigma around the PRS, for example the critique that renting is ‘wasted money’, and the security of this tenure type remains a deterrent. Thought must be given to how the PRS can be made more attractive to tenants in order to realise its full potential.
Current forecasts show that the Government is not on track to meet its 300,000 new homes per year target, and the target itself does not take into account formation of new households and the backlog of demand for suitable housing since it was first set. The total number of new households in England is projected to grow by 150,000 per year to 2043, yet in 2019-20 the total housing stock increased by approximately 244,000 homes, meaning that annual net supply would need to increase by 23% to reach the Government’s target of 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s, and further still to accommodate the growing number of new households.[11] Some estimates put the total level of housebuilding required to meet housing need over the next 15 years as high as 340,000 homes per year in England, 26,000 in Scotland, and 14,000 in Wales.[12]
More important than specific targets, however, is building higher quality and more sustainable new homes, to ensure that we are not exacerbating the housing crisis by building homes in the short term that will not be viable in the future, and which will lead to further economic, social and environmental problems down the line. For example, building 300,000 new homes a year before those homes are zero carbon-ready will simply add to our retrofit challenge in the future, especially considering that the construction of some of these homes will make refurbishment extremely difficult.
It is important to distinguish between housing need, which is the amount of housing required for all households to live in properties which meet certain basic standards, and housing demand, which is the amount of housing space that households choose to buy, based on their preferences and income. While property market demand is currently outstripping supply, this will reflect both housing need and demand, and we need to be able to better differentiate between the two when considering the ongoing pool of people seeking to buy property. While there has been a tendency to focus on supply within the housing debate, it is equally crucial to consider affordability and mix of tenure types to ensure a housing strategy that is fit for purpose.
In terms of the target’s achievability, there are multiple factors that must be considered. The current availability of land and slow build out rates are hindering housing delivery, in a market which is dominated by a small number of large firms. In his Independent Review of Build Out, Sir Oliver Letwin MP noted that “the homogeneity of the types and tenures of the home on offer on [large sites in areas of high housing demand], and the limits on the rate at which the market will absorb such homogenous products, are the fundamental drivers of the slow rate of built out,”[13] and recommended that sites be increasingly diversified to incorporate different sizes, types and tenures. Concurrently, the complexity, cost and speed of the current planning system are further delaying construction starts on previously purchased land. Sector-wide trends and constraints such as the availability of skills and materials, and the highly cyclical nature of the construction industry, also have a significant impact on housing delivery. This is further explored in our response to Question 6.
Demand for social housing is measured by the number of households with a member on the social housing waiting list, although it is important to note that this includes existing social renters who are looking to move to alternative social housing. According to the English Housing Survey the total number of households in England in 2019-20 with a member on the waiting list was 661,000, or 2.8%.[14]
The Survey also found that in 2019-20, the total proportion of renting households expecting to buy property was 2,539,000 (59.5%) for private renters, and 1,110,000 (28.4%) for social renters. Of these, younger households were more likely to expect to buy property than older ones, reflecting high levels of aspiration around home ownership. However, these figures are based on expectation and may not reflect households’ ability to buy.[15]
We are not aware of any data collected on the demand for privately rented homes, although we would like to direct the Committee’s attention to the English Housing Survey and its equivalents in the devolved nations, which provide comprehensive data on the housing circumstances and conditions for households across the UK.
Finance and procurement
The relaunch of the Homes and Communities Agency as Homes England in January 2018 was a welcome recognition by the Government of the need to work in conjunction with the open market to deliver high-quality, affordable new homes in the areas where people want to live, as well as to support SME housebuilders to develop innovative solutions to meet the UK’s housing need. Homes England has a vital role to fill gaps left by the market and leading commercial lending, to deliver sustainable, zero carbon-ready, high-quality homes in areas where need is high but perceived viability is low. BRE will continue to work with Homes England to support the delivery of their Sustainability and Design Framework along with research on MMC housing. It is equally vital that the financial sector innovates further with its green lending (both commercially and personally), which now must start to show impact year-on-year upon the housing market.
Use of value-based decision-making throughout the investment lifecycle is key to ensuring a good balance of homes across the UK by ensuring environmental, social, and economic outcomes are taken into account when considering where and how homes should be built. BRE, in conjunction with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), has delivered the Construction Innovation Hub (The Hub) – a four-year programme of work across the key themes of Value, Manufacturing, Assurance and Digital designed to transform performance and productivity in the construction industry.
Working with over 200 experts from across government and industry, The Hub has developed the Value Toolkit – a suite of tools to support faster, value-based decision making across the investment lifecycle of built environment assets. The Toolkit offers a structured approach for value-based decision making, which helps clients to optimise the social, environmental, and economic outcomes of their projects, gain a deeper understanding of value to demonstrate success beyond the traditional parameters of cost and time, and facilitates alignment with national procurement policies including the Construction Playbook and the Treasury Green Book. We would be happy to provide the Committee with further information on the Toolkit and its potential benefits with regard to housing.
Retrofit
Ultimately, current build rates mean that providing a good balance of homes where they are needed will be difficult to achieve with newbuilds alone. Retrofitting existing homes is a key opportunity to bring more homes into use by ensuring that they are suitable for a wider variety of households, while also ensuring their future climate resilience, improving their energy efficiency, and reducing the environmental impact of their construction by reusing existing structures and minimising waste. Retrofitting has benefits beyond decarbonisation, and can help to reduce fuel poverty, improve the thermal comfort of residents, and increase the security of energy supply.
Currently, levels of VAT on home improvement works potentially deter households from retrofitting their homes to make them more suitable for their needs. While new builds are zero-rated, meaning that VAT cannot be charged for construction services and building materials, home improvements are charged at the full rate of 20%. As proposed by the Construction Leadership Council,[16] reducing VAT on home improvements could act as a demand-side stimulus, incentivising homeowners to undertake green refurbishments and allowing them to stay in their existing home for longer, thus reducing housing demand as the pool of households looking to move shrinks.
Repurposing vacant homes
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) estimated the number of empty homes in England in October 2020 to be 665,628, of which 268,385 had been empty for longer than six months.[17] High numbers of empty properties have serious adverse consequences for communities, including higher levels of vandalism, loss of equity in surrounding properties and the collapse of local businesses. This in turn can lead to further decline, as new households are deterred from the area by a lack of amenities and sense of neglect.
Addressing high levels of empty properties, however, can have positive social, financial, sustainability and strategic implications for communities, and can help to meet housing need, improve housing conditions, assist in managing and regenerating local areas, and increase local authorities’ Council Tax collection rate. While it is the responsibility of local authorities to deal with empty properties, they have an existing range of powers to draw upon to bring vacant houses back into use, including Empty Dwelling Management Orders, fiscal measures via Council Tax, enforced sales, compulsory purchase, and planning measures.[18]
We believe that repurposing existing non-domestic building for residential use and bringing existing empty homes back into use is a potential means of delivering some of the homes we need across the UK. While there are challenges associated with this, including cost, complexity, and regional variation, it offers an opportunity for innovation and the application of circular economy principles to the housing sector, to increase supply whilst reusing existing resources and minimising environmental impact.
We would like to encourage the Committee to consider the potential of repurposing vacant non-domestic buildings to residential - as currently being undertaken by companies including John Lewis and Acorn Blue - and bringing currently vacant housing back into use as a future topic of inquiry, to explore associated challenges and opportunities, and consider how local authorities can be supported to deliver effective strategies for utilising existing buildings in meeting the UK’s housing demand.
In short, no – the sector faces significant systemic challenges, including low productivity, skills shortages, and materials scarcities, all of which will hinder its ability to deliver the housing the UK needs.
The Construction Skills Network’s most recent 5-year outlook forecasts construction output to grow at a rate of 4.4% between 2021-25, requiring the sector to recruit an additional 217,000 workers in total, or 43,000 per year, particularly in fast-growing areas such as home building and retrofit. Yet current skills shortages are already preventing housing delivery, with the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) State of Trade survey finding that 42% of SME housebuilders are currently struggling to find bricklayers, 37% need carpenters, 32% need plasters and 26% of all builders are struggling to find general labourers. Some 98% of respondents said they are facing material price rises, and 80% said they had been forced to raise their prices as a result.[19] More must be done to plug chronic skills gaps to deliver new homes, particularly amongst bricklayers and dryliners, which the Letwin Review concluded was a “binding constraint in the immediate future” to delivering new homes.[20] Add to this the thousands of new retrofit coordinators and assessors and the widespread re-training in low carbon construction skills that will be necessary to decarbonise the built environment and reach net zero.
Skills shortages are compounded by the highly cyclical nature of the sector and an ageing workforce, which have been further exacerbated by the effects of Covid-19 and Brexit. Job website Indeed has found that the number of EU citizens searching for work in Britain has fallen by over a third since Brexit, and an estimated 1.3 million non-UK workers have left the UK since 2019, many of whom will not return.[21] This will have severe consequences for a sector which has relied historically on foreign labour and unskilled sub-contractors to meet demand.
Modern methods of construction
Modern methods of construction (MMC) offer new ways of building sustainably, productively, and efficiently, and are a potential solution to help address they industry’s skills shortages. With a pressing need for more UK housing stock, the construction industry is looking to capitalise on advances in smart construction, including volumetric constructions, sub-assemblies, components, pods, panelised systems, site based MMC and on-site efficiency methods. The benefits of modular construction across the supply chain are well documented, and incorporate increased speed of construction, consistent high quality, a skilled workforce, flexibility, cost reduction, faster returns on investment, reduced waste and minimised environmental impact.
The Advanced Manufacturing of Homes, Building & Infrastructure (AMHBI) project is working to accelerate housing delivery in the UK by helping the supply chain to produce more and better-quality offsite homes. This major collaborative project is funded by the government’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI), aiming to improve the global competitiveness of UK advanced manufacturing supply chains across industry. As part of this project, BRE has developed BPS 7014, a standard and linked certification scheme which defines best practices for modular off-site construction assessment.
BPS 7014 will provide a route to certification for offsite systems and components, for use in the construction and refurbishment of modular dwellings. It is intended to encourage MMC and advanced manufacturing techniques, while maintaining acceptable levels of safety and durability. It will also create confidence in MMC and demonstrate compliance, by giving a quality assurance mark to offsite products and providing reassurance to clients of quality and performance. The overall scheme will create a national platform to help grow the UK’s offsite construction sector, and we would be happy to discuss with the Committee the standard’s role in supporting housing delivery and provide further information.
We welcome the Government’s commitment to reforming the planning system and support the broad thrust of the Planning White Paper’s proposals towards sustainability and the ambition to address the national housing shortage. In order to ensure the best outcomes for consumers and the environment, as well as supporting fast growing and innovative manufacturers, there are three areas in which greater assurance should be considered:
BRE can support government and industry in all three of these, to ensure that we deliver homes which are beautiful, low or zero carbon, durable, sustainable and safe.
It is crucial when addressing housing demand that quantity does not come at the expense of quality and safety. BRE produced the current industry guidelines on site layout planning for daylight and sunlight, and we were therefore pleased to see the Government’s announcement in October 2020, that new homes delivered through Permitted Development Rights (PDRs) must meet minimum light and space standards.
While we agree that flexibility and innovation will be needed to meet housing demand, we are concerned that PDRs may bypass existing safety and sustainability standards, leading to poor quality end products. For example, non-domestic buildings undergoing material change of use to domestic only have to meet Part L standards for renovating existing homes. This allows office blocks, shops and barns to be converted to flats or houses using high primary energy (direct electric) or carbon (oil) heating systems. With new homes built from scratch, the regulations will ensure that homes built using these fuels will need very high fabric standards to compensate for the high primary energy/carbon heating. However, for new homes created in existing buildings there will be no compensatory requirement to upgrade building fabric beyond the minimum standards set in the existing homes Part L regulations.
Given that Government planning policy is to allow a substantial and growing number of conversions from non-domestic to domestic buildings, we recommend that MHCLG reconsider its approach and instead start from the principle that buildings undergoing material change of use to residential should meet the newbuild energy standard for homes as far as possible. This would both ensure that they contribute to the national effort to reach net zero and enhance the comfort of residents.
We are concerned that changes to Section 106 agreements may negatively impact the provision of social housing if not replaced with an effective alternative. Questions remain around the Government’s proposed replacement (a single, fixed National Infrastructure Levy) including how it will function in areas of lower land value to prevent a further widening of the infrastructure gap in poorer parts of the UK.
The implementation of social infrastructure funding mechanisms is expensive and lengthy, as demonstrated by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) regime, and we encourage the Government to publish details of the National Infrastructure Levy as soon as possible, to allow industry and Parliament time for proper scrutiny and preparation.
Quality
High quality housing can bring significant gains in asset value, health, wellbeing, life chances and economic performance, while building sub-standard housing necessitates difficult and costly repair or replacement in future and has wider societal cost implications. BRE’s 2016 report, The full cost of poor housing, estimated that all substandard housing in England costs the NHS £2bn in first year treatment costs alone, with additional societal costs reach a further £18.6bn.
It is important to take a holistic, long-term approach to the creation of high-quality neighbourhoods, including building houses that can respond to changing circumstances and places that offer an excellent living environment for everyone. The NHS Healthy Towns Programme outlined 10 key principles for healthy placemaking.[22] Mobility, safety, health and well-being, connectivity and social inclusivity are some of the key aspects that should be taken into consideration by design and development teams.
In April 2007, the Code for Sustainable Homes replaced Ecohomes for the assessment of new housing in England. The Code was an environmental assessment method for new homes based upon BRE's Ecohomes and contained mandatory performance levels in 7 key areas. It aimed to protect the environment by providing guidance on the construction of high-performance homes built with sustainability in mind and was developed by BRE in conjunction with the then-Department of Communities and Local Government. Although it was wound down in 2015, the Code brought about an industry-wide shift in forward in the sustainability of new homes, which will need to be recreated in order to develop future housing that does not create additional environmental which must be retrofitted at a later date.
BRE produces the Home Quality Mark (HQM), an independently assessed certification scheme for new homes which awards certificates with a simple star rating for the standard of a home’s design, construction and sustainability. The assessments are focused on the needs and expectations of the occupier and ensure that the home meets standards that are significantly higher than the current minimum requirements. It is a sign that the home meets a level of quality that can be trusted, benefits health and wellbeing, has a reduced impact on the environment and costs less to run.
While there is no ‘silver bullet’ solution to the housing crisis, we believe that schemes such as HQM can play a central role in facilitating the delivery of high-quality new houses which meet the Government’s policy ambitions, while simultaneously tackling other key social and environmental issues and provide the homes that residents need and want.
Recognising existing schemes such as HQM as best practice under the new National Design Guide and forthcoming National Model Design Code, as well as encouraging or mandating local authorities to recognise them in their evaluation of planning applications, will ensure that new homes are built to the highest design and sustainability standards. We would be happy to provide the Committee with further information on the scheme if it would be helpful.
Adaptability
Adaptability refers to the ability to be changed or modified to make suitable for a particular purpose. Design for disassembly and adaptability (DfD/A) is a strategy to optimize both the service life and design life of a constructed asset. The approach can be used to reduce and/or prevent waste and increase resource efficiency by encouraging alternative considerations at the project definition phase. Adaptability concepts and principles can minimize the need for unnecessary removal and new construction through repurposing or modifying constructed assets to renew their service life. The result is that constructed assets are able to accommodate a larger variety of uses for a longer period of time and contribute to the concept of a circular economy.
Incorporating DfD/A concepts early in the planning and design phase will increase the likelihood that activities during the operational phase and at the end-of-life will be conducted more efficiently from a total resource perspective. BRE contributed to the guidance of the ISO’s framework of DfD/A principles and the key issues that should be considered by each actor, particularly designers, involved in a project.[23]
We believe that there are huge opportunities for innovation to help deliver the houses the UK needs. MM in particular offer new ways of building sustainably, productively, and efficiently and are a potential solution to meeting expanding demand. This is explored in further detail above, in our response to Question 6.
In 2020, BRE led a consortium of built environment organisations to deliver the government-sponsored Homes of 2030 competition, which invited proposals from housing providers and designers for the design and delivery of new homes that address the key challenges of future housing needs – an ageing society and clean growth. We were delighted to see that one of the joint winners of the competition, the +Home, proposed community-led, self-built homes that people can design themselves, which are then built using fully digitised housing manufacturing processes and affordable components, creating an end product which is bespoke, climate friendly and fully recyclable.
The well-rehearsed benefits of modular construction across the supply chain cover a range of issues from faster construction, to more consistent high quality, reduced waste, and a more environmentally friendly building process. However, British consumers continue to have reservations about the quality of MMC homes. With greater assurance about their quality and longevity, as well as safety and security of living in MMC properties, consumers could potentially be persuaded to adopt them in enough volume to make greater investment in it commercially viable. As noted above, BRE is currently working with stakeholders across the construction and manufacturing sectors, as well as in the finance and insurance industries, to develop the BPS 7014 standard. We hope that this will provide assurance about the quality and safety of MMC developments to consumers, giving them confidence to purchase MMC homes.
September 2021
17
[1] Please note that more current findings are available for England and Scotland, where national housing surveys are conducted on an annual basis.
[2] BRE Trust, The Housing Stock of the United Kingdom, February 2020.
[3] ONS, Living Longer: how our population is changing and why it matters, August 2018.
[4] ONS, Internet users, UK: 2020, April 2021.
[5] British Social Attitudes, Climate Change, Social divisions in belief and behaviour.
[6] World Green Building Council, Bringing embodied carbon upfront, September 2019.
[7] Rightmove, Village enquiries double as city dwellers escape to the country, September 2020.
[8] ONS, Homeworking in the UK labour market, May 2021.
[9] ONS, Living Longer: how our population is changing and why it matters, August 2018.
[10] MHCLG, English Housing Survey, Private rented sector, 2019-20, July 2021.
[11] House of Commons Library, Tackling the under-supply of housing in England, January 2021.
[12] Crisis and National Housing Federation, Housing supply requirements across Great Britain: for low income households and homeless people, November 2018.
[13] Rt Hon Sir Oliver Letwin MP, Independent Review of Built Out, Final Report, October 2018.
[14] MHCLG, Annex Table 3.15, English National Housing Survey, 2019 to 2020: private rented sector, July 2021.
[15] MHCLG, Annex Table 3.16, English National Housing Survey, 2019 to 2020: private rented sector, July 2021.
[16] Construction Leadership Council, Greening our existing homes: National retrofit strategy, December 2020.
[17] MHCLG, Live tables on dwelling stocks (including vacants), July 2021.
[18] House of Commons Library, Empty Housing (England), October 2020.
[19] Federation of Master Builders, State of Trade Survey Q2 2021, August 2021.
[20] Rt Hon Sir Oliver Letwin MP, Independent Review of Built Out, Final Report, October 2018.
[21] Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence, Estimating the UK population during the pandemic, January 2021.
[22] NHS England, Putting Health into Place, 2019.
[23] ISO, Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works — Design for disassembly and adaptability — Principles, requirements and guidance, 2020.