Housing for (and by) homeless
An excellent proposal from HAWSE (Homes through Apprenticeships With Skills for Employment) and Levitt Bernstein architects, who have drawn up plans to turn unused garages in Hackney into temporary housing for homeless people.
Each house costs an estimated £13,000 to construct and the plan is to build most of the parts off site before they are fitted by homeless construction apprentices. Rents will be just £50 per month (plus bills). The whole idea is reminiscent of George Clarke’s proposal in C4’s The Empty Homes Show a year or so ago.
In this project, London borough of Hackney emphasises that the housing – built in garages beneath existing council flats – will serve as an interim solution for people trying to move onto more permanent places. Not sure how this works in practice, but in principal, and as a pilot scheme that would work around the UK, it sounds promising.
Sounds like a great idea in theory – however, how well will these ‘properties’ last? I can’t help but think that without proper maintenance and control, these homes could fall into disrepair, and have multiple homeless people essentially squatting within one home.
This could lead to, in affect, slums. Which won’t help anything……
However, done right: by ensuring these homes are only *temporary* solutions, and ensuring they stay in good condition, this could work.
Oh and one more problem – looking at that image above – the property seems to be bigger, and in far better condition than many London homes – won’t people end up *striving* to live in one of these? Especially at £50 a month rent.
And who’s going to want to move *out* of these into a shabby room in a shared house, at 10 times the rent?!
And by empty who actually owns them? Will the “homeless” person then be able to claim ownership or rights over the garage.
This is a great idea for turning garages into homes. It looks quite a big garage!!