Recent figures published by housing charity Shelter revealed that 1 in 200 people across England do not have a permanent place to live. In London, the figure is 1 in 50 with some boroughs having even greater numbers of people sleeping rough or living in temporary accommodation. The total number of homeless people across the country is estimated to be 280,000, a figure that has risen by 23,000 since 2016. Rising rents, lack of social housing and benefit cuts are some of the many reasons why we have a growing homeless crisis in this country.

Homelessness is a complex issue which has many different causes and there is not one single solution alone that can solve the problem. To tackle the problem, the government will arguably need to take a multi-pronged approach that addresses the various causes including affordable housing (or the lack of), the health and social care system, the prison system, the private rental sector and social welfare.

Having said that, one of the major causes is undoubtedly the lack of accessible and affordable housing. A major contributing factor to the rise in homelessness is the fact that there aren’t enough homes for people and the ones we do have are unaffordable for the average person. Our population is growing, people are living longer and the way people live is changing – it is no longer the norm for people to co-habit in marriage like they used to, raising their children under one roof. Many children grow up in one-parent households and people increasingly live independently. All of this puts an increasing demand on the housing stock. Put simply, we need more houses.

The government estimates that we need to build 300,000 new homes a year to meet the housing shortfall. Many people estimate the need to be much greater even than this.

According to the government’s annual housing supply report, 222,190 homes came into the market in 2017/18. 195,290 of these were new builds and the remainder were gained from house-to-flat conversions and changes of use from non-domestic to residential properties. This indicates that the government’s target of 300,000 is ambitious. It’s not unreachable though – back in the 1960s, up to 400,000 homes were being built each year.

One of the biggest changes we have seen in the housing supply since the 1960s is the shift away from public housing provision, which accounted for a significant portion of the homes being built each year back then. According to Shelter, approximately 126,000 social homes were built per year between WWll and 1980. In contrast, there were just 6463 new social homes built in 2018. This is compounded by the fact that much of the old social housing stock has been sold off without being replaced.

To help solve the homeless crisis, new homes need to be built quickly and they must be affordable for those on low incomes. If we are not going to invest in social housing, we will need innovative solutions. House building can be much more complex than it might seem, due to planning difficulties, bureaucracy, heavy costs and the various environmental issues involved.

One possible solution is flatpack homes. Also known as prefabricated or modular houses, flatpack homes are pre-built in factories, transported to site and then assembled by the builders in a matter of days. This type of housing can be completed much faster and at a lower cost than traditional onsite builds. For this reason, councils across the country are beginning to view flatpacks homes as a solution to the homeless crisis. Temporary housing is often inadequate for families and can be costly for councils. Flatpack homes can help to move families on from temporary accommodation rapidly into permanent, affordable homes.

This type of housing can also help people onto the housing ladder who might previously have been unable to buy their own home. BoKlok, owned by Ikea (yes, the flatpack furniture company) and construction company Skanska, provides flatpack homes that are built with the average income after living expenses in mind. This makes property ownership a real possibility for many people.

Of course, there will always be the argument that this type of housing is too homogenous and its style may not date well, but it does offer a viable solution that can go someway towards tackling the growing and urgent homeless crisis we are facing in this country today.