News / Housing
Bristol to become a hotbed of innovation in bid to tackle housing crisis
Bristol is set to become a “laboratory for housing innovation” as city leaders back a bid to pioneer new, imaginative ways to deliver much-needed homes.
The council has pledged to make sites available for testing and building affordable solutions to the acute housing crisis.
Speaking at the launch of the Bristol Housing Festival, Paul Smith, Bristol City Council’s cabinet member for housing, also committed to an investment in six rapid-build, modular homes from ZEDPods, to be offered to people in desperate need within six months, subject to planning.
is needed now More than ever
Paul Smith is inviting ideas from around the world to help solve the housing crisis
Some of the sites to be made available would be classed as “undeliverable” using conventional housing development methods but will be utilised to prototype better ways of living in the city.
ZEDPods are particularly suitable for challenging sites, as they are manufactured off-site and can be delivered and then put up quickly, sometimes in as little as a day.
Smith said: “The council is completely behind the Bristol Housing Festival. We will support them in using the city as a laboratory for housing innovation, making available a variety of sites.
“Some of these will seem ‘impossible’ – some will be between, on top of or even underneath existing buildings.
“We are inviting ideas from all over the world and saying let’s be imaginative, let’s challenge, and let’s be prepared, if necessary, to fail and try again.”
One of the modular houses on display at the Bristol Housing Festival
ZEDpod’s are manufactured off site and can be delivered and put up quickly
An average two-bedroom house in Bristol cost £222,000 last year, compared to £60,000 in 1990. Each night, around 500 families with children are staying in temporary accommodation in the city.
“We have systemic failure in housing – it’s not working for this city, for our nation and around the world,” said Jez Sweetland, the festival’s project lead.
“We need courage to work together to think differently and prototype and start again. It is not about having all the answers – instead the festival is about trying out new ideas and re-imagining better ways to live in our cities.”
ZEDPods, along with a range of alternative and affordable housing prototypes, are on display at the festival’s free exhibition, which opened on Friday, October 19 and runs until November 4. More than 2,500 people have already visited.
Mayor Marvin Rees, who also spoke at the launch event, said: “The festival can turn the city in to a living exhibition of the latest and most innovative approaches to housing and finding the best way of tackling our housing crisis.
“It is not just about homes, but about communities too, and solving wide social challenges such as social isolation and mental health issues through housing.”
Read more: Changing the narrative around housing in Bristol with a bold, new vision
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