Building upwards could help house up to 720,000 people in London, alone

Building upwards could help house up to 720,000 people in London, alone, and, in fact, this alternative method of building homes on top of existing residential properties could solve housing shortages all over the country.

To help raise awareness,  Insulation Express have uncovered the many benefits of building upwards – both from a residential and environmental perspective: https://www.insulationexpress.co.uk/blog/britain-benefit-building-upwards/

How Britain Could Benefit from Building Upwards

It could boost the productivity of the UK’s construction sector by 50% – rooftop homes use the modular housing method, where workers only need to be semi-skilled. It’s, therefore, easier to train staff, the hiring process is easier, and it helps overcome the industry’s critical challenge of an ageing workforce.

  • Upwards extensions could save 1/5 of London’s Green Belt – Annually, 66,000 homes need to be built in London to meet the housing shortage demand. With 1/5 (22%) of London landing on the Green Belt, there are calls to release the land to build homes. However, upwards extensions could refrain this from happening.
  • Rooftop homes could reduce construction waste by up to 90% – The more traditional methods of construction create 400 million tons of waste each year. However, rooftop extensions use the ‘modular home’ method, which is more controlled, due to standard sizes and layouts. This method reduces waste by up to 90%.
  • Building upwards allows more homes to be built in dense cities – this allows people to live in city centres, rather than forcing them to move to commuting areas.

UK’s Biggest ‘Building Upwards’ Opportunities

Although ‘building upwards’ is a possible solution for the housing crisis, it’s important to consider which cities need it the most.

Insulation Express have, therefore, calculated how many residents share a sqm across the UK:

 

Building upwards could help house up to 720,000 people in London, alone

Surprisingly, Brighton and Hove has more people (10) packed into a residential sqm than London (7). In such a densely packed city, there are limitations on where to build on land so skyward extensions could be hugely beneficial for the housing shortage.

Read the full findings, including the challenges of building upwards: https://www.insulationexpress.co.uk/blog/britain-benefit-building-upwards/

 

Kindly shared by Insulation Express