How disused garages are being turned into affordable homes to tackle London's housing crisis

What do you do if you don’t qualify for social housing but can’t afford to buy your own home? For the majority of people in this situation, it’s rent a place you can just about manage the costs of, and squander away money into a landlord’s pocket. Damp, mould and mice may just come with it too. 

Fewer than one in five people in the UK have a high enough income to meet lenders’ affordability rules and secure a mortgage. That means millions are unable to buy their own home and may feel forced to rent indefinitely. 

But there could be a solution. What if local people could takeover disused garage sites and build their own homes? In 2013, four young Londoners who couldn’t afford to buy their own homes and were “uninspired by expensive shared ownership flats with fixtures and fittings they didn’t want”, decided they were going to solve their own housing issues. And then they realised they might be able to help other people too. 

They established Naked House, a not-for-profit community builder, that constructs affordable housing for first-time buyers and those with an annual household income of between £25,000 and £70,000. The founders secured three council-owned garage sites in Enfield, North London, where they could build 22 homes on an affordable basis. 

The homes are private, but they are on sale for 20% less than the market rate for properties in the local area. Prices start at around £265,000 with the larger ones costing around £330,000.  

They comprise a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats. The deal is that the shell of the house is built and then owners can add flooring and plaster the walls themselves. 

The project has taken a decade to get off the ground but now, backed by £700,000 from Big Issue Invest (BII), the sites will soon be ready for the first owners to move in. 

Read more:

• Celebrating 20 years of Big Issue Invest: Proving what was once only imagined
• Are Andy Burnham’s affordable homes plans a ‘council housing revolution’ or a ‘massive backtrack’?
• Londoners tackle housing crisis themselves with largest community building project yet

BII’s investment director Glenn Arradon said: “Naked House is creating genuinely affordable homeownership for local people who would otherwise be priced out of the market; effectively stripping out land speculation, in perpetuity. 

“It’s a simple but powerful example of how community-led housing can deliver practical solutions that address the ongoing challenge of unaffordable housing in London.” 

On the other side of the capital in Greenwich, there’s another construction project brewing on garage sites previously owned by the council. Volunteer-run local campaign group Greenwich Citizens Housing and London Community Land Trust were selected by the council to steward two local sites. 

Susan Road, located in the Kidbrooke area, is currently occupied by garages and it’s going to be turned into seven affordable homes. They are aiming for these to be sold for less than 70% of open market value. 

With £2.5 million backing from Big Issue Invest, this is currently in development. Local residents wanted a safer, greener pedestrian route – and the plans address these concerns. There will be improved lighting to make the route feel safer, which is especially important for children walking to and from school. Tens of thousands of disused garages and hundreds of regional sites sit vacant or derelict. Naked House and Susan Road are proving that it is possible to turn these into homes in a way that is genuinely helping people get onto the property ladder. 

The other options would let them sit there unused, open to vandalism and rot, or to sell them off to big corporations looking to make a profit by turning them into properties that the majority could never afford. This is local people building affordable homes for their community. In a housing system dominated by wealthy landlords and businesses, it feels groundbreaking. 

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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