New affordable housing scheme in London

Could a ‘no frills’ housing scheme with a shot of investment from the Mayor of London be the answer to the city’s housing crisis?

Naked House is a not-for-profit property developer and will be providing 22 houses in London by 2020. The affordable housing scheme has had a cash injection in the form of a pledge from the Mayor of London for £500,000. The homes will be built on land that has been provided by Enfield council in north London. And that could be just the start, as there are other local authorities negotiating similar deals across the city.

A new approach

Naked House was dreamt up by four people who found themselves consistently unable to buy in London. They were all unable to get onto the housing ladder and were stuck renting, through no choice of their own. So, they started the development company as a not for profit organisation in 2013.

Their original idea was to build homes that are habitable but only part finished, so they can be at low cost. After input from Sadiq Kahn, the Mayor of London, their idea became a reality with the homes priced at no more than £150,000.

Rachel Bagenal is one of the founders of Naked House. She said: “We were all young Londoners priced out of London, who either couldn’t afford, or were uninspired by, options like shared ownership. We started talking about it in the pub and came up with this.”

Affordable housing

The house will be finished to the point where it’s able to be lived in, and mortgages can be acquired. But to keep costs down, as much as possible will be left unfinished. They will range from family size terraces to small one bed flats, and all will have electricity, heating, a working bathroom and sink in the kitchen. Everything else will be sorted by the new owners.

This ingenious solution gives people the chance to own their own property and then fit their house out to their own specifications, in their own time at a cost that suits them. They can decide everything from the kitchen fittings to divider walls, all of which cuts the cost of the house down to the least possible.

Some of the houses will have space to extend, which will enable buyers to increase the value in the future. The houses should be within the reach of buyers who are earning around £30,000. Work should start in 2018, and the houses are being designed by local firm OMMX Architects.

The houses will be available only to first time buyers in the district of Enfield, ensuring that they will stay with local house owners. Naked House hopes that they can copy the same model throughout London, and hopefully provide affordable housing for many more people.

Samir Salya

Samir Salya is the Chairman of Reign Holdings and is involved in real estate and construction within the UAE and UK. Samir holds over 20 years of experience in executive management, business expansion, performance improvement, sales and marketing.