AtkinsRealis, a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world, has supported the Housing Festival launch of the 'Social Rent Housing at Pace Playbook,' - a strategic tool for local authorities facing the human and economic cost of the current housing crisis.
The Playbook is a response to the Temporary Accommodation (TA) crises. In England, we now have 112,660 households living in TA costing the taxpayer GBP1.7bn a year (GBP4.6 million a day), a 100% increase since 2016. These crises are the consequence of a broken housing system and severe shortfall of safe and secure social rent homes, says the Housing Festival.
The Playbook urges local authorities, who suffer the economic cost of the TA crisis, to now take the lead in unlocking a wave of new social rent homes. It recognises that the current housing delivery model cannot meet the challenge of delivering social rent homes at pace and scale and presents an ecosystem solution with three essential components:
Build homes in a new way - the opportunity for the public sector to incubate a new supply chain of factory-manufactured housing.
Unlock Unlikely Land - the opportunity for the public sector to unlock a 'new' supply of land and address the associated viability and planning challenges.
Recalibrate the economics - the opportunity for the public sector and capital investors to rethink value and unlock alternative sources of capital for social rent housing.
The Playbook is collaborative and draws on insights, ideas and case studies from 25 authors and more than sixty public, private, academic and third-sector organisations and stakeholders.
Described as a call to courage, compassion and urgency, the plan also highlights the critical opportunity for a human-centric, outcome-led approach that embeds values into the design and delivery of new homes to benefit residents, communities and wider society.
Zoe Metcalfe, Client Director, Local and Central Government, Buildings & Places, Infrastructure, AtkinsRealis, said: 'The Playbook shares the wisdom, and the real life case studies, to empower those in Local and Central Government, One Public Estate and the broader sector to think, act, do and deliver differently.
'The current housing crisis demands urgent action at pace and scale, and the Housing Festival's relentless pursuit of homes for people proves that we must (and can) do things differently now! AtkinsRealis has been delighted to support and be part of the diverse collective who share this passion for public good.'
Jez Sweetland, Director, Housing Festival, said: 'We have between us the motivation and tools to address the structural deficit of social rent housing. We must start building the right kind of homes for the right people, it is too costly, both economically and socially, not to act.'
Jamie Hillier, Partner, Akerlof, said: 'The publication of the Playbook marks a really critical step forward. It provides clear, actionable strategies that empower stakeholders in beginning to alleviate the economic strain of temporary accommodation. This timely initiative is crucial, and I am optimistic that it will catalyse further actions in paving the way for a sustainable housing future in our communities.'
About AtkinsRealis
Created by the integration of long-standing organizations dating back to 1911, AtkinsRealis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. We create sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world's infrastructure and energy systems. We deploy global capabilities locally to our clients and deliver unique end-to-end services across the whole life cycle of an asset including consulting, advisory & environmental services, intelligent networks & cybersecurity, design & engineering, procurement, project & construction management, operations & maintenance, decommissioning and capital. The breadth and depth of our capabilities are delivered to clients in strategic sectors such as Engineering Services, Nuclear and Capital. News and information are available at www.atkinsrealis.com or follow us on LinkedIn..
About Housing Festival
The Housing Festival is a 'think and do' tank whose goal is to find innovative and scalable solutions, implemented, and refined in the real-world. We lead projects, initiate and convene conversations, and facilitate change working with experts and collaborating to solve complex problems. By bringing different ideas together and creating a shared and practical wisdom, we help people move forward in a new way, incubating progress step-by-step.
Contact:
Simon Peevers
Tel: +44 1454 667 587
ATKINSRÉALIS GROUP INC. 
