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Policymakers have ignored key worker housing for too long
Housing delivery has focused on those in the direst need, subsidised by market housing that is unaffordable to median earners. But little thought has been given to the needs and wants of the key workers upon whom we rely, writes Olivia Harris
We are still very much in the response phase of the COVID-19 crisis, but significant attention is already being paid to the recovery phase and the detailed plans necessary to gradually restart the UK’s economy. There are also longer-term lessons to be learned from the pandemic, to ensure the country is better equipped to deal with any future public health crisis.
It is still too early to draw firm conclusions and recommendations economically and societally, but one obvious consideration is starting to emerge strongly – the UK has to have much greater resilience across important public sector roles, such as health and social care, and must fundamentally review the definition of a ‘key worker’ to recognise those, often in relatively low-paid jobs, who keep the country functioning.
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This is needed most in national, regional and local housing policies that seek to embed that resilience at the heart of the communities that need these workers the most. Underlying this resilience is the need to house key workers in locations close to their work, regardless of broader housing market pricing.
In London, Dolphin Living has for many years championed increasing the supply of affordable housing to the key workers who ‘keep the city alive’ in the locations where they want to live.
This reflects our primary charitable objective of providing homes in central London at rents below the market rate, enabling Londoners on modest incomes to live close to their places of work.
Our residents comprise not only those traditional key workers who have played such a crucial role during this crisis, such as health workers, the emergency services and teachers, but also those who play a key role in delivering and supporting London’s infrastructure in the longer term.
Dolphin Living fundamentally believes that the need for housing for key workers in central locations has been evidenced by the coronavirus pandemic and the shift to new ways of working.
The pandemic has challenged many assumptions about how cities function. In particular, we need to reconsider the notion that we can house key workers on the fringes of London and beyond, yet in times of emergency, still depend on them to be available 24/7 with little or no transport infrastructure. This approach will surely result in central London losing key workers, as long commutes are even less desirable in light of the pandemic.
We need to fundamentally review how we provide sustainable, critical services, and invest in additional housing for key workers in the areas they are most needed. The reduction in public transport capacity caused by social distancing disproportionately affects key workers, who often cannot afford an alternative and cannot work from home.
However, we should not deliver these new homes without considering the locations and housing in which key workers actually want to live – it would be a mistake to look to recreate the police accommodation blocks of old without offering them genuine and real choice.
This notion of locational choice is something we have spent a considerable amount of time reviewing, following polling we commissioned YouGov to undertake last summer.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that commuting time is a top priority for working London renters: 56% ranked the distance or travel time to work in their top three priorities, and more than a quarter (27%) ranked it first. Similarly, 55% ranked having public transport available within 10 minutes’ walk in their top three priorities and a fifth (20%) ranked it first.
We also found that a clear majority (65%) of working London renters believe that an acceptable commute time is up to around 45 minutes, while nearly all (92%) think it should be no more than one hour.
Housing delivery in recent years has focused on those in the most dire need, both economically and socially, subsidised by market housing that, in London, is unaffordable to median earners. This pandemic has highlighted that an unintended consequence of this approach, particularly in high-value areas, is that little thought has been given to the needs and wants of the key workers upon whom we rely.
It is now more important than ever that they and their housing needs form an integral part of the government’s recovery strategy.
Olivia Harris, chief executive, Dolphin Living
