Social Housing Adaptability

 

The media report often on the shortage of housing, be it long queues lining up at home opens, bidding above asking rentals to secure a tenancy, people living in caravans and tents or - worst case - on the streets. This shortage is felt most acutely in social or public housing, where waiting lists can stretch to years as supply cannot meet demand. In some cases, people are accepting or staying in housing that is not fit-for-purpose and does not meet their needs as they have no alternative option, no other way of putting a roof over their head.

Image: Social housing, Coolbellup, Western Australia sketch by author

In my time conducting hundreds of building condition assessments for the Department of Communities throughout Western Australia I have witnessed many incidences where needs are simply not met.  You might be surprised how many elderly people, and I mean properly elderly - people in their mid-nineties that are still independent but house-bound at times when lifts are out of order (usually through vandalism) because they are housed on the third floor of a building and cannot navigate stairs. There are people living with disability that have difficulty bathing because they do not have a walk-in shower and are not mobile enough to step into the bath. There are families sharing homes designed for far fewer people and overcrowding is an issue – families help each other out and will provide shelter to members that would be homeless otherwise. I could go on with further examples but they would all lead to the same conclusion – that people are suffering and there is an impact on their wellbeing.

Image: Social housing, Claremont, Western Australia photo cropped from Google maps

In my time listening to the residents, I have formed an opinion that adaptability of housing may be a part of the solution. The genesis of this idea is not new, in fact it came from a discussion I had with an elderly resident of a three-storey complex in Claremont, Western Australia, built in the 1940s. He explained that his flat was originally split in two and housed army officers, and later became public housing. The main evidence of this is in the painted asbestos partitions to separate balcony areas – some have been removed but some remain. The army officers, whilst unrelated in a familial sense, would share kitchen and bathroom facilities as a part of the larger army family.

Figure 1: Example of adapting two units to sole occupancy – and vice versa sketch by author

To be very clear I am not suggesting this is the solution to the shortage of social housing in Western Australia – it is simply an example of how housing may be adapted easily and meet the changing needs of individuals and society in general. The example does however require us to examine what is negotiable and what is non-negotiable in how we adapt social housing as needs change.

Negotiable

•          Moving within the same building
•          Moving within the same area
•          Size – provided fit-for-purpose and needs are met
•          Amenity – provided fit-for-purpose and needs are met

Non-negotiable

•         Social networks must be maintained
•          Independence
•          Safety
•         Dignity

m  This concept is described graphically in figure 2, with the idea that a fixed area might contain a services core (i.e., bathrooms, kitchen and laundry) surrounded by rooms for living and sleeping in – but that this fixed area might be arranged in many ways and be adapted to suit a family of 4 for example, or be sub-divided to suit two couples or four singles.  Whilst this is a simple concept it is very complicated to execute.

Figure 2: Diagrammatic representation of adapting a building footprint to suit changing needs sketch by author

Life is not static.  I have met residents that have been in their homes for decades.  The house was filled by a couple, then children followed. The children grew up – sometimes moving away, sometimes returning with their own families. In the end it is often a single resident, living alone in a large home with a large unmanageable garden. Some of these residents are very happy, and grateful and do not want change. The house is a home and filled with memories, even if not fit-for-purpose. However, some residents expressed a desire to move somewhere more manageable. Some residents clearly needed more space.

The design of social housing has improved and within contemporary housing complexes there are a variety of typologies to suit individuals through to families.  My comments are more appropriately directed at 1960s -1980s developments where there is no variety – for example with 12 three-bedroom walk-up flats built as a three-layer cake with two sets of identical but mirrored dwellings on each floor and built that way for the sake of economy. The majority of these are occupied by single residents whereas they were designed for families. Whilst there are people on waiting lists and many homeless this could be argued is an inefficient use of resources.

I am suggesting with this article that we have access to a lot of housing space, but that much of this space is unavailable as social housing stock is inflexible – both due to original design and how tenancies are managed - once a tenancy is granted it seems set in stone in Western Australia and changing circumstances seem to have no bearing on the renewal of any tenancy agreement (please comment if this is incorrect so I can edit my article). It is not my intention that people in social housing be told to move as their individual housing needs change – but that they be given choices and housing can be adapted to meet individual and societal needs. People should not have to choose between staying in familiar neighbourhoods and having access to fit-for-purpose housing - both should be attainable.

So why adapt - why not just build more, and newer dwellings? Building takes time, money and resources. New building requires land and new transport and community infrastructure. Adapting a building can be quicker, more cost effective and use less resources.  More importantly, it enables the preservation of social networks as people don’t need to be displaced.

My hope with this article is to start a conversation about social housing design and how it can be adaptable and move with the changing circumstances of residents rather have their well-being suffer. At the same time we can make more efficient use of scarce resources - which is good for the economy and the planet.

Samuel Fardoe

August 2023