Housing crisis: Could Bristol's back gardens offer a solution?
- Published
John's home is nestled between neighbouring gardens
When John Bennett's relationship temporarily broke down, he found himself homeless.
He was priced out of the housing market and living in a unit in a scrapyard with no running water.
Falling into bad habits, John says his life was "quite dark" and isolated.
John says his life has now completely changed, thanks to a Bristol charity.
The We Can Make project builds "micro homes" - houses squeezed into the smallest of places - giving people new hope.
'The best solution'
Hidden in the back garden of Bill Kelly's 1930s council house in Knowle West is a modern counterpart - John's home.
The former bricklayer is the proud resident of a house he helped build from woodchip boxes.
"I never feel isolated now," says John, 58, who has become close friends with Bill, 57.
"It ticks all the boxes. Affordability, sustainability. For me, this is probably the best solution I could have found."
John, pictured right, has a new home in Bill's back garden
Bill had been struggling to look after his old garden, which he described as a "jungle" that he could not manage.
So, We Can Make leased some of the garden from the council and John now rents it from We Can Make.
Bill says he is "ecstatic" with the outcome.
"I've still got my garden, and John's got his home. What more could do you want?" he says.
Having experienced homelessness himself before, Bill wanted to give John a chance to rebuild his life.
"We need to help each other. If we don't help each other, we don't get anywhere," he says.
Transforming the bramble patch at the end of the garden into John's home has brought Bill a friend, community and a new job.
"I did something for John, and I got something in return I didn't expect," he says.
Bill's son Liam and John cleared away the overgrown garden to make space for John's new home
Nearby, Toni Gray and her three-year-old daughter Amancia were living with Toni's parents.
Relationships were becoming strained, as the house was overcrowded.
So We Can Make, run by charity Knowle West Media Centre, helped them design and build a new home for themselves in her parents' back garden.
Toni says her new home has brought her confidence and new skills
Eco-friendly solutions
Developers hope to ease the housing crisis by building eco-friendly homes in under-used spaces.
We Can Make approached Bristol City Council with a plan for building affordable and sustainable homes - one house at a time - on small bits of land on the Knowle West estate in south Bristol.
In exchange for the land on a long lease from the council, it delivers what it calls social value: affordable homes for rent to members of the community.
Supporters say it could help the government deliver its target of 300,000 additional homes in England each year.
So far, the project has delivered two homes - John's and Toni's houses.
The low-carbon homes are made from woodchip building blocks, which can be slotted together on site.
We Can Make says plans are under way to build more homes in the area.
Community support
Melissa Mean, director of We Can Make, says the community does not feel the project is being forced on it.
"It's quite striking that the planning applications for the first two homes got over 40 letters of support," she said.
"The planning officers almost fell over - usually they get hundreds of letters of complaint."
Ms Mean says the community is in charge of how many homes are built and what materials they are made from, ensuring that what gets built is welcome.
She says they have had a "brilliant" relationship with Bristol City Council.
The homes are built with the planet in mind too - using 100% UK timber to build them and powering them with renewable energy.
Solar power and air source heat pumps are used, rather than "dirty gas pumps", says Ms Mean.
"Also, because they're so well insulated, it doesn't take much energy to run them either," she adds.
"That's great for our residents, because that means low bills."
We Can Make hope to expand their project in the Knowle West area of Bristol
Toby Lloyd, a former housing adviser in Theresa May's government and with the charity Shelter, has called the idea "brilliant".
He says the pilot could be replicated across England, utilising under-used spaces identified by local people to create new, affordable homes.
Low density estates like Knowle West can be found all over England.
He estimates that if We Can Make's pilot was copied in other communities, around 250,000 affordable and sustainable homes could be built, in places people want to live.
Councillor Tom Renhard, Bristol City Council's cabinet member for housing, also says the project could be delivered in other communities too.
"I think you can scale it across the country with the right support to really get behind this," he says.
"This is about gentle densification, allowing people to stay in the communities they grew up in.
"A safe, stable home sets the foundation to thrive."
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