“13 million people aged between 18 and 44 feel the high costs of buying and renting housing and related problems are delaying them from reaching key milestones in their lives.”

- Shelter Study

Shelter’s revelation of the life halting turmoil that is the shortage of housing is rudely shocking and saddening to say the very least. With every three in five Britons (18-44 year olds) feeling forced to put their lives on hold because of housing problems, the delay in career progression, family and retirement is actually tearing lives apart.

Proptech to the rescue. Unfazed by the conundrum, Dominic Wilson, Managing Director of Pi Labs believes there are solutions just waiting to happen.

Despite its infancy, property technology sure puts its money where its mouth is. From game changers like Airbnb to Honest building, we’re seeing a growing number of companies emerge to tackle problems and inefficiencies in the property sector head on. Holding much belief in the potential of proptech, our team put together a couple of our own ideas in light of the housing shortage.

#1 Youth and elderly

The elderly increasingly lose the ability to maintain a big house when they’re living on their own, having to shift into retirement homes instead. Tapping into the possibility of having younger folks in need of homes co-living with elderly people, along with a regulated option of buying over the property in the future could kill two birds with one stone. We foresee this form of co-housing adding economical and social benefits to both parties concerned.

Inspiring Companies: Honor , The Collective 

#2 Skill sharing

Currently, there is a rising trend in co-housing. Where house prices are beyond budget, many people turn to sharing homes with likeminded individuals sharing similar demographics or interests. Hence, we see benefit in the possibility of exchanging skills in the absence of money for housing opportunities. Creating a platform that connects those with excess housing space with individuals who possess skills in demand (for instance, gardening or nanny experience) could provide a temporary solution for those with housing needs.

Inspiring Companies: Skill Trade , Splittable , Hi Common

#3 Automated permit approval

Creating a planning and supply ordering tool outlining a construction project that freely calculates what supplies are needed and their accompanying costs could aid in resolving the delays in building construction. Moreover, doing so improves transparency in construction by tracing costs. The automation of permit approvals would also likely close the gap for error and improving efficiency immensely. There permit approvals should extend beyond regular permits for construction companies to also allow people of all walks of life to freely create and develop their home infrastructure. A promising area to look into would be streamlining flows associated with all construction projects and further boosting transparency.

Inspring Companies: Peltific , Building Radar

#4 Co-ownership

With housing prices on the rise, investing in property could still be a viable option via co-ownership. Because hey, if you can't own a full property, why not own part of it? Those who could capitalise on crowdfunding to share the cost of an initial investment, would still be able to earn their keep in distributed net profit.

Inspiring Companies: GroupEstate , Wayhome , Property Partner

#5 Modular housing and 3D printing

Getting your fully functioning home doesn't necessarily have to be as expensive as the market suggests. Assembling housing compartments off site as streamlined production units could significantly reduce costs. Apart from minimising construction costs, modular housing can also reduce the delays in construction associated with environmental factors. Besides, the option of expanding your house as and when you prefer, and can afford to can be very attractive.

If that isn't exciting enough, developments in 3D printing suggests the ability to physically print actually housing units off a machine. This could offer us an express passage into obtaining faster and cheaper housing!

Inspiring Companies: Skilpod , Connect-homes

With technology pushing its boundaries and growing in time, the possibilities are endless. Together with the proptech family, we are constantly on the lookout for innovative solutions to urgent and chronic problems. C’mon proptech, we can crack this!