Housing Innovation – Bristol City Council

• Lead Member Bristol City Council
• Categories Housing

Re-imagining better ways to live in our cities

Bristol City Council is making sites available across the city to test and deliver innovative and affordable housing solutions over the next five years, in a bid to find new ways to tackle a housing crisis.

As part of the city’s Housing Festival – a five year exploration of housing innovation – the council offered up the city as a laboratory for housing innovation testing, making available a variety of sites, some which would usually be deemed undeliverable using conventional housing development methods.

Bristol is acting as an incubator to road-test in a real-world scenario both existing concepts and innovative solutions designed to accelerate the delivery of quality, affordable housing. From modular homes from ZED Pods, temporary and permanent homes can be planned, created and made ready for people to live in within six months.

The Festival will also explore smart technology and off-site manufacturing, alongside highlighting the ambition and work that is already underway in the city through partnerships, innovators, community groups and pioneers.

The project, supported by Bristol City Council, Bristol and Bath Regional Capital and the Shaftesbury Partnership, is indirect response to the a serious shortage of affordable homes. An average two-bedroom house in Bristol costs £222,000 last year compared to £60,000 in 1990. Each night, around 500 families with children are staying in temporary accommodation.  

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