“Affordable and Desirable”

Abstract

Auckland is currently facing a housing crisis, and there are many factors that are influencing this problem; ranging from supply, demand, economic and political factors. There is an inherent lack of housing supply compared to the high demand, and the heavy investment by the private sector and rising material costs coupled by government policies on planning regulations and lack of social housing schemes all play a vital role in contributing to the housing unaffordability. There is an overwhelming preference for single detached housing over higher density housing. The Land is limited and with a high demand for single detached housing which requires larger land mass for the volume of space it provides, leading to urban sprawl. Since there is a higher demand in single-detached housing, they become the primary form of built housing. Higher density housing such as apartments could provide a partial solution to providing a larger volume of living space on the same amount of land, and can aid in providing affordable housing. But the problem arises where people’s preference lies in single detached housing which is expensive, but they desire cheaper housing. Apartments are cheaper compared to single detached housing, however, there is less demand for such typology. There is a lack of consideration in higher density housing due to the insufficient apartment living experiences in New Zealand. The lack of interest in higher density housing means there’s less incentive for its development to occur. And the density typology is viewed as a housing form that provides fewer amenities than single detached housing. Often cheaper houses are designed and built with fewer amenities such as reduced storage, living space and outdoor space…etc. But affordable housing should not be just about reducing the cost but should be an alternate form of living that is desirable and does not lack such amenities. Affordable housing should be architecturally designed for people without removing these amenities but maximising them so that they become something more desirable to live in. Then can we architecturally design social housing that utilises and maximizes these amenities in density housing to challenge people’s preference to single detached housing, to provide an alternate form of living that is desirable and affordable?