HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT
WE MUST TRANSITION TO A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY
& PROVIDE ACCESSIBLE ZERO CARBON HOUSING
our roots & MOTIVATION
We have a housing crisis on our doorstep, yet we keep pretending that if we continue as usual, we will solve this problem. So far, the situation is not improving, despite many well-intentioned initiatives. We need to think outside the box and be willing to try new solutions in order to dramatically increase access to housing.
The core of the idea is nothing new. Laws governing landlord-tenant relationships can be found as far back as the Code of Hammurabi. However, the common law of the landlord-tenant relation evolved in England during the Middle Ages with one element of interest still present today, “leasehold estates”. Simplified, it’s a temporary occupation of land. Ideally, we would temporarily inhabit an un-built site, without sealing the soil with concrete, leaving it as untouched as possible, without the need for foundations that seal the soil and use a large amount of carbon . Concrete also contributes to surface runoff that may cause soil erosion, water pollution, air pollution and flooding. Minimal houses therefore, can be an affordable, sustainable and equitable solution.
The houses we design, are minimal and sustainable in their resource consumption, need no foundation, dramatically reducing the CO2 envelope. Combined with a provisional lease, a form of short-term emphyteusis, starting for example with 15 years, we can break away from the financial pressure related to constructible land, while being able to have quality housing and having a house, as well as lifestyle, with an extremely low environmental impact.
Minimal houses enable more affordable rents as well as more affordable purchase prices while still providing opportunity for investment. “This type of minimal living, can be interesting for young people who are starting out in life, for single-parent families and even for seniors wishing to have their own place that they can maintain, while being surrounded by a pleasant community and natural landscape.
The basic idea is to use land that is not serviced in existing urban areas, as well as more rural towns, with temporary housing. By renting it out with a temporary lease, this would allow land-owners to make their land profitable while retaining ownership and providing a home for a growing community, a win-win. This solution could even be considered in the large gardens of family homes, where children could have their first independent habitat, and this in an affordable and sustainable way of doing it. After the lease period, the lease can either be renewed, and if not, can simply and quickly be moved to their new location.
These minimal houses are not only designed with the circularity of the product in mind, but also with the health of it’s inhabitants, providing a holistic living experience to many different groups in society that often face disadvantages, from students to single parents and our “frontline” workers. This proposition deserves to be carefully studied by the municipalities as well as the Ministry of Housing and Ministry of the Environment.