However, this is true in more ways than one.
The problem facing UK housebuilding is that the public sector (unless there is a radical announcement in the March Budget) does not have the necessary funds and capacity to deliver more new housing at scale. The silver lining to that, however, is that the private sector is filling in some of the gap – and technology is central to this in two ways.
First, technology can reduce costs and maximise efficiencies when building. Indeed, the private sector has been pioneering modern methods of construction, including modular and offsite construction, for some time.
Excitingly, two US residential developers, Sunconomy and Forge New, have gone so far as to create a 3D house-printing system that can create a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, multi-storey home in just a few weeks at a cost of around $100/sq ft (£77/sq ft).
But technology can also attract more private institutional funding into existing residential property. This is because, thanks to advances in AI, it is now possible to closely identify hyper-local high-demand locations generating top yields within the private rented sector.
This is what Skwire has been doing for some time. This can benefit those seeking a home as well as those looking to invest because using data to identify best-in-class investment opportunities allows investments in standing stock to be made at scale, creating better-quality rentals out of existing housing stock.
This scalability, in turn, is key to attracting institutional investors, which is precisely what this country needs if we are serious about truly tackling the housing crisis – mobilising seriously large amounts of capital to ensure there is a steady increased flow of investment into the types of homes that people actually want to live in.
Elisabeth Kohlbach, chief executive and co-founder, Skwire
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