important context

 we're living through fastest climatic changes in 65 million years, well before humans were around, and things are changing. we're not the best ones to communicate the severity of what's happening so we recommend having a browse of our helpful links at the bottom if this is (unfortunately) new news to your ears

we know that many british & western approaches to housing from the last hundred years are completely unsustainable and inappropriate in light of the times:

from massive embodied carbon emissions in building techniques (looking at you concrete)

built structures that destroy ecology eg. by paving over the earth 

all the way through to utilities design which locks us into using far more water, electricity and resources than are available  

•  emphasis on a single communal hub (shared kitchen, laundry and wet room) as it spreads embodied carbon over more people than traditional single-occupancy homes
• when spaces get small, even low insulated spaces require less heating than much larger and better insulated ones
• natural building materials used where-ever possible
• low water design sinks
• renewable-electric utilities
• composting onsite to promote nutrient cycling and reduce landfill methane emissions 
• facilitate cycling through community bike shelter
• bringing back life to formerly sterile paved spaces through our integrated community garden
• rainwater collecting from every roof space for irrigating the community garden

 a quarter of homes built in the last decade were built in areas prone to future flooding… 

heat in central london is predicted to be equivalent to barcelona by 2050… 

with potential climate-driven sociopolitical instability in mind…. 

… it’s clear that in the future, homes and communities that can quickly and easily relocate offer dramatic benefits for people living in them
 

 nomadic folk worldwide practice much greater ecological impermanence on the places where they live than we do in our stationary-built structures in urbanised london. our approach, with our tinyhomes and hub all on wheels, help us work towards greater ecological impermanence, true sustainability, too

ensuring all our built structures are movable means we are much more climate resilient in our design than traditional housing approaches  

 that the mental health and wellbeing crisis is occurring is well established. the coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated and enhanced pre-existing issues with much deep and older roots. today, we know that loneliness and social isolation can be as harmful as smoking more than 7 cigarettes a day for your long term health! 

mental health is fundamental to physical health but, in part because of how we've built the lives and environments around us, many of us today cannot rely on this fundamental pillar

mirroring how we’ve approached many crises of our times, solutions to the mental health crisis (and broader, physical health crisis) have tended towards reactionary support for individuals. at the same time, most people would agree that holistic & preventative approaches for health are always better than cures

community is at the core of our housing approach. we want to make sure that there's never a day, a moment, when a wave and a smile from someone we known isn't on hand. people shouldn't have to go days between being asked a simple 'how are you?'

the way we've divided our living spaces and urban environments these days is sometimes in direct opposition to human connection, so we say it's time for a rethink of our living spaces and urban environments 

if we want to heal the heart of social isolation, the death of community and its impacts on health, both mental and physical, we need to sew mechanisms for connection and community into every space we live, work and spend our days in - it all starts with shared spaces, resources and intention. with this at the core of homefolk, we hope this will mean community is much better facilitated to flow free :)

land, and ownership of it, has historically in the uk dictated your explicit value to our system. most of our ancestors were landless peasants who weren't given the right to vote - unlike the 'landed' gentry - a bit like the hereditary lords and ladies who fill our second house in parliament

 london is finally looking hard at itself after black lives matter brought a conversation back into the mainstream. black and brown lives in england and in all countries matter all the same, and form a rising wave of international solidarity. intergenerational (and therefore intra-racial) wealth in housing is something we all need to consider. if home ownership is part of a power and wealth system rigged against black and brown lives, how best can we be allies and active against systems that structure inequality

ultimately, ownership is telling an elaborate story that we end up agreeing to... even if some folk only 'agree' to those stories under threat of (or actual) violence... ownership can have a diversity of meanings and through exploring novel approaches to this topic,  we believe that we can find new ways to empower and challenge inherited issues surrounding ownership

the genuine freedom to chose owning a house can means stability to make life choices and long term decisions without the threat of a no-fault eviction, without surprise rent rises and the psychological violence of contractual requirements imposed by  landlords

you could be a student looking for additional headspace to play around with those bigger questions of life. or, you could be someone working the 9/5 life and unable to take time off when you discover a loved one needs support with a new diagnosis: we at homefolk believe that a financially freer world is a world that gives us the freedom to be kind to ourselves and others. being freer with your finances, with your time and headspace means the stability and opportunity to explore the biggest questions, conversations and joys of our times. looking from the climate crisis to the mental health crisis, headspace couldn't be more important

for that reason, our bespoke layered legal model is the best practical way to ensure that new homes built with our homefolk model can remain affordable in perpetuity

 victorian slums and the rampant poverty that characterised the average city dweller's life was in part a result of a regressive system of land ownership - depending on where you lived, over 80% of people were private renters, living in excessively crowded, unsanitary conditions and paying through the nose for the pleasure

in britain in the 21st, private renting rates are increasing to the point where people under 40 are more likely to rent than to own their own home. ask anyone of the age in london about their ease of access to housing and you'll get the same response. is there significantly less wealth, resources (and land) than 50 years ago? it seems quite the opposite. however, our collective access to wealth, resources and land is on the decline and, hand in hand with the emerging new balance, like a shadow of the feudal days of old, increasingly we work to pay rent and fund the leisure of a landed class

rhetoric aside, the need for new housing is a pressing global need, felt acutely in global cities like london, toronto and berlin as well as countless small towns across nations following our economic model. it's a dual crisis of supply and speculation 

 needing to pay more than you can afford on rent obviously affects mental health a lot and that’s why we keep saying our four identified crises are intersectional: they cannot be seen or solved in isolation...

the time has come to use the widest lens we have and see how without a stable base in where we live, so little else becomes possible. when we do - then, a world of opportunities never previously imagined becomes a reality

as intersectional allies, everyone on our team is giving this project what they can because we believe in radical solutions to deep-rooted issues. to learn more about any of the issues highlighted and with time to do so, please have a look to some websites below that can explain these crises in so much more detail that we ever could