Temporarily Home

Homelessness in the UK is rising. Morris+Company strongly believe in the ‘Housing First’ strategy and that building more social and truly affordable housing is the solution to this deepening crisis. But critically, we also see that the delivery of temporary emergency accommodation is fundamental in order to ensure that people at their most vulnerable are placed in adequately designed, safe and secure accommodation, without being displaced from their borough, local school, friendships and support networks.

New-build specialist facilities are a rarity, which means that in their place, rogue conversions of non fit-for-purpose existing buildings are created to meet demand, often resulting in sub-standard accommodation. Efforts to procure new, purpose-build accommodation are hindered by the current planning process due to a lack of centralised guidance, legislation and design codes for this specialist use.

Typical housing standards may not apply if a space is designed for a short period of stay, but in that scenario, what are the key ingredients that can offer a temporary home? Morris+Company will host a cross-disciplinary panel discussion to question what constitutes the key driving factors for the provision of this specialist form of accommodation in London today.

We will be joined by a range of leading industry professionals, charities, policy makers, developers and designers for a panel discussion responding to the question ‘Temporarily Home. Should London be delivering purpose-build emergency accommodation for the homeless?’.