Regeneration
REACH is a Sheffield based social enterprise training apprentices to use reclaimed and recycled materials to build affordable eco homes from shipping containers. Launched by ex-police inspector Jon Johnson (pictured below, right), who already runs recycling based social enterprise Strip the Willow, REACH recently got through to the semi-final of the national Virgin Media Business VOOM 2016 pitch competition. Jamie Veitch visited Jon to learn more about his plans for affordable eco homes.
Why is there a need for REACH?
Everybody knows there’s a crisis with housing supply in the country at the moment. There are virtually no affordable houses being built. The government are not helping. Land supply and land prices mean developers are not interested in doing that kind of thing and nobody’s making them do it. In the meantime, average wages are falling, house prices are rising, Right to Buy is taking supply out of the market, housing associations are up against it. People are in desperate straights. They are looking to a future where they are not going to be able to afford their own place to live and that’s whole generations in the future. Every policy at the moment is pushing people to having to rely on a rental sector that’s not reliable, where 35% of properties don’t meet the habitable homes standard, and at the moment there’s just no viable alternative, nobody seems to be looking at a commercial-scale solution – and we’ve got one.
Community groups can play a pivotal role in tackling some of the big environmental challenges facing the country – from flooding to fuel poverty to food production – but their efforts need to be supported by local authorities, government agencies and funders if they’re going to have a lasting impact. That’s the message from a series of events held to mark the achievements of the Communities Living Sustainably (CLS) programme.
CLS has seen 12 community partnerships across England working for the last five years to make their areas more sustainable and resilient to the impacts of climate change with the support of a £12m investment from the Big Lottery Fund.