UCEM Associate Dean co-chairs GCHU Public Seminar at Kellogg College
Posted on: 31 March, 2025
On Wednesday 12 March, Dr Graeme Larsen, Associate Dean (Sustainability) at UCEM, co-chaired a Global Centre on Healthcare & Urbanisation (GCHU) public seminar titled ‘Building our way out of the housing crisis: can regions work?’ held at Kellogg College, Oxford University.
Amid the social, economic and housing challenges facing the UK, this seminar examined the potential of regions to harness the potential of local small and medium-sized businesses to generate sustainable solutions and develop resources efficiently.
Co-chairing the event with Dr David Howard, Co-Director of GCHU, Graeme was joined by:
- Megi Zala – Research Associate in Sustainable Urbanisation, Knowledge Transfer Partership (KTP) Research Associate) The King’s Foundation
- Geoff Anderson – Federation of Master Builders, Southern Region President & Managing Director, Anderson Contractors Limited
- Anna Strongman – Chief Executive Officer, Oxford University Development, Managing Partner of Argent Services LLP
Each speaker brought their own perspective on the housing challenge facing the UK and the potential benefits of a regional focus to building.
“Who wants to live in a building that is conceptualised in terms of ‘units’”?
Taking to the stage after the seminar was introduced, Graeme discussed the rhetoric around the UK housing crisis and how the potential existing building stock could offer as an alternative to building new homes:
“If you think about the current rhetoric, the fact that we need 1.4 million new homes or ‘units’ as they’re often referred to, is an interesting starting point.”
“There’s certainly debate around whether currently we have a number of empty homes even close to that figure that could be repurposed in some way… and what needs to be built as a new thing versus what needs to be repurposed.”
Graeme then cited the way buildings were framed as ‘units’, rather than being part of a community.
“The point I wanted to make is who in this room wants to live in a ‘unit’? Who wants to live in a building that is conceptualised and measured in terms of units? I don’t, personally.”
“Here, we tend to think in terms of offering a different narrative: building a healthy, sustainable community with a sense of place to it. That belonging and that place is important for us, and there are obviously societal benefits that spin off from that. Shifting that narrative is important.”
Graeme moved on to the theme of regions and regional networks: “The other touchpoint is the notion of regions – what do we mean by that? For me personally, regions are about a network of localised firms in a space, understanding how they can work competitively and perhaps move and develop how they work to work better. It’s also about how regions can respond to the changing demands of society – how they can be more competitive and deliver better placemaking.”
“We need the right houses, in the right places, built by the right people.”
After his speech, Graeme introduced Megi Zala who discussed the Regional Building Hub – a two-year research project funded by Innovate UK and a collaboration between UCEM and The King’s Foundation.
In her speech, Megi outlined how housing alone won’t fix the issues society are facing, and how we need “the right houses, in the right places, built by the right people”.
She also discussed how walkable communities have the ability to support local communities, encourage social interaction and reduce carbon emissions, before citing the need for a new approach in how we look at housing and development.
“Instead of repeating the same mistakes, we need a new approach – a framework for builders, landowners and planners to work together with communities and build better places that thrive.”
“It’s not just about the industry and professionals – it’s about you, me, our homes, the community, our future and our children’s future. Better homes mean more sustainability, energy efficiency and longevity, stronger economies and more support for businesses.”
“We need to rethink housing. It’s less about numbers and more about quality, sustainability, community and collaboration. This is what the Regional Building Hub is working towards.”
“We believe a regional approach, based on the Regional Building Hub, gives power to local solutions.”
“If we get planning right, all of the other things will fall into place.”
Megi was followed by Geoff Anderson, who began by outlining some shocking statistics:
- 40 years ago in the UK, 40% of houses were built by SME builders – now it’s less than 10%.
- The government was 300,000 new homes built per year – the last time this was achieved was 1969 and the sector looks very different between those years.
- In 2022, only 5,500 social homes were built in the UK, yet there are 1.25 million people on social housing lists.
Geoff’s speech then focused on the issues created by the UK’s planning system. Citing a survey conducted by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) members involved in the construction of new-build homes, he revealed that 76% suggested the biggest problem is the planning system and the failure to incorporate SME builders.
“By definition, SME builders are regional. My business is regional. Just down the road, 4,000 new homes have been built by big developers, just south of the M4. The groundworkers came from the South Coast… the brick workers came from the other side of Wiltshire… there’s nothing regional about it. The carbon footprint and the quality of the build is shocking.”
A community of support was seen as important: “Having SME developer forums with local authority planning are one of the solutions the FMB are proposing. However, the whole issue is about planning – if we get planning right, all of the other things will fall into place. The planning process is utterly broken right now.”
“If you are just in and out of a place, you’ll have less interest in supporting local initiatives.”
Anna Strongman, the seminar’s final speaker, focused on benefits of locally led development, based on her own experience as a practitioner in the city of Oxford.
“Being based locally gives you better market knowledge… you have a better understanding of local politics and the issues facing particular regions. You also have a stake in the wider success and the community you’re developing in”.
“A local and regional focus means you’re also more invested in the performance of a region – you’re more committed to working with local stakeholders, lobbying for improvements to transport and infrastructure and supporting your local authority partners in delivering for the wider region.”
Anna balanced this perspective by citing that this wouldn’t be the case for all local developers, and that being focused on local regions wasn’t without its drawbacks.
“You can still be a local-based developer that ignores these benefits – there is a real opportunity here, but there needs to be the right attitude on the part of developers.”
“If you’re based in one place, there’s also a danger of looking inward. Sometimes locally-based supply chains don’t have the depth of skill you may need… It’s also harder to diversify and spread the risk as a developer in one locality. This has to be borne in mind.”
“If you can go forward and see the benefits of working locally with partners, you can achieve these wider benefits and drive commercial returns. All of this is important to our housing goals, which we’ll only achieve if we can build attractive, thriving communities.”
On the seminar, Graeme commented:
“I was delighted to be invited by fellow academic Dr David Howard co-chair and speak at this seminar and I look forward to working with him in the future. The topic of the seminar is highly emotive, and with a diverse audience, it generated an interesting discussion. The discussion really highlighted the interconnectivity and often competing agendas that shape the challenges around the housing crisis in the UK.”
“UCEM’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), in collaboration with The King’s Foundation, is looking to shift the current ‘norms’ of housing delivery, through championing the benefits of place building and regional networks of SMEs to meet the challenges. We must remember that we are custodians of the built environment, and that our decisions impact society for many years, so a long-term perspective is becoming ever more important and UCEM is looking forward to being part of that ongoing discourse.”
