Social housing as infrastructure: an investment pathway

Ensuring necessary and appropriate levels of social housing investment begins with a well-evidenced understanding of the scale, type and location of need and secondly, an accurate understanding of the cost of procuring appropriate dwellings in the right locations. The design of an investment pathway, and the use of public or private equity and debt, also significantly influences the cost to government and the wider community. Over the next 20 years, it has been estimated that 727,300 additional social dwellings will be required. This report provides extensive data on needs and costs for 88 statistical areas. This report provides inspiration from more productive, supply-orientated social housing systems that flourish in countries such as Scotland, Finland, France and Austria and most prominently amongst our Asian neighbours, China, Korea and Singapore.