Back garden builds on council estate could be solution to housing crisis

Two community-led homes have been built in back gardens on a council estate in south Bristol.

The low-carbon homes on Knowle West estate have been designed with the needs of residents at the forefront.

The pioneering project, which was delivered by WeCanMake and co-designed by residents, is something which has not been done before.

It hopes to pave the way for new ways of building homes on microsites across the UK and could help combat the housing crisis.

WeCanMake, a community-led organisation based in Knowle West, has created the new opt-in process which prioritises people in housing need, so they can build low-cost homes exactly where they need them.

This project is making full use of places like neglected large back gardens and gaps between buildings – spaces that would previously have been off-limits to development.

Knowle West resident, Toni and her daughter, Amancia, have moved into one of the new-builds, which is located in the back garden of her parents’ council home.

Prior to this the pair were living in her parent’s home, but were in desperate need of their own space.

Since moving out into their two-bedroom home, Toni said she has “become more confident, more independent and has more self esteem” while her daughter seems “a lot calmer”.

Toni’s WeCanMake home in the garden of her parents’ council home – photo: WeCanMake

The other Knowle West resident to move in to the community-led homes is John, who was experiencing homelessness after splitting with his wife.

John was matched with Bill, a council tenant, who due to ill health was struggling to maintain his large garden.

Bill opted in to transferring part of his garden to the community land trust to create the space for a new one-bedroom home for John.

John, who was involved in the building process of his new abode, said: “We’re literally building our community from the bottom up. It’s giving people different choices, better choices, about how things can be.

“We are the pioneers. No one’s ever tried to do this before.

“Hopefully what we’ve done is make it easier for everyone else who comes after. We’ve made it happen in Knowle West. But this could be the future for a lot more people like me.”

John’s new abode in the garden of Bill’s council house – photo: Ibolya Feher & WeCanMake

This is just the start for Knowle West, as a further 150 sites have been identified in the area. If more builds went ahead on the microsites, this would provide a three per cent uplift in properties on the 5,000-home estate.

The innovative pilot is set to make waves beyond Bristol to pave the way for other communities across the country, with 1.1 million other council-built interwar homes across England which are similar in design and density to those in Knowle West.

This means that an additional 33,000 affordable homes could be built under the same system in areas where housing need is often highest.

WeCanMake Knowle West resident factory team – photo: Reuben Armstrong

Melissa Mean, director of WeCanMake, said: “The UK seems permanently stuck in a housing crisis.

“Instead of relying on big commercial developers to fix a problem they helped create, WeCanMake shows another way is possible – about what can happen when the power and resources to make good homes  are put in community hands.

“Our two homes in Knowle West are just the start.

“Our toolkit for unlocking micro-sites through community-led opt-in densification is designed so other neighbourhoods can use it.

“Imagine 33,000 new affordable homes across the country – all inserted exactly where people need them most – helping elders to downsize, and ease pressure on overcrowded families.

“It opens up a new way to scale with real impact, one where communities are in control.”

WeCanMake is supported by Nationwide Foundation’s ‘Nurturing Ideas to Change the Housing System’ and forms part of the Bristol City Council’s ‘Project 1000’, which aims to speed up the delivery of affordable homes in Bristol.

To find out more about WeCanMake, visit: www.wecanmake.org 

Main photo: Resident, Toni (left) with the build crew. Credits: Ibolya Feher & WeCanMake

Read next: 

• Community-led plans for affordable, eco-friendly homes in Knowle West 
• Hope that community-led housing could transform derelict sites 
• Affordable eco-housing to be built on disused garage plots 
• Demolition of former community centre begins ahead of site redevelopment 

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