Homes are the foundation of our lives. That’s why we’re working towards the creation of a more equitable housing market, which supports everyone who needs a decent and affordable home.
Our mission is to shape policies and strategies that create a fairer housing system, particularly for people on lower incomes. We want to see:
JRF supports this redesign by developing and advocating policy solutions that tackle the current crisis while steering the housing market towards long-term equity, using our role as funder, investor and convener to grow and promote innovative housing models.
Our homes are the foundations of our lives, essential to our health and wellbeing. Yet the housing system is failing many who need a secure and affordable place to live.
JRF believes everyone should have a decent, safe home they can stay in as long as they need. But we currently lack enough homes of the right type and in the right places.
Addressing this means building many more homes, especially social homes, by reforming how land is sold and reducing the dominance of big developers. It also means improving existing homes by strengthening tenure security, raising quality and sustainability, and shifting ownership away from speculative investment that undermines stability and standards.
To build a more equal society where everyone can thrive, we must ensure access to decent, affordable homes for all. We aim to shift the focus from housing as wealth to homes as essential for a decent life.
In collaboration with the Nationwide Foundation and FrameWorks, we've explored public attitudes towards housing, using research to guide conversations on the issues and solutions. From this we have produced a toolkit with resources designed to help anyone discussing housing and homes.
Tax reforms introduced in 2016 marked a decisive shift in housing policy, reducing landlord demand and freeing up homes for first-time buyers (FTBs)
We look at 3 ways that buying private homes for social ownership can play a role in shaping the housing market and growing new, more equitable housing models.
This briefing calls for development of new, large-scale, sustainable communities with homes, jobs and infrastructure. It will mean the public sector taking a much stronger role, in partnership with the private sector, to advance the long-term public interest.
This briefing sets out the argument underpinning a new area of work at JRF, around ownership and distribution of homes in the English housing market.
The UK has entered a housing market downturn, sparked by higher inflation and interest rates. This is already having far-reaching consequences for individuals, the housing system and the wider national economy. Any Government response must recognise the deeper weaknesses in our housing system.
Recent market fluctuations and higher interest rates are leading some amateur landlords to sell up. This could offer a chance for better-off renters to be first-time buyers, but the lowest income renters are those most likely to lose out unless policy responds.
