Our ‘100 ways to use 100m2’ submission into the NLA New Ideas for Housing competition has been shortlisted and is now on show at the Building Centre.

London’s housing problems are compounded by its constantly changing demographic. What’s more, 95% of new homes are apartments – inherently inflexible because you can’t extend, and you often aren’t allowed to sub-let or change the internal layout.

Our idea is to develop a new kind of apartment – a 100m2 shell that can be configured as one, two, three or four dwellings at any given time, fitted out in countless different ways, put together in any combination and occupied under any tenure. A low-cost, loose-fit, life-changing idea that would give Londoners more choice about how they live and who they live with.

Our own Zohra Chiheb and Victoria Harrison, alongside Shanka Mesa Siverio at WSMS Studio and Tatum Lau at the University of Texas, have also had their submission shortlisted. Their idea focuses on how middle-income households priced out of the property market can access secure housing. The ‘Community Chest’ app brings together different community organisations, allows them to map sites for future development and provides support to help them achieve their aims. By coming together under one umbrella organisation, the Community Chest can use collective funds to better leverage finance for development. In the same way, through deeper involvement and working together, individuals can earn credits that contribute to a deposit and enable them to buy their own home.

Both ideas feature alongside all other shortlisted entries in the ‘New Ideas for Housing’ publication and at an exhibition at the NLA until 17th December.