Innovative ways of creating homes and utilising existing space are required to help tackle the housing shortage and support community growth in London Borough of Hounslow.

Property in Hounslow costs much more than the national average, and with overcrowding, increased homelessness, and a shortage of homes, it is vital to develop new and genuinely affordable homes.

To assist those unable to find a home in the community that meets their needs and that they can afford, United Living worked closely with Hounslow Council to create much-needed innovative housing, helping them with their pledge to build 5000 new and affordable homes by 2022.

As well as new build developments, Hounslow Council looked to maximise spaces within existing buildings and carry out extensions to achieve its pledge of 5000 new homes by 2022.

To create this much-needed housing within an already densely populated area, we designed and constructed new rooftop extensions to existing buildings across seven sites in Hounslow.

Following in-depth investigations, we identified that 75 new homes could be built without increasing the footprint of existing structures, eliminating the need for land acquisition and groundwork, resulting in a more sustainable and lower-cost development for the customer.

Our roofscape expertise and experience also reduces construction time and minimises disruption to existing residents, allowing them to remain in situ throughout the installation. As part of the rooftop development work, we were instructed to improve the energy efficiency performance of the new apartments to align with the borough’s strategy to reduce emissions to net zero carbon by 2030.

Works included changing to an ‘all electric’ energy strategy with air source heat pump systems for heating & hot water, Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems, Solar PV, and electric car charge points. New cycle shelters were also installed to improve sustainability.