Reach Homes - A Critical Extension of Dwelling

Abstract

This paper formalises a nine month engagement with REACH Homes, a small startup that is testing decommodified modes of construction, non-monetary forms of tenure, reusing construction waste, and alternative methods of land acquisition to critique and ultimately overcome the housing problem in the UK - from within. The purpose of this paper is twofold, firstly I will situate REACH within the housing crisis through a brief history of UK policies, whilst setting REACH apart from other solutions that call for a rejuvenation of public housing. Secondly I will demonstrate REACH’s praxis through a selection of working examples that I have either been actively involved in or visited. These points allow me to argue that REACH reveals a holistic method for combatting the housing crisis which stops profit being extracted further up, or down, the supply chain; this holistic method is rarely being explored within housing activism.