COMMENT The development of multiple life-saving vaccines and successful roll-out programmes means the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is finally in sight, and we can begin to plan for the recovery.
Of course, the world economy now faces other challenges, chiefly rising inflation driven by supply chain disruption that will only be exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine. Yet that should not stop us from focusing on helping the areas arguably hit hardest by lockdown restrictions: city centres.
In a bid to stop the spread of the virus, shops, restaurants, clubs and offices were all closed down. While governments threw huge sums of taxpayer cash at businesses to help keep them afloat, the sad reality is that many will not return.
Lasting legacy
Lockdown also forced a mass unexpected experiment in remote working, and one lasting legacy of Covid-19 may well be a shift to more flexible work patterns.
For occupiers looking to save on costs, having to pay for less – if any – office space is great news. Similarly, for employees who have to commute far to reach their place of work, being able to do a few days a week – or the entire work week – at home is a major benefit.
For businesses reliant on the footfall and spending power of office workers, this is all much less positive news. Governments may try to encourage employers to bring their staff back to the office, but that is ultimately an individual business decision. Additional support in the form of grants or loans may help, but without their usual ready-made pool of customers, such financial aid will only go so far.
Yet it is not all doom and gloom. Covid has given us a historic opportunity to reimagine our city centres – which many municipal authorities are already doing, with promises to make entire districts car-free and introduce more pedestrianised and cycle-friendly areas that can support outdoor dining.
Given most major cities suffer issues with housing affordability, the other solution governments at all levels should be looking to is creating more inner-city homes.
More urban housing can provide the footfall and ready-made customer base that businesses once reliant on the traffic and spending of office workers need.
Global cities such as London need more homes of all types and tenures to address their affordability crises. Yet specialised forms of residential – such as build-to-rent and co-living – are uniquely suited to support city centre recovery compared with market-sale homes.
Reward and recognition
As rent-based models, there is an incentive for build-to-rent and co-living investors to develop their schemes as quickly as possible so they can start collecting income from residents, which is why so many BTR developers have embraced modern methods of construction which dramatically reduce build time when compared with traditional construction techniques. For-sale developers, on the other hand, can only build as fast as they can sell – otherwise they risk oversaturating the market and driving down values.
So, by encouraging more BTR, co-living and even student accommodation in city centres, urban authorities can speed up their recovery by bringing in guaranteed footfall and spending power faster relative to other housing types.
There is a generational fairness angle to this too. Arguably, younger generations suffered most from pandemic restrictions, sacrificing the prime years of their life to protect older, more vulnerable citizens. It is the young who are also being priced out of cities.
While BTR and co-living operators will welcome anyone, their core group of customers is recent graduates and young professionals. Giving them the opportunity to live centrally in a high quality, professionally managed home in a city they want to be in could be seen as both a reward and recognition of the sacrifices they’ve made.
Zafar Bhunnoo is co-chief executive at Balance Out Living
