Birmingham start-up rises to the housing challenge

Gareth Bradford, WMCA director of regeneration and housing; Andy Reeve, founder of DemoDev; Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands.

A Birmingham digital start-up has won the chance to work alongside the Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street after developing a digital tool that can help unlock land for better affordable housing.

DemoDev, led by Andy Reeve of Impact Hub Birmingham and Alastair Parvin of WikiHouse Foundation, were one of four winners in the UrbanChallenge awards which were organised by the West Midlands Combined Authority and Govtech venture firm PUBLIC.

The competition aims to find ways to use technology to take on key future challenges.

More than 120 entries from start-ups in 40 cities across eight counties were received and the winners of the four challenges were announced at iCentrum yesterday.

The winners each receive a prize worth £20,000 and a three-month pilot with the WMCA.

The housing challenge asked start-ups to look at ways technology could be used to speed up the process of building high-quality homes, reduce energy, improve social care and create economic opportunities.

DemoDev began by using open data analysis to explore ideas of land in the region which might be used to develop affordable homes.

They found a large number of sites too small for conventional developers. The project will explore the idea of matching digital fabrication and a ‘smart’ supply chain to manufacture high-performance, stylish homes. These can be rapidly assembled by small local construction companies, and even by communities themselves, at a genuinely affordable price.

DemoDev impressed judges with their plan to identify and unlock underused land where people could build low-energy houses.

Working with the WMCA, the project will aim to begin with a pilot house. If this works, the developers believe the approach could unlock as many as 12,000 low energy, affordable homes, as well as engaging local businesses and citizens to produce them.

Reeve said: “The Urban Challenge is a fantastic chance to work with the Mayor and help create new forms of housing delivery in the region.

“It is very exciting to think about the ways in which citizen involvement and digital technologies enhanced by the WMCA can combine and build great homes whilst building a stronger community.”

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Technology has such an important part to play in transforming the efficiency and quality of public services which is why I was so keen to launch this competition and challenge technology start-ups to find answers.

“The West Midlands has the biggest digital sector in the country outside London and I am keen we work closely with them.

“We are all aware of the challenges the West Midlands faces with housing and I am really excited about the potential of DemoDev to help us look at this from a different perspective.

“I look forward to working with Andy and Alastair over the coming months at the WMCA as we begin to put the idea to the test in practical terms. It will be great to report back on our progress.”

 

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