Worker homes: a 21st-century model?

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Source: Shutterstock.com / Nimur

Employers’ efforts to secure affordable accommodation for staff are creating new housing models

The ambitious model villages created by the great Victorian philanthropists – Bournville, Port Sunlight, Saltaire – are undoubtedly a product of their time. A paternalistic response to the desperate slums inhabited by many city-dwelling working poor, suitable for a society rigidly stratified into classes.

But however stark the differences with today, evidence suggests employers are in the 21st century, again asking what they can, and should, be doing to help solve the housing crisis.

This is no exercise in charity – the high cost of housing is hitting businesses hard. Two-thirds, according to an annual CBI survey, now say their businesses are being damaged by the lack of available housing – the highest number on record. More than half say they are losing staff because they can’t find anywhere affordable to live, leading the employer organisation to describe the issue as a “ticking time bomb” for British business.

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