our story

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We were driven by the housing challenge and a desire to act. Our aim was to shape a shared vision, bring together experts, and turn common frustrations into practical progress — building a think-and-do tank with the courage to lead.

Bristol Housing Festival launched in 2018 to explore bold solutions to Bristol’s housing crisis. Inspired by the spirit of the Great Exhibition of 1851, it brought together innovators, communities and industry leaders to explore new ideas for sustainable, affordable and community-focused homes.

The festival began with a 17-day exhibition in central Bristol, opened by Kevin McCloud and visited by more than 6,000 people. Modular homes and pioneering housing solutions demonstrated what the future of housing could look like, while events and collaborations sparked fresh conversations and partnerships across the city.

The goal was simple: spark a positive conversation about what might be possible over the next five years, bringing together public, private, and community partners to tackle housing shortages and test Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). 

‘We are at the beginning of a revolution in housing design and construction. The festival will make Bristol the centre of that revolution, not just for the UK, but possibly for the world’  

Cllr Paul Smith 

Accelerating social rent housing delivery

The Summit is now over. If you’d like to stay in the loop about post-summit actions please register your interest.

Watch the Summit online

The New Homes in New Ways series was produced in partnership with the Building Centre.

 

Summit Sponsors

Principal Exhibition Sponsors

 

Exhibition sponsors

Collaborators

 

Charity Partners

 

Education Partner

 

© Chris Jackson

 

New Homes in New Ways Exhibition

The New Homes in New Ways exhibition is now open at the Building Centre, London. This interactive exhibition shines a light on the UK’s deficit of social rent homes and the growing temporary accommodation crisis. But the exhibition does not stop there - it will take you on a journey from despair to hope. The Building Centre is open to the public five days a week and all exhibitions are free to enter. Find out more.

 

What people are saying

  • Jez Sweetland, Housing Festival 

     “The New Homes in New Ways exhibition is an important opportunity to tell the story of how Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) has the potential to help address the UK’s severe shortfall of social rent homes and Temporary Accommodation crisis. Drawing on the collaborative Social Rent Housing at Pace Playbook, we look forward to sharing innovative case studies from across the UK that show that between us, we have all the required elements to start building the homes we need at scale and pace.”

  • John Bonning, Building Centre 

    “The Building Centre is proud to showcase innovation and industrialisation in the built environment, and we are delighted to be working with Housing Festival. They are identifying the blocks in the UK housing sector and showing how to get over them. We want to turn up the volume and support the whole sector joining in to meet the challenge that could transform the lives of the many thousands of people in need of decent homes. This will bring benefits to the wellbeing of individuals and the economy of our country.”

  • Kate Farrell, Crisis

    “Crisis, along with many other organisations, are calling for 90,000 social rented homes a year to be built as we know this is what is needed to help sustainably prevent and end homelessness. We are pleased to be working with The Building Centre and the Housing Festival on the New Homes in New Ways exhibition to explore how Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) can play a role in supplementing traditional building methods and contribute to the step change in the supply of genuinely affordable homes that we are calling for. We are supportive of MMC to deliver good quality, well designed homes that meet the standards any of us would expect to live in and this is the test we ask others to use as well.”