The real crisis behind the housing crisis | Daniel Murphy | TEDxWorthing

The speaker recounts years of frustrating experiences in the private rental market, living in inadequate housing, including one with frozen carpets and icicles. Frustrated by the waste he observed while building homes in New Zealand, seeing valuable materials like cedar, oak, and insulation destined for landfill, he started collecting discarded items. He salvaged beautiful windows and even entire kitchens and roofs from homes slated for demolition. With these reclaimed materials and his wife's support, he built a tiny house on wheels for approximately £20,000, which served their young family well initially. However, as their family grew, they needed more space. Faced with the unappealing options of returning to private renting or taking on a mortgage, the speaker reluctantly chose the latter, questioning why he still struggles financially despite this traditional marker of success. He believes this isn't just a housing crisis but a "priorities crisis." His time studying green building solutions in Vienna, a city renowned for its public housing, revealed a different approach. In the 1920s, post-WWI, Vienna built 64,000 dignified homes with amenities like nurseries, clinics, libraries, and swimming pools, accessible to everyone, not just the rich or poor. The speaker highlights modern innovations like "passive house premium" homes that generate more electricity than they consume, eliminating energy bills. Despite these existing technologies in places like Austria and Dublin, their adoption is hindered not by technology or ideas, but by a lack of skilled people. He cites the example of Oscar, a young person struggling to find an apprenticeship due to "jargon," who has now left the UK. To address this, the speaker proposes a "SKIP" acronym: Skills, Innovation, Priorities. This involves creating a center of excellence for high-performance buildings, inspiring young people like Oscar, training them to build zero-energy homes, and reforming planning to prioritize passive house standards. He urges those in power to study and implement policies that foster economic growth and support young people, while encouraging individuals to also seek their own solutions.