Amid general election frenzy, new Metro Mayors settling into their roles and Jeremy Paxman shouting at party leaders…Iceni has decided to take a week off from politics. Instead of politicians and elections, this week we want to talk about young people and how they’re reacting to the housing crisis.

Almost everyone is in agreement that there is a housing crisis in the UK; a crisis affecting the under 30's hardest. With no political party prepared to tackle the Green Belt (Mrs May has been very quiet on garden villages recently), the focus has shifted to brownfield development – meaning that high-density schemes will have a big part to play.

Part of this high density revolution is the move to smaller flats. There has been plenty of bad press around ‘rabbit-hutch’ homes recently,  but we’re here to look on the other hand. The usual minimum space requirement for a home in London is 39sqm. however pioneers like Pocket Living provide 38sqm. as standard – something previously unheard of. However, new generations bring new ideas, and new expectations.

This new attitude to housing is twofold. Firstly, a smaller flat (usually) means a smaller price tag, essential in London for younger generations feeling the burden of the housing crisis. Secondly, and far more interesting, is a change in mind set. These smaller flats have showers not baths, open plan kitchen / living areas or in the case of some rental providers like The Collective – shared living and kitchen spaces. There is a clear change in focus happening, design and feel are becoming as important as size. No doubt having a cinema or library in your building is also a big selling point.

But shared spaces aren’t everything – Millennials and the emerging Generation Z are environmentally conscious buyers and renters, looking for a lifestyle instead of four walls. This isn’t just new age thinking, big players in the industry like Moda are taking note, with innovative policies like £100 Uber credit a month if tenants agree to not have a parking space. Some of these industry wide changes have already taken place – count up the amount of bike racks next time you pass by a new development.

In the coming years it will be interesting to see how far this trend will go and indeed how small flats can get; plans for 14.9sqm studios in central Croydon spring to mind. Regardless, for now smaller flats are here and it looks like they are here to stay, it’s time for the industry (and politicians) to start reacting.