Homes that Don't Cost the Earth is a UK initiative launched in 2025 to identify policy, financial, and technical measures for delivering affordable housing without exceeding environmental limits. Led by Dark Matter Labs alongside Arup, Rising Tide, and UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, it receives funding from Laudes Foundation and operates from London, where its core team—including Oliver Burgess, Ivana Stancic, and Jorn Verbeeck—coordinates activities through units like Neighbourhood Futures and Material 0 Cities.
The project addresses a paradox: the UK now builds more homes per person than at any prior point, yet insecurity and unaffordability persist for many, while 300,000 annual new builds under current practices would exhaust the nation's entire carbon budget without widespread retrofits. Workshops have convened local authorities, architects, community housing leaders, and experts on topics such as urban intensification, micro-densification, and preventing net-zero retrofit backlash in the private rental sector, drawing lessons from Germany's energy efficiency efforts.
Recent efforts include gathering case studies on combined interventions for lower-impact homes, blogging by Arup on planetary boundaries for housing, and forging alliances across planning, construction, climate, fuel poverty, biodiversity, renters' rights, finance, tax, and law. The network aims to fill evidence gaps, mitigate unintended consequences, and propel ideas toward implementation, with updates shared via LinkedIn and a dedicated site.