Why your local shops are the secret to solving the housing crisis
Remember the High Street? That lovely stretch of local shops where the baker knew your name, the butcher saved you the good sausages, and the café had your usual order ready before you sat down?
Urban sprawl killed a lot of that. Big box stores on the edge of town. Parking lots the size of small countries. And High Streets left half-empty, with flats upstairs gathering dust.
Michael Ruge wants to bring the High Street back—by putting homes above the shops.
The wasted space above our eyes
Here’s something you’ve probably walked past a thousand times without noticing. Above almost every shop on every High Street in the UK and Canada, there’s empty space. Storage rooms. Abandoned offices. Dusty flats that haven’t been touched in decades.
Michael Ruge estimates that converting this space could add hundreds of thousands of homes instantly. No new land. No urban sprawl. Just using what we already have.
“We’ve been looking at housing the wrong way,” he says. “We keep looking for empty fields. We should be looking up.”
The chicken-and-egg problem
Here’s why those upstairs flats are empty. Zoning codes. Building codes. Parking requirements. And a simple lack of economic incentive.
If you own a shop, converting the upstairs into a nice flat might cost £100,000. Will you get that money back in rent? Maybe. But the permitting process might take two years. And you might have to add a separate entrance, a fire escape, soundproofing, and wheelchair access.
Michael Ruge argues that cities should streamline these conversions. Pre-approved designs. Fast-track permits. Forgivable loans for small landlords. Suddenly, it becomes worthwhile.
The virtuous circle
When you add homes above shops, something magical happens. The shops get more customers. The street gets safer (more eyes on the pavement). The neighbourhood gets more vibrant.
That, in turn, makes the shops more profitable. Which makes the landlord more likely to maintain the building. Which makes the flats nicer. Which attracts more residents.
Michael Ruge calls this the “High Street flywheel.” Once it starts spinning, it’s hard to stop. And it happens without a single acre of urban sprawl.
Real-world proof
Look at small towns that have embraced this. In parts of Ontario, the “Main Street Revitalization” program has turned empty storefronts into mixed-use buildings with shops below and apartments above. The results have been remarkable.
In the UK, the “Permitted Development Rights” for converting offices to homes have been extended to some commercial spaces. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.
Michael Ruge wants to go further. “Make it by-right to add a flat above a shop,” he says. “No hearings. No lengthy reviews. Just a simple permit.”
A cheerful, human-scale solution
This isn’t about giant skyscrapers. It’s about small, incremental, human-scale additions. A flat here. Two flats there.
Over time, those additions add up. And they add up in exactly the places where we want more people: walkable, vibrant, connected High Streets.
Michael Ruge puts it simply: “The best cure for a dying High Street is neighbours. Give a street twenty new neighbours, and you’ve given it a new life.”
Links to Michael Ruge, Affordable Apartments and his Initiatives:
Michael Ruge- A Visionary Real Estate Developer Solving the Housing Crisis in the Cowichan Valley
Michael Ruge and Affordable Apartments: Transforming the Cowichan Valley’s Housing Market
Michael Ruge: A Visionary in Real Estate Development, Solving the Housing Crisis
