March 2015

All of us tend to want to see the world in simple terms. And indeed simplicity is absolutely key to getting clear and compelling messages across to the public and politicians not just about why housing matters… but also what needs to change. And herein lies the problem. Life just isn’t that simple. The recent… Read more

We need places shaped by local interests to end the housing crisis

Our housing crisis stems from a larger crisis in how we conceive of place and of landscape. Landscapes are the environments we shape and which, in turn, shape us. However, the control of our everyday landscapes – our cities and our countryside – have been turned over to be designed by placeless multinationals, giant developers,… Read more

I remember walking into an empty Methodist Central Hall a year a half ago having just booked it for the Homes for Britain Rally. I looked at the huge space and thousands of empty seats with a feeling of both excitement and apprehension. Could the whole housing sector come together on a scale never seen before… Read more

Parents involve your children in the Homes for Britain campaign – competition to design their dream home

Back in 2007, my (now) husband and I purchased our first home. Our timing was terrible – it was right at the peak of the ‘boom’, house prices were soaring out of control and we were in the grips of a recession. Our fear was that if we didn’t do it then, we’d never be… Read more

The planning system needs more than tweaking to end the housing crisis

Statistics published recently show that both new homes starts and completions are increasing, but are still some way short of what is required. So it is inevitable that the debate will continue about whether recent reforms to planning just need more time or whether further reforms are required. History shows that new Governments like to make their… Read more

Politicians beware: Generation Rent’s electoral impact is just around the corner!

Manifestations of the housing crisis present themselves to me on an hourly basis. Through leading a team of staff who provide the main customer interface between those in housing need and the largest social landlord in Bradford, it is easy to smell the sense of desperation in the air as yet another citizen of the… Read more

I recently attended the Board Member Conference where Ruth Davison, Director of Policy & External Affairs at the National Housing Federation presented well about Ambition to Deliver and the Homes for Britain campaign. I was a bit surprised by a point from the floor about a Southern bias to the campaign being proven by the…

Merseyside #HomesForBritain #relaytotherally Day 2

So Day Two picked up where the 22 miles of Day One had ended. If you missed it the Day One blog by Andy Williams needs to be read before this one for it to make sense! Ahead of us was another gruelling 17 mile walk / run stage, but this time followed by a… Read more

Homes for Britain #relaytotherally from Liverpool to Warrington

A brief resume of the Liverpool to Warrington leg for Homes for Britain. From a twinkle of an idea from Jon Lord at Bolton at Home that we should walk to London to support the campaign, a few hardy souls took up the challenge, inspired by Katie Teasdale from the National Housing Federation, and made… Read more

Look to Hong Kong for the solution to the housing crisis

David Lammy calls it London’s ‘housing emergency’. He’s right. The housing crisis has been with us since the mid-70s but the planning profession only woke up to it around 2000. London is encircled with 35,000 hectares of land within its boundary capable of accommodating 1.7 million homes even at the lowest densities. With the Home… Read more