April 2015

Following the recent proposals for the Help to Buy ISA scheme, the media has focused in on first time buyers. It is clear that the government’s commitment to housing lies with giving young people a leg up onto the property ladder. But, whilst ensuring first time buyers are able to access a housing market that… Read more

Homes for Britain lands in Bristol for housing hustings

When you say you are holding a housing hustings (a gathering for the public to ask the political parties representatives their burning questions) you tend to generate a healthy amount of interest but when you say you will have a very large inflatable house floating in the sky your interest then rockets. Bristol is famed… Read more

For me the high point of the recent Homes for Britain Rally happened before the first speaker even stepped on the stage. Being outside the Hall, watching the assembled crowds, banners and placards waving, I felt the energy which had been created amongst the many housing associations, and others, present. Having Betsy, our Homes for… Read more

The housing crisis isn’t about numbers, behind every number is a human need

There is no doubt that the UK faces a housing crisis. We live on a small island with a growing population and we need to double the number of new housing starts from approximately 125,000 a year to 250,000 if we’re to have any hope of keeping-up with demand. I have no doubt that, in… Read more

We have enough brownfield land to build a million new homes

Some may be surprised that the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) agrees we need to boost the supply of housing in England – in both town and country. Even before the dramatic decline in housebuilding triggered by the recession, we were building far too few affordable homes. Between 1950 and 1980, more than 100,000… Read more

Twenty five years ago, almost one third of first time home buyers were aged under 25. Today, 16% of first time buyers are under 25. The stark reality of that figure, reported by the CIH, is this: More homes are becoming overcrowded due to house shares, where tenants are paying rents equivalent to half their… Read more

Are we missing unlocked opportunities in abandoned buildings?

Never has an issue been so widely felt and yet so difficult to define. What is the housing crisis? Is it soaring house prices or rising homelessness? Overcrowded families or twenty somethings who can’t get on the housing ladder? If we can define what we mean by the housing crisis, and our solutions, then our… Read more

Our aging population needs homes designed to support us as we get older

Your home is the foundation for your life, whatever age you are. Whichever way you look at it health and financial stability are intrinsically linked with living in a home you can afford and that meets your individual needs. The UK’s housing crisis is not simply caused by a lack of homes, but also by… Read more

More faith in the planning profession is needed to end the housing crisis

Northern Ireland has a population of 1.84 million, we are a dispersed population with 37% living in rural areas, we have by far the highest incidence of fuel poverty in the UK, about 40% of mortgages are in negative equity and over 22,414 households are experiencing some level of housing stress. According to housing growth… Read more

Countdown to the General Election: what’s next for Homes for Britain

Over 2,000 people attended the Homes for Britain Rally on March 17. It felt like a moment where the whole housing sector and beyond called time on the housing crisis. What next? Our hope is to turn the moment at the Rally into a movement for lasting change. On 8 April, the next phase of… Read more