(From an article published in May 2014)

An excellent opinion piece on 24 Housing last week by Tony Stacey reminds me just how supine – and in parts, complicit – the housing industry has become. From the off, Red Brick has objected to, criticised, parodied, and been outraged by the Government’s ‘Affordable Rent’ scheme. And in equal measure we have tried to expose the deliberate attempt to reduce and, we think, eventually eliminate social rented housing.

(From an article published in May 2014)

I have posted below my contribution to the CIH series of essays on ‘Where is housing heading?’, which is published today. It’s therefore a longer-than-usual post.

The essay presents the core arguments in favour of social rented housing and the urgent need to re-start a programme of building new homes which will be available at tradition social rent levels and with security of tenure. It is highly critical of the Coalition’s so-called ‘affordable rent’ scheme, with its high rents and reduced tenants’ rights.

At last, housing professionals are starting to come out of their bunker and challenge some of the prejudice and misinformation that exists about social housing. Campaigns like Council Homes Chat and SHOUT have inspired more housing folk to engage with the bigots and the ignorant on twitter and in the comments pages. For too long the affordable housing sector has lived within a rather complacent cocoon, but one of the things I’ve learned over the years is that we should never underestimate the level of ignorance about housing among the wider population. Even nominally intelligent people often seem clueless or impervious to rational thought when it comes to housing, and the rise of UKIP means that immigration often dominates the housing debate.

(From an article published in April 2014)

On the first occasion I appeared in the 24 Housing ‘Power List’ my son commented that he couldn’t imagine that I would want to be in any list where Grant Shapps was number one. Last year the stars of both Grant and myself waned, and we dropped out (I’m not suggesting any connection). This year we are both back as minor players, but now I’m ahead of him. I wish our relative power in the real world was that way round; unfortunately not.

(From an article published in June 2014)

The official launch of SHOUT takes place in Westminster later today. Social Housing Under Threat was formed back in January and has been described by Steve Hilditch as the “most important campaigning initiative in this Parliament.”

The deadline for Labour’s Lyons Housing Commission brought a burst of last minute submissions from organisations and individuals.

The Commission, chaired by Sir Michael Lyons, was set up after Labour’s Annual Conference in September 2013 when Ed Miliband announced his plans for a Labour Government to increase the supply of new homes in England above 200,000 a year by the end of the next Parliament. It is tasked with drawing up a road map for the housing and planning policies and practice that are required to deliver the new homes and communities we need.

I took part in a live discussion on the Guardian website yesterday on the role of social housing, which generated quite a debate. One contributor, the CEO of a large London association, said this:

‘Social housing is now a damaged brand. Housing associations need to return to their roots – yes, housing those without work, but housing the low-to-average-waged, too. We need to reclaim our landlord role and control who we let to. For us we would give greater priority to those who work locally. We could house the local school’s teaching assistant and the local hospital’s health staff.’

http://redbrickblog.wordpress.com/

http://councilhomeschat.wordpress.com/

http://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/

http://www.singleaspect.org.uk/

http://notpaying.tumblr.com/post/84332451115/cutting-the-grass

http://ngblog2013.wordpress.com/

http://www.lovelondoncouncilhousing.com/

http://michaeledwards.org.uk/

Paul Kirby isn’t exactly a household name. He wouldn’t claim to be one. But he is a gifted and original thinker (even if I don’t often agree with him) and as a former key figure in the Number 10 policy unit, he has a certain following.