This post is to share two new resources created by Paul Oatt and myself and sponsored by JMW Solicitors. These plug a real gap in resources available to housing practitioners and we hope that you will find them helpful. The first is an introduction to basic terminology and deficiencies and the second is a wordbook [...]
It’s easy to use the term ‘housing crisis’ glibly. It’s less easy to understand what is feels like for those who most acutely suffer some of its consequences. One of these consequences has been the conversion of office buildings into living accommodation. Imagine this: an area of offices, commercial not residential; perhaps out of town; [...]
Happy new year to everyone. This post has in fact been in the making for years – further delayed by Covid-related workload – as I have tried to collect my thoughts and fill in gaps and it can still only scratch the surface of understanding something about the history of flats. Some flats and indeed [...]
Covid-19 and the lockdown have bought the meaning of home into sharper focus and has exposed inequality and inequity with great clarity. The meaning of home has shifted for all of us. Where concepts of home have been associated with security, autonomy, a basis for development and growth, this is not the case for all. [...]
For many of us, gardening is not just a lockdown activity, it's always been an enriching part of our home lives. Now, with this glorious weather, and the strange concept that time has become, I appreciate and know how blessed I am to have a garden. But with this feeling of productive creativity, I am also [...]
We knew it was coming: we watched in horror as the Covid-19 revealed itself in Italy, then Spain. No one should be surprised with what is now happening in the UK. We have spoken to family, friends, heard their stories of themselves, their friends. These become our stories too. Everyone if affected. Everything is changing; [...]
This month I'm doing nothing more than posting two pictures of a beautiful house, in this case William Morris' Red House, in Bexleyheath, Kent. As someone recently said, the arts are helping many people manage their days just now. Other news at the moment is too enormous to take in, so I hope this provides [...]
As it’s the centenary of the Addison Act, it’s worth focusing once again on what housing conditions would be like if left entirely to the market and why properly funded council housing is essential if we are to ensure that everyone has somewhere decent, secure and affordable to call home. Each of these three terms [...]
Whilst some animal species are very welcome into the garden - such as Red Kites - others are a little less so. These include wasps. Check out the very brave snail in the photo! However it is impossible not to admire the attention and skill that goes into their beautiful nests, constructed from nature, and [...]
I’ve been fascinated to watch the red kites creating their ‘home’ in a tree at the back of my garden. They are majestic birds, their vast wingspan soaring in rising air currents, looking strangely petite when perched in the trees, carefully surveying all around. Their cry is very distinctive, almost mammalian. The kites found the [...]
