Tag: Homelessness

Unravelling needs-based social security

[Originally posted at the SPS Comment and Analysis, 03/11/16, under a slightly different title] We are about to see one of the welfare policies of the late, only occasionally lamented Coalition government bear particularly ugly fruit. On Monday the process of lowering the Overall Benefit Cap (OBC) from £26,000 […]

Making the case for the right to housing

There’s plenty happening in the housing world at the moment, and I’m not just talking about last week’s parallel Manchester gatherings at the CIH annual conference and the HACT House Party. We’ve seen IPPR launch a fuller version of its proposals for shifting housing subsidy away from housing […]

Pragmatism and principle on housing and support

What is the Coalition’s biggest policy-making failure? I suspect a short poll would generate a long list of contenders. Quite high on the list must be irrational short-termism. Cut the Environment Agency’s budget significantly in an attempt to save money. End up paying out much more money to […]

It’s only going to get worse

It seems that with each passing week the news on the housing front gets gloomier. A week ago the NHF published its latest Home Truths report which extrapolated current trends and concluded that if things carry on as they are then affordability – or rather unaffordability – will […]

Who is social housing for, and who should it be for?

Yesterday I participated in a consultation event organised by Bristol City Council. it was designed to start a debate locally about the revision of social housing allocations policy. My talk, which ranged rather more broadly than simply allocations policy, is a bit too long to include in a […]

Housing strategies in challenging times

[On 10/01/13 I gave a brief overview of the context facing rented housing as part of an event called Housing Challenges in Exeter organised by Exeter City Council. This is the text to accompany my presentation.] Our housing system faces significant pressures. Short term pressures generated by the […]

The gathering storm

A storm is heading our way. That’s the only conclusion you can sensibly draw from reading the second annual independent Homelessness Monitor, funded by Crisis and published this month. Homelessness is a complex phenomenon, with its roots in the interaction of structural, social and individual factors. Broad economic […]

Housing – winding the clock back

[Originally posted at Liberal Democrat Voice, 12/11/12] Friday 9th November 2012 could well come to be seen as a landmark date in the history of English housing policy. A key change introduced by the Localism Act 2011 came into effect. The Liberal Democrats are part of the Government […]

Reaching the Terrible Twos

Today is the second anniversary of this blog opening for business. Happy Birthday – Blorthday? No, that sounds awful – to me. Another year of offering a largely indifferent world some more or less coherent thoughts on a range of loosely related topics. This landmark arrives at a […]