Over the past year the issue of disrepair in social housing properties has risen in prominence to become one of the country’s key social issues. This has been brought to light by the long-term ITV News investigation which has featured cases whe

Is the government on track to end rough sleeping by 2024?

Feb 25th, 2022 1h 1m

When the Conservative Party was elected in late 2019, its manifesto included a pledge to end rough sleeping in England by 2024. No one could have predicted that the government would come close to fulfilling this promise just a few months later

A look ahead: what will happen in housing in 2022?

Jan 19th, 2022 48m 15s

With national lockdowns hopefully a thing of the past and the sector hopefully edging back slowly to business as usual, the next 12 months will be crucial for providers to make up for lost time. However, the challenges are vast. With the buildi

What were the key housing takeaways from the Spending Review?

Oct 28th, 2021 26m 5s

This week chancellor Rishi Sunak stood in parliament to deliver his Spending Review and Budget. Speaking on Wednesday he looked to set out a post-pandemic plan for the country, but where does housing fit into this? Today on The Housing Podcast

Where do the two biggest parties stand on housing?

Oct 18th, 2021 38m 20s

The party conference season is over and Labour and the Conservatives have set out their political intentions for the coming 12 months. Today on The Housing Podcast Inside Housing's news team assesses the political housing landscape and discusse

Housing's 30-year net zero challenge

Apr 13th, 2021 28m 47s

In June 2019, parliament passed legislation committing the UK to becoming a net zero-carbon emitter by the year 2050. That presents a huge challenge to the housing sector, including social landlords, who now have less than 30 years to ensure th

Why are people on benefits struggling to pay the rent?

Feb 2nd, 2021 49m 43s

More people than ever are claiming benefits to help them survive the pandemic. But they are not receiving enough money to cover their housing costs. Why? The Housing Podcast is joined by Marc Francis of charity Z2K and Sam Lister from the Chart

Review of the year 2020

Dec 7th, 2020 45m 32s

In the final episode of 2020, The Housing Podcast looks back over the strangest of years. As well as delving into the major housing stories of the last 12 months, the team are quizzed on their knowledge of recent policy announcements and attemp

Was the Social Housing White Paper worth the wait?

Nov 23rd, 2020 42m 52s

Last week, the government published its long-awaited Social Housing White Paper. This 76-page document was born from the ashes of the Grenfell Tower fire; as it emerged that residents had tried unsuccessfully to raise safety concerns before the

The crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of flats which could grind the housing market to a halt

Oct 14th, 2020 54m 53s

In June 2017, a terrible fire tore through the cladding on Grenfell Tower, claiming 72 lives. After the blaze, it emerged that other blocks of flats were covered in similar materials. Three years on the scale of the crisis has grown to involve

How the government's reforms will change the planning system

Aug 14th, 2020 38m 24s

Last week, the government laid out proposals for what Boris Johnson previously described as "the most radical reforms to our planning system since the Second World War". Ministers have a vision to overhaul the approach to setting housing target

How the coronavirus is affecting housing

Apr 21st, 2020 43m 21s

The coronavirus is profoundly impacting nearly every aspect of life in the UK. In a slightly unusual episode of The Housing Podcast, the team discusses how the pandemic is affecting housing – including renters, building safety, homelessness, ho

Why are so many buildings reliant on waking watches? (audio long-read)

Apr 3rd, 2020 15m 48s

As the Housing Podcast adjusts to the new environment of social distancing, here is another special audio-long read episode. An investigation has shown the extent of waking watches in use around the UK. Here Peter Apps asks why, and what the c

What did the Budget have to offer for housing?

Mar 13th, 2020 38m 6s

On Wednesday, chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered the first Budget since the new government was elected in December. Contrary to the fears of some, the Budget at first glance seemed to offer a lot for housing. In this episode of The Housing Podc

Why is there a global housing crisis?

Feb 28th, 2020 54m 19s

A new documentary launching in the UK today (28 February), entitled Push, follows UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing Leilani Farha around the world as she attempts to make sense of the global housing crisis.In this episode

How the Housing Ombudsman is changing

Feb 14th, 2020 51m 51s

The Housing Ombudsman Service recently appointed a new boss and is waiting for ministers to sign off plans for a radical shake-up of how it operates. In this episode of The Housing Podcast, we speak to new housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway - w

Review of the year 2019

Dec 20th, 2019 51m 58s

As the year draws to an end, The Housing Podcast team wraps up the last 12 months, battles it out in a housing quiz, and looks ahead to 2020.

What is exempt accommodation and why is it becoming a problem?

Dec 6th, 2019 35m 8s

A recent report highlighted failures in a particular subsector of housing that often escapes regulation. Termed 'non-commissioned exempt accommodation', its function is to place a roof over the head of people with nowhere else to go.In this ep

General election 2019: What are the main parties pledging for housing?

Nov 22nd, 2019 35m 35s

With three weeks to go before voters take to the polls, the parties outlined set out their stalls on housing. In this episode of The Housing Podcast, we analyse the key pledges.

What did the Grenfell Inquiry phase one report say?

Nov 1st, 2019 44m 47s

This week, Sir Martin Moore-Bick published his Phase One report from the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. The 838-page report focuses on the events of that dreadful night: how the blaze started, how it spread so ferocio

How housing associations go wrong, and how to put them right

Oct 25th, 2019 43m 52s

Around four million people in England live in homes owned by housing associations. One of the most talked-about in recent years has been Gentoo - a Sunderland landlord with more than 30,000 homes which saw a dramatic rise and fall after being f

What to make of the shared ownership Right to Buy announcement?

Oct 4th, 2019 29m 39s

In our second emergency podcast, the team reacts to the news that the government plans to give housing association tenants the right to buy a 10% share in their homes. Music by Broke for Free.

Why housing is a feminist issue

Sep 27th, 2019 34m 38s

This week's episode of The Housing Podcast comes from the National Housing Summit, where we spoke to three people who argue that anyone concerned about women's issues should be thinking about the housing crisis.

Is talk of a council housing renaissance really fake news?

Sep 6th, 2019 30m 36s

After an article in The Guardian branding the new dawn of social housing in London 'fake news', the Housing Podcast catches up with academics Mel Nowicki and Ella Harris to ask why they aren't getting on the bandwagon to celebrate a new era of