Housing, Equality & Choice

Article

A radical report advocating policies for creating a better balance between people, homes and jobs, and a way to reshape the character of social rented housing.

Inequality in housing has increased over the last fifty years. Critical factors in this include the replacement of older housing by high density flats, the resistance to building council homes in suburban and rural areas and the loss of the best council housing through right-to-buy.

Chris Holmes advocates policies for creating a better balance between people, homes and jobs, which include: a new policy for the regionsto reduce the differentials between the prosperous south and northern industrial areas; increasing housing supply across all areas of southern England; special measures for tackling the housing crisis in London; and for fiscal reforms to reduce inequalities in housing wealth.

"Chris Holmes draws on his unparalleled experience of housing theory and practice to confront the way housing reflects social inequality and suggests, not before time, some radical reform. If Labour is looking for policy ideas for a third term, it should start here."

- David Walker

Related items

  1. What would it take to eradicate child poverty in Scotland?

    Delivering on the First Minister’s commitment to ‘eradicate’ child poverty seems a long way off.
  2. A wind farm in the hills to the south of Glasgow, Scotland.

    Apathy and opposition: Understanding the real threats to net zero

    Climate action is under siege from populist and far-right actors. Delivering under that pressure demands fresh confidence and commitment from government. 
  3. A flood warning sign, on a closed country road next to water logged fields in the Avon Valley, Hampshire, England

    Adapt or die: Why progressives need to deal with extreme weather

    The impacts of extreme weather are already directly affecting people and communities across the UK. We lack ways to deal with this.