Housing
There is no such thing as a ‘good landlord’
The system is broken — Our engorged property market – and the ensuing housing crisis – has become a cornerstone of the British economy. Those who actively profit from it shouldn’t be absolved.
Written by: Tristan Cross
How politicians killed Paris’s art-squat movement
‘Punir les pauvres’ — Over the past few years, Paris City Council has legalised several legendary artists’ squats to capitalise on their ‘cool’ factor. But as writer Eloïse Stark discovered, the move has effectively destroyed the founding principles of this underground scene.
Written by: Eloïse Stark
Dublin activists are rebelling against slum landlords
’Need not greed’ — This month, protestors in Ireland are taking to the streets to demonstrate against the country’s housing crisis. Writer Michael Lanigan joins them on their quest for justice.
Written by: Michael Lanigan
The rise and fall of Sheffield’s brutalist post-war utopia
Streets in the sky — At the end of the ’80s, social experiment Hyde Park – one of the largest high-rise tower blocks in Europe – faced demolition. Photographer Bill Stephenson was there to watch it happen.
Written by: Hannah Clugston
A vision for Britain? May can't even steal Labour policies right
From Where I Stand — The Conservatives are flapping desperately as the housing crisis continues, writes Matt Zarb-Cousin, because to admit the market is broken would be to accept that Tory ideology is dead.
Written by: Matt Zarb-Cousin
Last night saw a victory for anti-gentrification activists
Taking back the city — Property developers in Elephant and Castle have been sent back to the drawing board, after local residents demand a better deal.
Written by: Niall Flynn
Stop sneering at the Grenfell Tower 'conspiracy theories'
From Where I Stand — There's nothing funny about confusion after trauma. Victims and their loved ones have every right to distrust the state right now. The fact that you're mocking working class communities in mourning says it all.
Written by: Dawn Foster
Cockroaches, cops and cow shit at the British Property Awards
'Landlords are parasites' — When property developers descended on a swanky London hotel last night to celebrate making cold hard cash from the housing crisis, little did they know activists with bugs, manure and anger would be waiting at the door.
Written by: Michael Segalov
Why the brutalist architecture of Britain's housing estates matters in 2016
They never were failed utopias — The debate around social housing and the Brutalist architecture that embodies it has been raging for half a century. In London, 2016, it feels like the war being waged against council estates is being won, even though social need is as great as ever before.
Written by: Marianna Manson
The housing activists trying to beat property developers at their own game
Taking on the housing crisis — A group of local residents in Haringey, North London, are defying private property developers by bidding for an old hospital site that's for sale. Does this signal a new direction for housing activism in the capital? One that looks at the needs of a community not simply the bottom line?
Written by: Emma Snaith
