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Exclusive: Investment giant widens focus from shared ownership to all affordable tenures

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James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 13d

Exclusive: Investment giant M&G has widened its focus from shared ownership to all affordable housing tenures

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/exclusi...

Investment giant M&G has widened its focus from shared ownership to all affordable housing tenures, Inside Housing can reveal.

Reform will move to a pro-social housing agenda, says Starmer’s ex-economic advisor

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 16d

New: Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party will move towards a pro-social housing agenda because so many social renters are considering voting for them, Sir Keir Starmer’s former economic advisor has said

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/reform-...

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party will move towards a pro-social housing agenda because so many social renters are considering voting for them, Sir Keir Starmer’s former economic advisor has said.

Exclusive: CPRE study suggests housebuilding targets can be met without encroaching on green belt land Almost 1.5m new homes could be built on brownfield sites in England to avoid encroaching on green belt and meet the government target for housing growth by the end of this parliament, new figures suggest. But despite the scale of brownfield land available, developers are pushing to build on green land, including increased housebuilding on and adjacent to areas of outstanding natural beauty. Continue reading...

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Jennifer Williams @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 21d

Nothing in this acknowledges the economic reality of why many brownfield sites don’t get away as housing: they’re not financially viable unless someone (usually us, in some form) pays for them to be cleaned up and made ready

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 21d

Almost 1.5m homes could be built on brownfield sites in England, report finds

www.theguardian.com

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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 26d

It's My Party and I'll cry if I want to

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James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 27d

Here's my full report: www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/lond...

London’s housebuilding meltdown: what happens next?

Shockingly poor housebuilding figures emerged from London over the summer. James Riding speaks to developers and London’s deputy mayor Tom Copley to find out where we go from here.

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 27d

Deputy mayor Tom Copley says “I’m quite confident, particularly as we go through this year, we’re going to see an uptick in terms of affordable housing delivery, and we are coming up with the next London Plan, which is going to absolutely have housing and growth at its heart."

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 27d

The rise of single-family housing – institutional investment pouring into new-build houses in the suburbs – shows that private capital is willing to invest in housing. It’s just not willing to invest in high-rise flats because of all the risk.

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 27d

“On the one hand more is demanded [of developers], but on the other side of the equation there’s less that can be offered, because the buildings that we’re producing now are a lot more complicated than they were 10-15 years ago,” says development consultant Nick Cuff

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 27d

Higher interest rates and build cost inflation since 2020 eroded developers' profits. But one of the biggest challenges is the post-Grenfell Building Safety Regulator in 2024. The regulator has struggled to work through a backlog of applications and rejects over 70% of them

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 27d

Sadiq Khan oversaw a boom in private housebuilding in London that peaked in 2019-20, with 45,676 net additions

Now the boom is over. Net additions are estimated at 31,800 for 2024-25 and will fall further as dire starts translate into completions

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 27d

Shockingly poor housebuilding figures emerged from London over the summer

Just 2,158 private homes were started in the first half of the year according to Molior: the lowest figure since 2009

I spoke to developers and deputy mayor Tom Copley to find out where we go from here 🧵

Build-to-rent won't inevitably drive rents up

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 27d

Does build-to-rent drive up rents in nearby areas? The truth is much more complex, argues Michael Keaveney, director of land and development at Grainger, in Inside Housing today

www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/buil...

Commentators have linked build-to-rent to rising rents but the truth is much more complex, writes Michael Keaveney, director of land and development at Grainger.

Just 27% of retrofits completed under flagship government decarbonisation scheme

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · 28d

Exclusive: An £800m government scheme to decarbonise social homes has underperformed with less than a third of targeted retrofits completed

www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/just-27...

An £800m government scheme to decarbonise social homes has underperformed with less than a third of targeted retrofits completed, Inside Housing can reveal.

Ian McEwan is back — and he’s had fun with his strangest book yet

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · Sep 11

Definitely a contender for best list of Alternative Names on a Wikipedia page

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John Self @john-self.bsky.social · Sep 10

“For all his reputation as an elder statesman of solid literary fiction, Ian McEwan’s 50-year career has been characterised by eccentricities and surprising left-turns.”

Me on McEwan’s strangest novel yet, What We Can Know, about poetry, murder and the long view of human development:

The acclaimed writer’s latest novel, What We Can Know, is a literary hotpot of poetry, social history, dementia and murder

www.thetimes.com/article/3605...

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James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · Sep 6

William Boyd’s new spy novel is full of JFK conspiracy theories

The Predicament is a comfortably retro return to the world of Gabriel Dax, who is trying to foil a plan to assassinate the US president

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · Sep 6

William Boyd’s new spy novel is full of JFK conspiracy theories. Who does he think is the most entertaining culprit for the president’s assassination?

Here’s my review for @thetimes.com - link below

www.thetimes.com/article/bbde...

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · Aug 23

One Boat by Jonathan Buckley — a hunky Greek, bad poetry and a lawyer at sea

The author’s 13th novel, a Booker prize contender, explores guilt and grief against the backdrop of a Greek seaside town

A modular factory where one in three staff are prisoners on day release

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · Aug 23

I reviewed the first ever Fitzcarraldo novel on the Booker Prize longlist: One Boat by Jonathan Buckley, a tale of guilt and grief on the Greek coast.

It’s intermittently absorbing with flourishes of beauty - but it evaporates in the memory.

Link to my Sunday Times piece below

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Jess McCabe @jessmccabe.bsky.social · Aug 12

We have a really interesting story today by @jamesriding.bsky.social on a modular factory staffed by prisoners on day release.

This type of project has good evidence that it reduces reoffending. A portion of wages go to a fund to support victims.

www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/a-mo...

On the factory floor of a warehouse in Peterborough, prisoners on day release are helping to make modular homes that will be erected as social housing and temporary accommodation. The project also has...

Skyscrapers and social housing: inside Manchester’s extraordinary housing transformation

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James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · Aug 7

As a reporter covering housing I find Manchester fascinating. In just 14 years, the city centre population has almost trebled. Meanwhile the number of people on the waiting list for a social home has gone from 0 to 11,500.

My dispatch from the council:

www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/skys...

James Riding meets Tom Stannard, chief executive of Manchester City Council, and Bev Craig, leader of the council, to discuss build-to-rent, the Building Safety Regulator and affordable housing

How to deal with a midlife crisis — get in a car and keep driving

James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · Jul 29

Great to see Ben Markovits longlisted for the Booker Prize for his novel The Rest of Our Lives - a slim study of middle-aged ennui set on the US highway.

Here's my review for @thetimes.com

www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits is the story of a man who escapes his ‘C-minus marriage’ by taking an impromptu road trip across America

How a deep retrofit project is creating affordable housing again, after 200 years

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Matthew Pennycook MP @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social · Jul 23

Loving this month's cover @insidehousing.bsky.social!

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James Riding @jamesriding.bsky.social · Jul 2

A street in Mayfair where William Blake once lived is being refurbished and turned back into housing - including 11 affordable homes.

I took a look round and spoke to the developers about the “mind-forged manacles” of conservation policy

www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/how-...

The Duke of Westminster’s property company is using deep retrofit to turn an 18th-century London street into affordable housing. James Riding visits the project