James Riding
LightNews LightNews
jamesriding.bsky.social
James Riding
@jamesriding.bsky.social
840 followers 200 following 95 posts
Living Markets Editor at Inside Housing | Book reviews in The Times | Press Awards 30 Under 30 2024 | [email protected]
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by James Riding
jamesriding.bsky.social
I'm in The Times today coming out to bat for Karl Ove Knausgaard, whose latest Christopher Marlowe-inspired novel is long, weird, frequently repulsive and brilliant

Link to read below
November 19, 2025 at 12:35 PM
jamesriding.bsky.social
I'm in The Times today coming out to bat for Karl Ove Knausgaard, whose latest Christopher Marlowe-inspired novel is long, weird, frequently repulsive and brilliant

Link to read below
November 19, 2025 at 12:35 PM
jamesriding.bsky.social
David Sexton argues this year's Booker Prize winning novel borrows "the whole plot, the entire arc" of Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon
November 17, 2025 at 12:13 PM
jamesriding.bsky.social
I'm noticing an interesting trend of councils buying up new-build homes from housebuilders to use for social housing. With demand from first-time buyers so low, it makes sense that councils could get some good deals. They just need the money to buy them!

www.mylondon.news/news/north-l...
Council submits bid to buy 140 new homes off developer for social rent
Harrow Council said it was given an opportunity to buy them at the last minute and didn't want to miss out, so called an urgent meeting to approve the potential purchase
www.mylondon.news
November 6, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by James Riding
financialtimes.com
New homes: even if you build them, there’s no one to buy them on.ft.com/3Levumr | opinion
New homes: even if you build them, there’s no one to buy them
We’re often told housing demand exceeds supply — so why are new homes struggling to be built and bought?
on.ft.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:37 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
A tower block completed in 2022 has to undergo a full refurbishment to fix damp, mould and fire safety defects

Amid criticism of the Building Safety Regulator holding up development, it's so crucial to remember why we need to drive up building standards

www.mylondon.news/news/south-l...
London's newbuild scandal as blocks develop issues within a few years
The Fold was completed in 2022, but just three years later, its owners are forcing all residents to leave in order to carry out a full refurbishment of the mould-ridden building - and it's a symptom o...
www.mylondon.news
October 28, 2025 at 9:38 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
I'm extremely pleased to be shortlisted for a British Journalism Award alongside some truly top-tier talent
October 23, 2025 at 2:04 PM
jamesriding.bsky.social
The government and Sadiq Khan have announced an emergency package for developers after shockingly low housebuilding figures in London

Affordable housing target lowered from 35% to 20%, PLUS government grant for developers

More on how we got here:

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.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
October 23, 2025 at 1:46 PM
jamesriding.bsky.social
New research shared with Inside Housing today calls for US-style tax credits to raise £18.83bn a year for social rent homes. That’s the level of public subsidy needed to build 90,000 social rent homes a year and make a huge dent in the housing crisis

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/public-...
Public-private coalition calls for tax credits to build 90,000 social homes a year
A coalition of private and public sector parties has called for the government to use tax credits to fund 90,000 new social rent homes a year.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
October 21, 2025 at 7:11 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
“Ever since that [act], both the main parties constantly associated the two: that we can’t progress race equality without then also controlling how many immigrants we have in this country"

Fascinating piece in Inside Housing today from @sajeraj.bsky.social

www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/60-y...
60 years on: the story of the Race Relations Act 1965
This Black History Month, Inside Housing looks back at the Race Relations Act to consider the legacy of the first anti-racism law in England.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
October 14, 2025 at 4:57 PM
jamesriding.bsky.social
Exclusive: Investment giant M&G has widened its focus from shared ownership to all affordable housing tenures

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/exclusi...
Exclusive: Investment giant widens focus from shared ownership to all affordable tenures
Investment giant M&G has widened its focus from shared ownership to all affordable housing tenures, Inside Housing can reveal.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
October 2, 2025 at 9:04 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
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-...
Reform will move to a pro-social housing agenda, says Starmer’s ex-economic advisor
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
September 29, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by James Riding
jenwilliamsft.bsky.social
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
September 24, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Reposted by James Riding
cjayanetti.bsky.social
It's My Party and I'll cry if I want to
September 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM
jamesriding.bsky.social
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 🧵
September 18, 2025 at 7:56 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
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...
Build-to-rent won't inevitably drive rents up
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.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
September 18, 2025 at 7:19 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
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...
Just 27% of retrofits completed under flagship government decarbonisation scheme
An £800m government scheme to decarbonise social homes has underperformed with less than a third of targeted retrofits completed, Inside Housing can reveal.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
September 17, 2025 at 7:47 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
Definitely a contender for best list of Alternative Names on a Wikipedia page
September 11, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by James Riding
john-self.bsky.social
“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:
Ian McEwan is back — and he’s had fun with his strangest book yet
The acclaimed writer’s latest novel, What We Can Know, is a literary hotpot of poetry, social history, dementia and murder
www.thetimes.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:05 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
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
September 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
jamesriding.bsky.social
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
August 23, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Reposted by James Riding
jessmccabe.bsky.social
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...
A modular factory where one in three staff are prisoners on day release
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...
www.insidehousing.co.uk
August 12, 2025 at 8:16 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
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...
Skyscrapers and social housing: inside Manchester’s extraordinary housing transformation
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
www.insidehousing.co.uk
August 7, 2025 at 8:47 AM
jamesriding.bsky.social
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...
How to deal with a midlife crisis — get in a car and keep driving
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
www.thetimes.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Reposted by James Riding
matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social
Loving this month's cover @insidehousing.bsky.social!
July 23, 2025 at 9:26 AM