Bargain! Great book....

The OBR's recent report on investment has this startling chart, but not the data behind it. Do the green lines turn negative in the 1980s due to the New Towns Development Corporations paying off their debts, council house sales under the Right to Buy, or something else? obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...

This. Obsessive parochialism is the mark of the true Londoner. And real Londoners don’t just not get the tube, they don’t even live in places on the tube map. Also, the real divide is not the Thames but the Fleet: west London is basically Buckinghamshire.

What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders? A million pounds of public spending isn’t enough to count as loose change (equivalent to about 1p out of every £12,200).

@catrionariddell.bsky.social is spot on here

I feel seen

I’ve done a starter pack on economics, data, and a bit of AI. Although the picture below is male dominated it is 50/50. Do let me know of others to include and I might do a second pack go.bsky.app/R5q59tM

Another plug for @transportfornewhomes.org.uk and @transportgood.org. Both no longer posting to the other place.

Bluesky has finally - and suddenly - achieved the critical mass of interesting/smart/informed contributors needed to provide me with my preferred diet of digestible geekery. Thanks Elon!

This is beautiful. Almost manages to impose logic on the imperial system of measurements. Almost….

People seem to be asking whether there's a UK Housing starter pack, so I have made one up. Do share. And let me know if I've missed people off here (space to add another 15!) go.bsky.app/NRu8tPX

OK, it might just be the former 'legal twitter' crew moving here en bloc and reassembling, but my impression is of a serious shift of (intermittently) serious people to this place over the last few days. Including some deliberately giving up big followings. This is qualitatively new.

A real honour, if mildly terrifying, to be on The Expert Factor podcast with Paul Johnson and Hannah White - two of my wonk heroes - talking about why our housing system is such a mess. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Latest planning stats are miserable... the housebuilding downturn is getting serious. gov.uk/government/s...

www.forbes.com/sites/carlto... Sad to see them reneging on their own popular and successful policies to improve the environment, health and neighbourhoods.

Well this is depressing www.savills.co.uk/research_art...

Like everyone else on the planet, I've done a podcast - on how to build the homes we need (and how not to do it). podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

Delightful story (and actionable, if you're in the UK) of regular people creating cycling and pedestrian paths using some permitting and bureaucracy loopholes and lots of volunteer labor.

Lovely story from Laura Laker this - the amazing difference that beautiful, safe pathways can make to rural communities. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Nice piece. The importance of local government is always underplayed in our national story. And I never thought I’d see the words ‘Stockport Municipal Reform Jug’ used together.

How central heating changed everything about our homes - superb piece by a @britishacademy.bsky.social supported researcher on how architecture can overlook comfort, and the need for new imaginings for green homes of the future on.ft.com/4cp51eW

This is very well observed. On how economists aren’t always good at recognising how specialised they are

A crushed Tesla and George W Bush’s paintings: photos of the day – Thursday www.theguardian.com/news/gallery...

You may not like my housing policy-heavy content, but at least I have a cute dog. (This had better work, @columnist.bsky.social)

This is exactly what we need to be doing, right now - for greater housing + transportation affordability, regional livability, food security, wilderness preservation, energy security, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Brilliant, as always, local housing history from @municipaldreams.bsky.social

Don’t over read this morning’s news that house prices have started rising again (one months data only etc). Overall picture remains one of stagnation, with prices far too high for most people to afford - but not rising enough to spur more market supply. builtplace.com/jrf-reboot/

Why are rates of housebuilding falling? New analysis for JRF shows how we could reboot the housing industry So what is the solution? Greater support for social housing. Read more: bit.ly/3TcDKop Analysis by me, @resi_analyst.bsky.social and @rosegrayston.bsky.social

UK CMA starts a probe into 8 housebuilders in the UK:

How many homes do we need? Analysis by @financialtimes.com shows scale of the challenge. www.ft.com/content/3284...

HS2: you’ve heard so much about it over the years, but it’s useful to have an overview of the horror story in one short article www.economist.com/britain/2024...

Great first column! As planning policy promises to be a big political issue over the coming years it’s good to know you’ll be commenting regularly.

What an incredible chart www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

People who commute by bike have: - a 52% lower risk of death from heart disease - a 46% lower risk of developing heart disease - a 40% lower risk of death from cancer - a 45% lower risk of developing cancer via @brenttoderian.bsky.social (X)

Excellent. The ladder metaphor also assumes that life’s progress is continuous and only upwards - but flexibility & change (sometimes negative) are increasingly significant. If people are going to rent for longer periods, they need quality, secure and reliable options - at all affordability levels…

More Snakes Than Ladders: Steve Hilditch is spot on here, it’s time to retire the dishonest and unhelpful metaphor of ‘the housing ladder’. redbrickblog.co.uk/2024/01/more...

I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t know she had been so completely exonerated.

My piece in The New Statesman calling for Local Housing Allowance to be relinked to actual rent levels. t.co/zO0tFTd3rP

The run of Pogues albums was an extraordinary achievement. RIP Shane MacGowan. https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/30/shane-macgowan-pogues-singer-dies

Excited to talk about planning reform with a brilliant panel at tomorrow's #housingconference - no, I really am! How can the system deliver more #AffordableHousing? How can we improve Section 106? How can we build sustainable places - not just units?

Good to hear @tobylloyd.bsky.social on Newsnight calling for MORE planning to solve the housing crisis, not less. “State stepping forward”. Talks about balancing national interest with local interest.

DLUHC report net additional dwellings of 234,397 across England in 2022-23. Almost exactly the same as previous year and as expected. Majority of this was new build completions at 212,568 homes.

Yes! Do this now.

100% this! I first encountered @bengoldacre in a soggy corner of a festival giving a hilarious talk about his antics exposing pseudo science frauds - and here he is literally saving lives and the NHS millions with the same flare and brilliance. Total hero.

Genuinely good news that the Local Housing Allowance has finally been unfrozen, and linked back to the 30th percentile of local rents.

There are a lot of people who know more about housing in the UK than me Toby Lloyd knows the mostest Article www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c53d...

"In 2006, a Gallup poll found that Britain and America had the highest levels of confidence in their respective governments among G7 countries; by 2022, they had the lowest"- on.ft.com/47hXiwe Via @jemima.bsky.social

Fascinating Tom Forth piece on what the North *could* be like www.politicshome.com/thehouse/art...