I've been writing about rent reforms for years. I was starting to think I'd never see them arrive. Fun fact: Notre-Dame cathedral burned down the same day a no-fault eviction ban was promised. It's been rebuilt and has been open for virtually 18 months in the time rent reforms have taken.

This week’s Big Issue is out today! Inside: 🌍 Earth day special 🌷 Gardening and the housing crisis 🔋 Lithium in Cornwall Read a sneak preview below, and buy a copy from your local vendor 🗞️ www.bigissue.com/behind-the...

1hr 37m🏃raised almost £800 for charity 💷 good Sunday www.justgiving.com/page/liam-ge...

EXCLUSIVE: An investigation into SWEP shows it is still largely being used for cold weather and the use of 'sit-ups' where rough sleepers are offered chairs not beds Thanks to @ourmoh.bsky.social's Matt and @jessicaturtle.bsky.social for collaborating on this www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

Still no sign of things turning around on street homelessness. 4,793 people counted on a single night last August is a new record. It's also, sadly, likely to be an underestimate. Full story: www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

"Are you Heathcliffing Cornwall?" may be one of my favourite quotes ever to use in an article www.bigissue.com/culture/film...

I'm running Liverpool Half Marathon on March 15th for a very important cause. Any support welcome. www.justgiving.com/page/liam-ge...

Important piece by @lgeraghty23.bsky.social for @bigissue.com. Whilst there was much to welcome in the long-awaited homelessness strategy, a national roll out of Housing First should have been a central component. www.bigissue.com/news/housing/housing-first-homelessness-strategy-labour/

I grew up only a few miles from Heywood. I visited recently to try and understand why people are taking it upon themselves to "police their own streets". Here's what I found www.bigissue.com/news/activis...

🚨EXC: Starmer promised to house all veterans in need. But scheme which has got 1k vets off street is in doubt 👉Veterans orgs tell me future cash is uncertain 👉Orgs warn they'd have to shut housing without funding 👉 One org listed by gov as taking referrals never got cash

Liquid drips through the walls. Black mould creeps around the windows towards my bed. I hear screaming from downstairs. Rodents sneak out of the floorboards. A strange man lets himself into my home unasked. Is this a haunted house or my first London flat? Find out: www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

Awaab's Law will change how damp and mould is treated. Big Issue joined @kwajo.bsky.social to visit a family who've faced the issue for 10 years. Read more: www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

My favourite stat about rent reforms is that Theresa May promised to ban no-fault evictions on the same day Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire. The cathedral has been rebuilt and reopened for almost a year www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

It was a privilege to interview Awaab Ishak's father Faisal Abdullah last week ahead of Awaab's Law coming into force today. Faisal and his family were horribly failed but their tireless campaigning will hopefully save many lives www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

I recently had the privilege of visiting Finland to find out just why the Finns are so happy. We distilled everything I learned down into this special edition Big Issue magazine. From homelessness and Housing First; security to sauna, there's plenty to learn. www.bigissueshop.com/product/issu...

In 2014, Hackney Council sold a property under Right to Buy for £95,050 In 2021, they bought it back off the ex-tenant for £365k In ~6 yrs, the council lost £269,950 on a single property It's not an isolated example. @bigissue.com has uncovered 100+ 'Yo-yo Homes' www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

With this week marking what would have been Thatcher's 100th, I asked the local council in Grantham why they were holding ThatcherFest in her memory. Fair play, the answer made me laugh: www.bigissue.com/culture/marg...

Asylum protests vs the local park run. @lgeraghty23.bsky.social runs the numbers for the Big Issue www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Of all the things related to immigration I have been asked to comment on, this by @lgeraghty23.bsky.social for the @bigissue.com was a strange, but fun, one. How is this even a debate? Of course Superman is an immigrant. He is the very definition of one. www.bigissue.com/culture/film...

Big Issue is coming to Cardiff – and we want to hear from YOU! 🗓 12–14 May 📍 PWSH Centre, Queen St 🕙 10am–5pm Our journalists are in town to listen, report & connect. Got a story? Drop in and chat to us; no appointments necessary. Let’s shape the news together. Cardiff, we’re all ears. 👂

How did we get from reducing rough sleeping to virtually zero at the start of the Covid lockdown to the record-breaking numbers on the streets today? I analysed the Everyone In scheme's mixed legacy, five years on buff.ly/GtgJI3J

Excellent piece in the @bigissue.com by @lgeraghty23.bsky.social on the conclusions of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK. The article begins with social security, and goes on to cover a range of recommendations on housing, wages, work, poverty reduction & measurement

🚨 LATEST FIGURES: 📊 The number of people rough sleeping in England has skyrocketed by 20% in just a year. An estimated 4,667 people were homeless on the streets on a single night in autumn 2024. 📈 The rise is the third consecutive year in which rough sleeping has increased. bit.ly/4kkuz0y

Inside Ukraine's fight against homelessness after three years of bloody war: 'Peace is hard to imagine'

Surge in renters losing their homes due to no-fault evictions ahead of ban: 'This is frightening'

Academics and campaigners have claimed a new basic income pilot in Greater Manchester could “end absolute poverty” in the city region, starting with people experiencing homelessness – if it gets the green light from mayor Andy Burnham. 🚦 Find out more. ⬇️ https://bit.ly/3EwrI4q

Finland has been held up as an international example to follow in tackling homelessness but the Scandinavian country has just reported its first rising numbers in 11 years. 📈 @lgeraghty23.bsky.social reports. ⬇️ www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

🚨 Breaking: Rough sleeping in London 'as bad as it’s been’ but Sadiq Khan warns things won't improve until 2026 www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

This week's issue is out now! 📰 Inside: 💯 We introduce our Top 100 Changemakers for 2025, celebrating people and organisations who have focused not on themselves but on the rest of society, as voted for by YOU Find out more ▶️ https://bit.ly/4h8iYzI

agdq’s crazy taxi run has a mosh pit

I visited Glasgow's new safer drugs consumption facility, The Thistle, ahead of its long awaited opening:

hello 👋 looking to hear from people working on any sweet photo or art projects in the areas of: social justice and activism; housing and homelessness; nature and climate change; immigration; health; human rights; other cool stuff is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com

Homeless woman reunites with couple who 'changed her life' when they gave her a bed for the night

I investigated what life is like for the factory workers across the world who are forced to toil in dangerous conditions for low pay... While your children open Christmas gifts, millions around the world are working in factories www.bigissue.com/news/employm...

This is the reality of life in temporary accommodation at Christmas: 'Where would we put a tree?'

This week’s Big Issue is out now! 📰 Inside: 👇 💬 Keir Starmer’s exclusive Christmas message 👩‍🏫 Will you guide my clay tonight? Wallace & Gromit is back 🎥 Nicola Coughlan speaks exclusively to Big Issue ahead of her Doctor Who debut on Christmas Day Find out more. ⬇️ www.bigissue.com/behind-the-s...

“It’s unimaginable that more than 350,000 will spend this winter homeless.” 🎄 Shelter estimates 354,000 people will spend the festive session homeless in England – a number that has surged by 14% in the last year alone. 📈 This figure includes 161,500 children. ⬇️ https://buff.ly/4gelAvB

The Wrong Tauros

"We are athletes. We are hungry and we have goals. I’m just one of the refugees around the world and if I can do it, many others can” Great interview from @isabellamcrae.bsky.social on the woman behind one of the year's greatest sporting achievements

Before you can tackle a problem, you must first learn the scale of the issue. That’s why it is vital that we know the facts and figures about #homelessness. Here are the numbers you need to know: www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

I had the enormous pleasure of meeting Charlotte Ritchie (Ghosts, Call the Midwife, You...) this week. She was so kind, she offered me her scarf as I was cold. She's backing @trusselluk.bsky.social and calling for change so fewer people need food banks to survive www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Just the 8.7% rise in rents in the year up to October. That's the 15th consecutive monthly rise above 8%. Rent rises are leaving wider inflation in the dust www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

DWP admits winter fuel payment cuts will plunge tens of thousands of pensioners into poverty www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Tfw you joined a gym three weeks ago

Child poverty is the big issue of our time. Every politician should be focused on ending it for good. I’m joining forces with @bigissue.bsky.social in calling for a POVERTY ZERO LAW - a statutory duty for every gov’t to set POVERTY REDUCTION TARGETS. Support here👇🙏 act.newmode.net/action/big-i...

Something #Wicked this way comes... It's the latest Big Issue, out today! @bigissue.bsky.social

Finding Bluesky a bit like Labour's election victory in the summer. Not quite sure what the benefits are in the short-term but everything's a bit more civil and maybe that's enough for now

🚨 The total number of empty and second homes not in use stands at 998,784 — which is around one in every 25 homes across the country. 🏘️ That’s according to Empty Homes’ analysis of government council tax data. 📊 @lgeraghty23.bsky.social has the story. 👇 www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

Big Issue people to follow, both colleagues and contributors. To be updated as we all slowly move over go.bsky.app/AzhztsB

NEW: Waiting times for Pension Credit claims have doubled in the space of just one month, amid fears the government can't process applications fast enough ahead of imminent cuts to winter fuel payments. By me, for the Big Issue: www.bigissue.com/news/social-...