Housing

Turn unused office space into housing support for the homeless
Unused office space is taking over our cities, whilst the homeless population is skyrocketing. Jim McGregor writes that it's time to put those properties to better use.

Beware the automated landlord
Tenants of the automated landlord are effectively paying two rents: one in money, the other in information for data harvesting, writes Desiree Fields

Power to the renters: Turning the tide on our broken housing system
Heather Kennedy, from the Renters Power Project, argues it’s time to reject Thatcher’s dream of a 'property-owning democracy' and build renters' power instead

The Grenfell public inquiry must listen to the residents who have been ignored for so long
Councils handed housing over to obscure, unaccountable organisations, writes Anna Minton – now we must hear the voices they silenced

Grenfell Tower residents evicted from hotel with just hours’ notice
An urgent call for support from the Radical Housing Network

In the aftermath of this disaster, we must fight to restore respect and democracy for council tenants
Glyn Robbins says it's time to put residents, not private firms, back at the centre of decision-making over their housing

After Grenfell: ending the murderous war on our protections
Under cover of 'cutting red tape', the government has been slashing safety standards. It's time for it to stop, writes Christine Berry

Why the Grenfell Tower fire means everything must change
The fire was a man-made atrocity, says Faiza Shaheen – we must redesign our economic system so it can never happen again

Reclaiming Holloway Homes
The government is closing old, inner-city jails. Rebecca Roberts looks at what happens next

Who owns our land?
Guy Shrubsole gives some tips for finding out

New Cross fights new wave of housing privatisation
Lewisham residents object to a new trend in local authority housing developments

The Divide: ‘must-watch’ documentary
Rosanna Hutchings from campaign group Renters' Rights London explains why they hosted a public screenings of this documentary

Housing is a mental health issue
Emma Snaith reports on the Focus E15 demonstration highlighting the link between a lack of decent social housing and poor mental health

Hiding homelessness: one family’s fight against ‘gatekeeping’
Izzy Koksal reports on a campaign that shows how councils are using dirty tricks to deny housing help to people in need

End of the road for social housing?
Bob Colenutt looks at the disastrous consequences of the Housing and Planning Bill, which if passed will be the most significant change in the history of social housing

Emma and Bobby face eviction despite doing nothing wrong
Emma* tells us about her experience renting in London, the impact on her child and how she plans to fight back

Living co-operatively: everyday dissent
We go beyond protesting against the Tories' housing crisis, writes Amy Corcoran – we can start to construct co-operative alternatives

Sweets’ dreams
Families on the Sweets Way housing estate have lost plenty – but have also learnt the power of collective action, says Liam Barrington-Bush

The Aylesbury estate: the latest front in the battle against social cleansing
Morgan Meaker speaks to residents and campaigners fighting the London estate's demolition

Bursting the bubble: say no to MIPIM
Andy Edwards is part of the movement challenging the world’s biggest property fair as it comes to London

Social housing not social cleansing
Communities affected by the government’s housing policies are coming together to resist them, writes Vickie Cooper

London: not for sale
As the world's biggest property compaines meet to carve up our cities we must continue to fight back, writes Christine Haigh

Saving the estate
Residents have fought off University College London’s plans to ‘redevelop’ the Carpenters Estate, reports Kevin Blowe

Homes of our own: the growing student co-operative movement
Sean Farmelo is part of a group of Birmingham students involved in setting up a new student housing co-op

Squat rot: plans to extend squatting ban
Last September squatting in residential properties was criminalised. Now there are calls to extend the ban to commercial properties. Lorna Stephenson reports

David Harvey interview: The importance of postcapitalist imagination
From housing to wages, David Harvey says examining capitalism's contradictions can point the way towards an alternative world

Giving homeless young people a voice through theatre
Edd Mustill reviews Home, a play at the National Theatre Shed

Regulating the Rigsbys: the dodgy letting agents hitting the jackpot
Dry rot? Tough. You want your deposit back? No chance. Michael Pooler looks at how anyone with a phone line can become a private letting agent

Private tenants need protection
Jeremy Corbyn MP explains why legislation is urgently needed to help tenants who find themselves at the mercy of private landlords

US: Fighting foreclosures, making the banks pay
Stephen Lerner and Saqib Bhatti report on the scale of the housing crisis facing ordinary Americans post-crash, and the growth of housing justice and bank accountability activism across the US