Housing Justice - A Community Event

Successive governments have claimed to have a plan to solve the crisis in housing, and with small variations, it's always the same plan: change planning rules, put pressure on councils to get more houses built. But the crisis keeps growing. So is it really a supply question with progress blocked by NIMBYs?

We think there's a lot more to it that a simple question of supply and demand

We're inviting you to come along and discuss the causes of the crisis and what we can do about it, both by pushing for changes and for taking initiatives in our own communities.

Speakers will talk about the policy decisions and legal changes that have brought us to this crisis and we'll look at what we can do to solve it. We'll also be hearing about two local initiatives providing answers to housing problems in our area.

Nick Bano Nick Bano is a barrister, specialising in representing homeless people and tenants. His recent book Against Landlords: How to solve the housing crisis argues that increasing housing supply is not the solution. The UK already has an adequate number of homes, in comparative international or historical terms. Instead, decades of wrong-headed housing policy are behind the current affordability crisis. Listen to an interview with Nick

Stephen McKenna is professionally qualified as a Town Planner and is a Chartered Surveyor. He is a are not Green Party councillor and member of the Green Party housing policy working group. For Stephen, government targets and relaxation of planning rules won't solve the housing crisis. Developers often oppose including social and affordable homes, claiming they make projects unviable - meaning they can't make the profits they expect (about 5 times those of the big supermarkets).

Paul Bohan is CEO of Buxton-based organisation , which includes High Peak Food Bank. Staff and volunteers at Zink have witnessed some of the poor quality housing around Buxton and seen the impact on families. Ideas were shared, public consultations held and a feasibility study undertaken. The first stage was to find a suitable property for the decent homes and that's happened! The next is to set up a Community Interest Company to enable local people and businesses to invest in Zink Housing and help create good homes.

Paul Downing from Bradwell Community Land Trust.The CLT was started in 2020 and now manages 25 houses: 12 new builds, an existing house that was purchased with council funding for the Ukrainian refugee scheme (now occupied by a Ukrainian family, and 12 existing rental houses that were to be sold on the open market, probably as second homes or holiday lets. The conversion of homes for people living in the area into holiday lets and second homes is a problem facing our towns and villages both inside and outside the National Park.

There'll be time for questions to the speakers, and in the final part of the day a chance to get together with speakers and other participants to talk about what practical things we can do get housing justice for all.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Spring Bank Arts Centre, Spring Bank, New Mills, United Kingdom