The biggest item of note in Andy Burnham’s recent devolution speech was his commitment to ‘the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period’. It is estimated such construction will cost the taxpayer up to £13bn a year. This is merely the tip of the iceberg, however. Research released by the Centre for Policy Studies shows the state is already implicitly subsidising social housing rent to the tune of £43bn every year and paying out £36bn in housing benefi

Every Thursday, I embark on a cross-London journey from South West to North West London, for a jazz choir that I love being a part of. All members are older than me, with the second youngest member of the group being our thirty-something Musical Director, a music teacher at a special needs primary school. Being the choir baby has its perks, but London’s youth at large are restless. We make up 53% of London, but London doesn’t work for us . Radical political change is unavoid

A few months ago, I published part one of this article , when Spain’s housing reforms were still nascent. I am glad now to see that, fulfilling previous promises, the Spanish PM has honoured his word and taken substantial steps towards implementing public housing policies. From making the purchase of houses for non-residents more difficult, to facilitating young people’s renting and buying of residences, and unifying countrywide and regional initiatives, much has been done re

Housing prices in Europe have increased exponentially in recent years. According to Eurostat data , prices and rents have respectively...