On Saturday 28 October, Kath Scanlon participated in a panel debate titled Housing: Reform or Revolution? The debate was hosted by the Institute of Ideas, in association with Dezeen in a festival which featured a series of events titled Battle of Ideas. As the title of the event indicates, the debate centred around big ideas, or solutions for what is called the housing crisis.
Important questions this panel addressed were about the root of the problem — is it over-speculation or cautious and risk averse market? Should we look for the cause in the collapse of public provision, the dislike of a rental sector, pressure from immigration or a refusal to provide? Is a potentially productive housing sector being dragged down by government over-regulation? Or is the real problem a political vacuum of ideas?
With regards to the last question, our Knowledge Exchange and Impact (KEI) project Emergency housing package for london seeks to address these questions in our forthcoming report due in December.
These are related reports we have published on this topic:
HEIF 5 Report – Rising to the challenge: London’s housing crisis
- LSE Press: LSE report calls for emergency housing package for young Londoners
- Inside Housing: LSE: emergency housing package for young needed
HEIF 5 Report – Accelerating housing production in London: Main findings
HIEF 5 Report – Housing in London: Addressing the supply crisis
LSE Report for Sutton Trust – Home Advantage: Housing the young employed in London
