ABOUT US
Better housing, together
We’re YIMBYs: we believe that everyone deserves a high quality, safe and affordable place to live. That means we want to see better places and more homes built with the support of local communities. YIMBY stands for “Yes in my back yard”: we support more high-quality homes near us.
YIMBY Alliance is an alliance of campaigns working to end the housing crisis. Check out our local groups as well as some great National campaigns!
OUR TEAM
KANE EMERSON
YIMBY ALLIANCE TEAM
Head of Housing Research at YIMBY Alliance
Kane Emerson is head of housing research at YIMBY Alliance. As a political activist and organiser, Kane has heard about poor housing conditions and overcrowding on hundreds of doorsteps across the country.
Kane co-wrote the UK Day One report proposing Tempsford New Town, which received wide national media coverage. He is co-author of the joint YIMBY Alliance and Tony Blair Institute report, The Urgent Need to Build More Homes, and the UK Day One report Fast Wins on Planning for Housing.
Kane is also a school governor, chair of his estate’s residents’ association and treasurer of the Labour Party Irish Society.
JAMES GRADEL
YIMBY ALLIANCE TEAM
Policy and Campaigns Officer at YIMBY Alliance
James is the Policy and Campaigns Officer at YIMBY Alliance. He works on policy research, political strategy and communications.
James studied International Relations with French at the University of Birmingham, where he wrote a dissertation analysing the political speeches of New Labour.
As part of his degree, James also spent a year studying in France at Sciences Po in Lyon.
ANYA MARTIN
YIMBY ALLIANCE TEAM
Policy Lead at YIMBY Alliance
Anya is Policy Lead at YIMBY Alliance. She was previously director at PricedOut and has a background in research and data analysis in a number of sectors including housing associations, charities, and financial regulation. She is interested in how we can make the best evidence and policy design on housing affordability from around the world accessible to and implementable by policymakers.
JOHN MYERS
YIMBY ALLIANCE TEAM
Director at YIMBY Alliance
John Myers is Director of YIMBY Alliance. Inspired by the grassroots movement for affordable housing in the US, John brought together a team to work with communities on sustainable ways to end the housing crisis.
John is co-author of the joint YIMBY Alliance and Tony Blair Institute Report, The Urgent Need to Build More Homes.
In his spare time, John is a trustee of the London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies. John trained as a lawyer.
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News
YIMBY wins around the world
With a new Government that is extremely focused on building more homes, it seems a good time to revive our regular update on YIMBY successes around the world, from New Zealand to California. ADUs Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are small, normally single storey, homes...
Fast wins for more homes: how Labour can champion infill development
Kane Emerson writing in Red Brick Blog The housing crisis remains one of the most pressing issues facing Britain today. With homebuilding at crisis levels, numbers of households in temporary accommodation rising, and young people struggling to get on the property...
The promise of New Towns
Kane Emerson writing in Red Brick Blog A new generation of New Towns – tree-lined and with character rooted in local history! Angela Rayner outlined Labour’s ambitions at a UK housing conference in Leeds yesterday. The announcement adds more detail to the...
The Power of Proactive Estate Renewal
This piece was first published in the Fabian member policy group report "Homes for London" Introduction The Labour Party has a proud history of building council homes. A century ago, during Labour’s first Government under Ramsay MacDonald, housing defined Labour’s...
Mansards on the up
By Alfie Robinson What is a mansard? A mansard takes a normal roof, and stretches it upwards to create liveable space. Where a normal roof has little more than trusses, cobwebs, and perhaps some insulation, a mansard tucks away bedrooms, bathrooms and living rooms....
East-West Rail: new New Towns
‘Then, as the millennium was dawning, a miracle happened. The government returned every penny that I had paid in taxes over the previous 40 years. So for four decades I had lived tax free – and I had not dodged the taxman! How was this possible? I ‘confessed’ in...
Going denser: density and the climate
Britain faces a severe housing crisis in our major cities. From London to Edinburgh, a lack of new homes have driven up rents and house prices to extreme levels. This not only causes immense damage to the environment, human welfare, jobs, growth and public services,...
Where have Camden’s children gone?
Since 2017, children have been disappearing from Camden’s schools. Rolls are down and 52 classes have been removed in primary schools alone. The dwindling pupil numbers have hit school finances, and the Council has been struggling to fill the gap. State schools in...
Yet another summer of overcrowding for families
A childhood summer is the highlight of many of our lives. But it is not so for the hundred of thousands of kids living in overcrowded houses for whom a school day is a welcome break. Across Britain, a harsh reality is hidden quietly behind closed doors: the...