Blog

The promise of New Towns

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...

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The Power of Proactive Estate Renewal

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...

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Mansards on the up

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....

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East-West Rail: new New Towns

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...

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Going denser: density and the climate

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,...

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Where have Camden’s children gone?

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...

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Yet another summer of overcrowding for families

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...

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