We love a bold new policy idea at Inside Housing. So my ears pricked up when I heard the Centre for London think thank is proposing a new council-led housing tenure called "municipal build-to-rent". How radical is it and would it work? Here's my analysis living.insidehousing.co.uk/analysis/mun...

Municipal build-to-rent: could a new tenure solve the rental affordability crisis?

A new proposal aims to shift public spending from benefits to building homes for key workers. How radical is it – and would it work? James Riding investigates

living.insidehousing.co.uk

In November, a lobbying firm approached me and asked to pay me to write articles critical of the Building Safety Regulator for newspapers. Filmed undercover, their staff admitted secretly paying reporters for copy in British newspapers friendly to their clients: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Lobbying giant filmed offering reporter payment for flattering client coverage in national press

Exclusive: Guardian investigation of CT Group uncovers practice that appears to seek hidden influence over public opinion

theguardian.com

🏡 New London affordable housing targets revealed 🏡 The capital is moving to a three-tier system from 2028. Under the new London Plan, a third of boroughs will return to a target of 35% affordable housing on new developments, while the rest will move to 25% or stay at 20%.

There will always be a segment of the population that cannot afford to pay market rate for housing We are ALREADY spending vast sums to house them, increasingly via low-quality hotels, B&Bs, HMOs New council housing prevents homelessness and actually addresses the supply issue

Hugo Gye@hugogye.bsky.social · 4w ago

This week The Economist argues that council house subsidies should be abolished: www.economist.com/leaders/2026... Ditch the subsidy, pay housing benefit to those who need it, end the two-tier regime.

NEW: Heylo latest 🏡 The chair and a director of Heylo Group’s registered provider have quit 🏠 Administrators have recruited CBRE to value a third of Heylo's homes ahead of a planned sale living.insidehousing.co.uk/news/exclusi...

Exclusive: Heylo chair and director quit as administrators tap CBRE to value homes

The chair and a director of Heylo Group’s registered provider have quit, and administrators recruited CBRE to value a third of its homes ahead of a planned sale.

living.insidehousing.co.uk

”’Manchesterism’ will have been a success only once the name Manchester conjures as much bile as the mention of London“ 😆

Duncan Robinson@duncanrobinson.bsky.social · last mo.

Wrote about the ascent of the "chippy southerner" www.economist.com/britain/2026...

Nigel Farage’s housing policy is a racist misrepresentation of what social housing is and who gets it peteapps.substack.com/p/nigel-fara...

Nigel Farage’s housing policy is a racist misrepresentation of what social housing is and who gets it

In threatening to deport 'foreign nationals' who live in social housing, Farage paints a distorted picture of who lives in council housing and how it works

peteapps.substack.com

Update: Following my report last week, Get Living has launched an internal investigation into how it used the new Renters’ Rights Act to propose a 30% rent hike living.insidehousing.co.uk/news/get-liv...

Get Living launches internal investigation after using Renters’ Rights Act to propose 30% rent hike

Get Living has launched an internal investigation into how it used the new Renters’ Rights Act to propose a 30% rent hike to tenants in Stratford’s East Village.

living.insidehousing.co.uk

James Riding@jamesriding.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New: A build-to-rent landlord has used a loophole in the new Renters’ Rights Act to demand a 10% rent hike Get Living is using the legislation to treat a flatmate leaving as a new tenancy – allowing it to request a rent increase living.insidehousing.co.uk/news/reveale...

New: my investigation into Britain's affordable housing baron Giles Mackay’s personal life revolved around mansions and raucous parties Meanwhile Heylo, his housing company, is unravelling - with £52m of public money at risk A cautionary tale of residents and profit unherd.com/2026/06/the-...

The man who got rich off affordable housing

unherd.com

New: my investigation into Britain's affordable housing baron Giles Mackay’s personal life revolved around mansions and raucous parties Meanwhile Heylo, his housing company, is unravelling - with £52m of public money at risk A cautionary tale of residents and profit unherd.com/2026/06/the-...

The man who got rich off affordable housing

unherd.com

New: A build-to-rent landlord has used a loophole in the new Renters’ Rights Act to demand a 10% rent hike Get Living is using the legislation to treat a flatmate leaving as a new tenancy – allowing it to request a rent increase living.insidehousing.co.uk/news/reveale...

Revealed: build-to-rent landlord uses Renters’ Rights Act loophole to demand rent hike

Build-to-rent landlord Get Living has used a loophole in the new Renters’ Rights Act to demand a 10% rent hike, Inside Housing Living can reveal.

living.insidehousing.co.uk

Here's how the government is using AI to speed up the planning system (FREE TO READ!) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/build-gemi...

Here's how the government is using AI to speed up the planning system

These two new systems could be genuinely revolutionary

takes.jamesomalley.co.uk

Delighted to learn Claire Powell has a new novel coming out. At the Table was fantastic www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

India Knight: This funny, poignant novel is a superior beach read

In Claire Powell’s All In, a couple whose relationship is on the rocks are invited on a luxury family holiday. It’s on India Knight’s list of top summer reads

thetimes.com

I made a little cameo on the radio this morning Thanks BBC More or Less for having me back - this time to debunk the Daily Express' claim that ‘Migrants will get half of all new homes’, based on a calculation from the Conservatives www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

More or Less - Debunking the claim that migrants will get half of new homes - BBC Sounds

Tim Harford investigates migration and housing, Welsh literacy, and bond market drama.

bbc.co.uk

New: Creditors of collapsed subsidiaries of Heylo Group face fresh uncertainty over how much they might be repaid after administrators ordered an independent valuation of the companies’ homes living.insidehousing.co.uk/news/heylo-c...

Heylo creditors hold their breath as administrators order independent valuation of homes

Creditors of collapsed subsidiaries of Heylo Group face fresh uncertainty after administrators ordered an independent valuation of the companies’ homes.

living.insidehousing.co.uk

Good to see news of the Heylo administrations has been picked up by The Guardian following our scoop back in March: www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

More than £52m reserved for social housing at risk after collapse of investment firms

Exclusive: 3,500 social homes could switch to private sector after companies run by Heylo Housing group go into administration

theguardian.com

James Riding@jamesriding.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Exclusive: Four subsidiaries of BlackRock-backed shared ownership specialist Heylo Housing Group have entered administration Around a third of Heylo’s 10,500 homes are affected and are expected to be sold to another registered provider living.insidehousing.co.uk/news/exclusi...

Pleased to co-author this piece exploring the potential positive impact the changes to the NPPF could have on the Living sector (BTR, PBSA, Coliving). With some caveats, considerations and the need for commitment!

Why the new NPPF could have a profoundly positive impact on the living sector

A ‘permanent presumption’ in favour of suitably located development has potentially far-reaching implications for housing delivery, write Joe Sarling and Anthony Aitken at Colliers

living.insidehousing.co.uk

We have just introduced our Social Housing Bill to Parliament. At its heart are comprehensive reforms to the Right to Buy including exempting newly built social housing for 35 years. The Bill also increases protections for social tenants who are victims of domestic abuse.

Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Jenson Huang, Larry Fink, David Solomon, Stephen Schwarzman all on Airforce One with Trump flying to Beijing. And Brett Ratner (director of Melania the movie).

Now we really are in Act 5 of New Labour (as @ppfideas.bsky.social puts it) With Gordon Brown back in government, here’s Andrew Rawnsley’s take on his time in office to date

My new review for The Times: Siân Hughes follows up her Booker-longlisted Pearl with a gritty black comedy about violent fathers, missing sisters and dry cleaning. But can it escape the taint of disappointment? Link to read below 👇

The Renters' Rights Act comes into force today. I think it may be the first time millions of people feel the "change" they were promised by this government. I've also been thinking about why the backlash against the legislation has got so venomous in the last few months.

This is why it's important authors read a lot, Murakami has no idea this has been done already

New: What went wrong at Heylo? My full analysis is live on Inside Housing Living now 🏡 Why did the Heylo subsidiaries get into trouble? 🏡 Who are the noteholders behind the subsidiaries? 🏡 What might happen next to the 3,400 affected homes? living.insidehousing.co.uk/analysis/wha...

What went wrong at Heylo?

Four subsidiaries of the shared ownership specialist entered administration last month. James Riding explores why the defaults happened and what might be next.

living.insidehousing.co.uk

James Cleverly says he is being evicted, and blames the new Renters’ Rights Act >> www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/shadow-...

Shadow housing secretary blames Renters’ Rights Act for eviction notice

Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly has been given notice to quit his private rented home because of the Renters’ Rights Act, he told a conference today.

insidehousing.co.uk

I am very much saddened to report that my friend, @nearlylegal.co.uk passed away this weekend. nearlylegal.co.uk/2026/04/gile...

Rents staying flat very much suggests that any worries about a mass exodus of landlords in advance of the Renter's Rights Act coming in next month were unfounded.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 4mo ago

Private rents in Great Britain stop rising for first time since 2017

Props to @jessmccabe.bsky.social for the scoop that led to this

Kevin Schofield@kevinschofied.bsky.social · 4mo ago

BREAKING: Nigel Farage announces Simon Dudley has been sacked over his comments about the Grenfell tragedy. www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/reform...

Thanks to the i for picking up my interview with Reform’s housing spokesperson >> inews.co.uk/news/grenfel...

Grenfell was tragic 'but everyone dies in the end', says Reform's new housing chief

Reform UK's Simon Dudley suggested post-Grenfell safety rules have gone too far

inews.co.uk

In today’s Sunday Times I review Lazar, the English language debut from Swiss wunderkind Nelio Biedermann. Hungarian aristocrats, edgy sex and shades of magical realism abound www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

The 22-year-old wunderkind whose aristocratic family inspired a novel

In Lazar, the debut novelist Nelio Biedermann chronicles the vicissitudes of 20th-century Hungary through the fate of a single family

thetimes.com