What is actually stopping social housing tenants from downsizing? @kathyswinds.bsky.social has done a deep dive into data from councils showing the huge gap between the numbers who say they want to move, compared to actual downsizers: www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/thou...

Thousands of social tenants want to downsize, but can’t. What’s going wrong?

An investigation by Inside Housing reveals that 10,000 households are registered to downsize their council homes, but are stuck in a convoluted system.

insidehousing.co.uk

London is the only part of the UK where the population is shrinking. What's going on? And what does it have to do with Clapham? Read @andrewkersley.bsky.social and @kathyswinds.bsky.social deep dive:

Will the last person in London turn off the lights?

How rising rents, closing schools and the unstoppable ascendancy of Clapham is pushing London’s population into decline for the first time in decades

the-londoner.co.uk

“She’s hurting herself rather than studying, because our lives are so disrupted. She deserves a safe, stable home life" Incredible grateful to the five mothers who spoke to me about how temporary accommodation is affecting their neurodivergent child www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/temp...

Temporary accommodation is even worse for neurodivergent children, but councils can do better

There may be tens of thousands of neurodivergent children in temporary accommodation. Katharine Swindells talks to families who are struggling to cope.

insidehousing.co.uk

An interesting insight here into one of the backbench Labour MPs who has been focusing on how the government's been delivering on homelessness, or in her words how government can "get our shit together" www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/paul...

Paula Barker: how Labour can ‘get our sh*t together’ on homelessness

Paula Barker spent less than a year as shadow homelessness minister. Now she’s advocating for homelessness from the back benches. Katharine Swindells meets her.

insidehousing.co.uk

"There are certain things we can’t compromise on" I chatted to Paula Barker MP, co-chair of the homelessness APPG, about tarot, the electoral threat of the right and left, and what more she wants to see from the Labour Party on housing. www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/paul...

Paula Barker: how Labour can ‘get our sh*t together’ on homelessness

Paula Barker spent less than a year as shadow homelessness minister. Now she’s advocating for homelessness from the back benches. Katharine Swindells meets her.

insidehousing.co.uk

An essential and sobering report on homicides and suicides where domestic abuse and housing come into play, based on detailed analysis of 75 domestic homicide reviews by @kathyswinds.bsky.social www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/dome...

Domestic homicide: what can housing learn when the worst happens?

Inside Housing analysed 76 domestic homicide reviews to pull out the crucial lessons for housing teams. Katharine Swindells reports.

insidehousing.co.uk

Domestic abuse is a housing issue. The cycle of abuse and homelessness is one we can and must break. Thank you to @kathyswinds.bsky.social & @insidehousing.bsky.social www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/supporting-survivors-of-domestic-abuse-must-be-core-to-our-fight-against-homelessness-94622

Supporting survivors of domestic abuse must be core to our fight against homelessness

The government has a generational opportunity to tackle the homelessness emergency and women must be at the forefront of that strategy, writes MP Paula Barker.

insidehousing.co.uk

Something a bit different from me today! Really enjoyed spending a few mornings riding South London's night buses for this piece for @londonermag.bsky.social and love any opportunity to combine narrative storytelling with data journalism www.the-londoner.co.uk/meet-londons...

Leadership 2025 was set up with the aim of boosting the numbers of ethnic minority people in housing's top jobs by this year. So what comes next? @kathyswinds.bsky.social went along to one of its board meetings to find out www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/lead...

Leadership 2025 aimed to diversify housing sector top jobs. In its target year, what comes next?

Leadership 2025 was founded to support minority ethnic senior professionals to become sector leaders. Katharine Swindells finds out what is next for the organisation.

insidehousing.co.uk

Four years ago, Croydon Council found itself leading the ITV news over disrepair at its Regina Road estate. The regulatory notice on the council has only just been lifted. My colleague @kathyswinds.bsky.social has done a great deep dive on what's happened www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/how-...

How Croydon Council got its regulatory notice lifted

Four years ago, the disrepair at Croydon’s Regina Road Estate shocked ITV viewers and led to regulatory intervention. The council has now improved services. Katharine Swindells reports.

insidehousing.co.uk

So so pleased and proud that after four long years, New Statesman and PMI have recognised the union. Massive credit to all the staff past and present who worked so hard to achieve this, especially the team who finally got it over the line www.nuj.org.uk/resource/nuj...

NUJ celebrates recognition at the New Statesman and Progressive Media Investments

The NUJ has secured recognition at the distinguished political magazine the New Statesman and the global publisher Progressive Media Investments (PMI).

nuj.org.uk

So honoured to be a finalist for the Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness, for my work on toddlers and babies living in temporary accommodation You can read my shortlisted work here www.orwellfoundation.com/homelessness...

The Orwell Prize@orwellprize.bsky.social · last yr.

“The media has the power to foster meaningful solutions.” - Dr Lígia Teixeira, Chair of Judges We're proud to announce the finalists for the 2025 Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness. Explore their work: homelessnessimpact.org/blog @homelessnessimpact.bsky.social #OrwellPrize2025

As I was sifting through the hundreds of FOI responses to update to our young children in temporary accommodation data dashboard, I spotted what looked like a mistake - one council had a 90% reduction in three months. But it wasn't a mistake. Read more here ⤵️

Inside Housing @insidehousing.bsky.social · last yr.

A new report into Peabody's Nag's Head estate found that 58% of households surveyed have had someone develop a respiratory condition since they moved in www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/london-... I dug into the case of Nag's Head for this piece last year www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-...

The estate where tenants are taking collective legal action on damp and mould

Tenants on one east London estate are teaming up to file a joint legal claim about the damp and mould in their homes. Katharine Swindells reports

insidehousing.co.uk

Nice to highlight the wins for a change. @kathyswinds.bsky.social has been smashing it with this campaign: www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/major-c...

Major councils change data collection on children in temporary accommodation after Inside Housing investigation

Several councils confirmed they changed their reporting system since Inside Housing launched its tracker on the number of children living in temporary housing.

insidehousing.co.uk

🏡 "It feels like I’m fighting fires with a cup of water" 🏙️ "I’m not able to be a friend, support worker, councillor, doctor and housing officer to every tenant" Fascinating findings from our survey of frontline social housing staff, check it out ⤵️

Inside Housing Management@ihmanagement.bsky.social · 2y ago

To launch Inside Housing Management, we surveyed over 600 frontline housing staff. We wanted to find out about the biggest issues affecting your job, your organisation and the sector more broadly. @kathyswinds.bsky.social reports on what we found management.insidehousing.co.uk/home/feature...

So excited that @ihmanagement.bsky.social has launched today - our new online publication aimed at housing officers and staff on the front line in social housing, to help them provide excellent services and develop their careers. www.insidehousingmanagement.co.uk

“Social housing should be the new Airbnb of property,” Mr Wicks says. “…And it is difficult, because social housing has probably some of the most boring people that exist in this sector, I think.” So many great details in this piece by James, give it a read!

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

Exclusive: The TikTok entrepreneur making a profit from ‘social housing’ On TikTok, Jack Wicks has been advertising high-return investments in his company Social Housing Group. Here is my report www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-...

A new report out today reveals that 80 children have died in temporary accommodation in the year to September 2023. Imagine being a parent living in a B&B room with your family, and reading that statistic

Katharine Swindells@kathyswinds.bsky.social · 2y ago

And the latest update of our tracker reveals there were 36,900 families with young children in temporary accommodation in June, up 14% yoy www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/how-...

Had fun going back and forth to the National Archives on this to help mark @insidehousing.bsky.social's 40th anniversary year. 👉Wanted to put “true cost of council housing” on a “more business-like footing” 👉Concern "left-wing activists will take over" trusts www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-...

The housing act from 1988 that shaped the sector today

Margaret Thatcher’s government spearheaded major reforms with the Housing Act 1988. Stephen Delahunty digs into the archives and speaks to two of the key players.

insidehousing.co.uk

As the homelessness numbers continue to rise, so are the numbers of people refused council help because they're ‘not vulnerable enough’. Are councils really getting stricter? And what’s it like to be one of these people turned away? Read my piece here ⤵️ www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/home...

Homeless, vulnerable, but not a priority

As local authorities struggle with the numbers of people turning to them for homelessness help, many are left to fend for themselves. Katharine Swindells investigates.

insidehousing.co.uk

Inside Housing has joined forces with Homeless Link for the Reset Homelessness campaign. This week we’ve launched with a whole week of content covering the homelessness funding crisis 🧵 a thread ⤵️ www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/rese...

Reset Homelessness: ‘The system cannot continue as it is’

Inside Housing and Homeless Link’s new campaign, Reset Homelessness, calls for a systemic review of homelessness funding in England. Jess McCabe reports.

insidehousing.co.uk

“We’ve got a phrase in medicine called ‘other people’s x-rays’. You’re looking at an x-ray and you can’t see the fracture, and someone walks past and goes, ‘There it is.’” Was brilliant to speak to Dr Neilson from @sharedhealthgm.bsky.social www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-...

The doctor-turned-campaigner for homeless children

The Shared Health Foundation’s campaign led to the government changing its guidance on providing cots in temporary accommodation. Katharine Swindells speaks to CEO Dr Laura Neilson about the next stag...

insidehousing.co.uk

The consequences of chronic underfunding of councils - and why this morning’s announcement of £1bn for homelessness is so important ⤵️

Katharine Swindells@kathyswinds.bsky.social · 2y ago

As the homelessness numbers continue to rise, so are the numbers of people refused council help because they're ‘not vulnerable enough’. Are councils really getting stricter? And what’s it like to be one of these people turned away? Read my piece here ⤵️ www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/home...

A catalogue of unlawful decisions by councils ('not yet pregnant enough', ignoring domestic abuse etc) to deny priority need for homeless applicants, in the context of huge rise in applicants and funding crisis.

Katharine Swindells@kathyswinds.bsky.social · 2y ago

As the homelessness numbers continue to rise, so are the numbers of people refused council help because they're ‘not vulnerable enough’. Are councils really getting stricter? And what’s it like to be one of these people turned away? Read my piece here ⤵️ www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/home...

As the homelessness numbers continue to rise, so are the numbers of people refused council help because they're ‘not vulnerable enough’. Are councils really getting stricter? And what’s it like to be one of these people turned away? Read my piece here ⤵️ www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/home...

Homeless, vulnerable, but not a priority

As local authorities struggle with the numbers of people turning to them for homelessness help, many are left to fend for themselves. Katharine Swindells investigates.

insidehousing.co.uk

Today @insidehousing.bsky.social and @homelesslink.bsky.social are launching a new campaign, Reset Homelessness - calling for the new government to commit to a major review of how homeless services are funded. There are some shocking numbers here, but www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/rese...

Reset Homelessness: ‘The system cannot continue as it is’

Inside Housing and Homeless Link’s new campaign, Reset Homelessness, calls for a systemic review of homelessness funding in England. Jess McCabe reports.

insidehousing.co.uk

"You all f***ing talk too much" Was fascinating working on this piece about speech and language therapy in homelessness services, and what the entire housing sector can learn about inclusive communication. Read the piece online now ⤵️ www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/home...

Homeless and with communication difficulties: how services can listen better

What can the social housing and homelessness sector learn about how to interact with people who have complex communication needs? Katharine Swindells finds out.

insidehousing.co.uk

It’s even worse knowing that Wes actually met trans kids, listened to them cry about how awful it would be to go through the wrong puberty, how this is a lifesaving treatment, and is fucking doing this anyway It’s even more heartless than shutting them out of conversations

Lee Hurley@hleehurley.com · 2y ago

BREAKING: I have seen confirmation that the indefinite puberty blocker ban for trans kids that was passed by the NI Executive yesterday will be UK-wide. It will come into effect on January 1 2025 when the temporary ban expires. It is being laid before Parliament today.