Lessons from German rented housing

Posted: November 12, 2013 in articles, housing
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Germany has one of the biggest private rented sectors in the developed world. Yet they seem to make it work with a set of strong rights for tenants. I did a brief profile for the Landlord Law Blog. I’m hoping to do another one or two on how other countries approach private rented housing.

“We in the UK often like to borrow our policies (good and bad) from other countries. We’ve got Elected Mayors and Academy Schools from the US, Free Schools from Sweden, and Feed-in Tariffs from Germany. What, if anything can we learn from the country with the biggest private rented housing sector in Europe, Germany?” Read the full post here.

Bikes on Film

Posted: November 12, 2013 in articles
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This is something a bit lighter I did for The Guardian as part of their Clip Joints series. The idea being to pick around five clips from films within a theme. As I’m quite into cycling I thought I’d do one on depictions of bicycles. Read it here.

California Council takes on Wall Street

Posted: November 12, 2013 in articles, housing, local government
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Here in the UK we haven’t seen as dramatic a rise in repossessions as in the US, where it is a major problem. I interviewed Gayle McLaughlin, the Mayor of Richmond, for The New Internationalist. Mayor McLaughlin and her City Council are about to start using the ‘power of eminent domain’ (similar to compulsory purchasing orders in the UK) to stop foreclosures. Read the full interview here.

 

Estate Agents boom

Posted: November 12, 2013 in articles, housing
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I’ve been very busy for the past few weeks, so I’m catching up on posts.

After the announcement that Estate Agents had seen a massive rise in employment, I set my sights on picking apart current housing policy.

“A few months ago, several news organisations announced a “JOBS BOOM” as unemployment dropped from 7.8% to 7.7%. Many of the new jobs created were in estate agents, which grew by nearly 10% in just three months. However, we should be careful of building our economy (again) on the sand castle of the housing market.” Read the full article here.

 

Rent Control 25 Years On

Posted: October 10, 2013 in articles, housing
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Rent controls were abolished in the UK under the 1988 Housing Act. This brought over 70 years of rent regulation to an end. I wrote a short post of the history of rent controls, why they were introduced, and their current place in social policy – always a contentious topic.

Read the full post here.  The comments are also very interesting as well.

Estate Agent economy – Article for Open Democracy

Posted: October 10, 2013 in articles, housing
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“A few months ago, several news organisations announced a “JOBS BOOM” as unemployment dropped from 7.8% to 7.7%. Many of the new jobs created were in estate agents, which grew by nearly 10% in just three months. However, we should be careful of building our economy (again) on the sand castle of the housing market.” Read the full article here.

Post on LGIU Housing Report

Posted: October 5, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Building on the small mountain of recent reports on improving private rented housing, the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) published its own report on how councils can take action to improve renting. I summarise it here for the Landlord Law Blog.

“Another week, another report about private rented housing! This time it’s the turn of the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), a local government think-tank, who have published a report called House Proud about how councils can help improve the private rented sector.”

Intersectionality and Mental Health

Posted: October 5, 2013 in articles
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I wrote a second essay for Open Democracy’s Structure of Patriarchy series. This time applying ideas and concepts of intersectionality to the issue of Mental Health.

“There’s a long literature on oppression, discrimination, and mental health. Yet not much on intersectionality, the study of multiple and linked oppressions/discrimination, and mental health.” Read the full article here.

Intersectionality and domestic violence

Posted: September 9, 2013 in articles
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Intersectionality can be quite a controversial subject. Basically put, it examines multiple and simultaneous discriminations and oppressions. As part of Open Democracy’s series on the structure of patriarchy I’ve written something up on the topic of domestic violence, using intersectionality to argue for a broader and varied approach without getting tied up in knots. I’m hoping to follow this up with another article on intersectionality and mental health, something which hasn’t been explored much in the media yet.

 

“Arguably, the first major legislative victory of second wave feminism in the UK was in 1976. Parliament passed the first law in the UK against domestic violence: The Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976. This granted County Courts the power to issue exclusion orders and non-molestation orders in cases of domestic violence.” Read the full article here.

Tenants’ rights and utilities

Posted: September 9, 2013 in Uncategorized
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After my post on water meters I’ve followed up with a related article on other utilities. Take a read over at the Landlord Law Blog. 

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