The Housing Podcast The Housing Podcast

Grenfell five years on - Could it happen again? by The Housing Podcast

Over the past year the issue of disrepair in social housing properties has risen in prominence to become one of the country’s key social issues. This has been brought to light by the long-term ITV News investigation which has featured cases where residents have been living in appalling conditions.

These case studies have painted a picture where tenants have been ignored by their landlords for months and sometimes years.

This has been matched by a huge uptake in disrepair claims facing social landlords. In this episode of the Housing Podcast, Inside Housing’s Jack Simpson and Grainne Cuffe ask: what is behind the rising number of disrepair claims being brought against social landlords?

They are joined by:

- Kwajo Tweneboa, social housing activist
- Giles Peaker, partner at Anthony Gold and co-author of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
- Justin Bates, barrister at Landmark Chambers and co-author of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
- Dorota Pawlowski, managing associate at Trowers & Hamlins

When the Conservative Party was elected in late 2019, its manifesto included a pledge to end rough sleeping in England by 2024. No one could have predicted that the government would come close to fulfilling this promise just a few months later when it attempted to house all rough sleepers at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Everyone In initiative, as it came to be known, raised hopes that ending rough sleeping in England was within grasp. But now, almost two years after the UK entered its first lockdown, many have returned to the streets and that early pandemic optimism feels like a distant memory.

In this episode of The Housing Podcast, Inside Housing’s Jack Simpson and Lucie Heath ask: is the government on track to end rough sleeping by 2024?

They are joined by:
- Dr Lígia Teixeira, chief executive at the Centre for Homelessness Impact
- Jasmin Basran, policy and parliamentary affairs manager at Crisis
- Paul Atherton, filmmaker and homelessness campaigner