36 Little Clarendon St
Social housing has it’s roots in the recognition of housing as a human right. However, for almost a Century now, this has been overshadowed by its use as a political football. Successive governments have used social housing to win votes, control publics, demonise groups along lines of class and race and to line their own pockets.
As the cost of renting or owning a home on the open market soars, support for the poorest citizens does not. The freeze in local housing benefit until 2020 means that the private rental market is increasingly out of reach and households are increasingly turning to the Council in need of affordable housing.
In the grip of a homelessness crisis, there is an increasing recognition in Oxford that homelessness is a housing issue. So how about housing as a human right and what is the role of social housing in Oxford today?
Join us at Open House Oxford from 19.30 – 21.00 with speakers John Boughton, Kate Wareing, Eileen Short and Shaista Aziz to explore the history of social housing, the current situation in Oxford and what the future might look like.
Our speakers
John Boughton is author of Municipal dreams, an excavation of housing histories in Britain which draws on ideas from the past to knit together fresh narratives on how building more social housing can offer a way through the current housing crisis.
Municipal Dreams was selected by The Guardian’s architecture critic Rowan Moore as one of the best books of 2018. The book explores many of the great debates on housing in the UK including housing as a human right, the role of the state, the development of estates, the role of the planner and the legacy of Right to Buy.
As Chief Executive of SOHA (South Oxford Housing Association), Kate Wareing is at the forefront of providing affordable housing in and around Oxfordshire. With a career including time spent as Director of the UK Poverty Programme at Oxfam GB, Kate has an expert knowledge of both the struggle that Oxford’s poorest citizens face in trying to make this city their home and the challenges housing providers face in building homes available for social rent.
Eileen Short is part of the Defend Council Housing Campaign which works to keep council housing under local authority control. She is a fierce advocate for the rights of social tenants.
The evening will be chaired by Shaista Aziz, labour councillor for Rose Hill and Iffley, Co-Vice Chair of the Fabien Women’s Network and Co-Founder of Intersectional Feminist Foreign Policy and the Uninvited Women Journal.
Tickets are free but you must register to attend.
You can read our accessibility guidance on our website but please do not hesitate to contact us directly if you have any specific needs or if there is anything we can do to make your visit more comfortable. As with all events at Open House we are happy to pay bus fare for anyone who needs it, please just let one of our volunteers know.