36 Little Clarendon St
Oxford OX1 2HU
UK
“As a student in the 1980s I paid £9 a week in rent. I was given a mortgage by a building society to buy a family home in the 1990s despite having a temporary low paid job and being in my twenties. I could write a few books, including on housing, because I had the security to do so, and I could start a family without worrying. There are reasons why such things are not possible now. And there are ways in which we can make them possible again.”
On Nov 27th November at 7:30pm, Danny Dorling, professor of geography at the University of Oxford, will be talking to us about why it is not just a coincidence that the UK is so bad at housing people, whilst sharing lessons from across Europe – as well as from the UK’s own past – as to how we can house ourselves better and why it matters that we do so.
Danny will be joined by campaigners and activists who are already beginning the job of designing a new, fairer and community-led housing system.
Ella Hancock, Senior Best Practice Officer at Crisis UK is conducting research exploring affordable cohousing for young people.
Sarah Ernst is an architect working with the Rural Urban Synthesis Society (RUSS), a forward-thinking Community Land Trust to deliver up to 33 self-build homes in Ladywell, Lewisham. Alongside this she is working with Lewisham Homes (an ALMO) on a pilot project to refurbish three sheltered housing schemes.
This is the first event in the Housing Matters series, taking place at Open House, a public talking shop on housing and homelessness.