Episode 5: Follow the money:

Liz Peace, former chief executive of the British Property Federation and now senior independent governor at the RICS, is this week’s guest on the Home Truths podcast.

Having focused on commercial property during her 13 years at the BPF until 2014, she has since taken up a series of high-profile roles including becoming the chair of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, overseeing the delivery of thousands of homes in west London.

In today’s podcast she talks about the many housing and planning reviews she has witnessed during her time in the property industry, and how successive governments have failed to tackle the fundamental problems in the housing market.

Jackie Sadek and Peter Bill, the podcasts’ co-hosts, ask Liz to explain her proposed financial model that would leverage private finance in order to build more homes that would be genuinely affordable.

This was the fifth and final episode of the series, all our previous episodes are available to download.

Introduced and edited by Chloe McCulloch, editorial director for Building and Housing Today. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Episode 4: Bricks and mortar, hearts and minds:

Darren Rodwell is leader of the council in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in east London. He is also standing as the Labour candidate to become MP for Barking in the 4 July general election – and is this week’s guest on the Home Truths podcast.

Born in Barking and brought up in Dagenham, Rodwell’s declared aim has been to deliver 50,000 homes in his borough by 2037 through partnerships with developers. He is credited with achieving the largest number of social or affordable housing starts in any London borough.

In today’s interview, which is released just days after the date for the snap election was announced, Rodwell explains how the council has increased housing supply via Be First, its urban regeneration arm, and Reside, which provides rental homes at 50% to 80% of market rates.

He also talks to Jackie Sadek and Peter Bill about how growing up on the Becontree Estate shaped his politics, how his model for working with the private sector helps to de-risk the construction of new homes and his nine-point proposal for housebuilding in Britain.

Episodes of Home Truths will be available every Tuesday.

Introduced and edited by Chloe McCulloch, editorial director for Building and Housing Today. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Home Truths Episode 3, Gimme Shelter:

Toby Lloyd, an independent housing policy consultant and former special adviser to No 10 Downing Street, is the guest on this week’s Home Truths podcast series.

Before working for the government, Lloyd was head of policy and then housing development at Shelter, the campaigning housing and homelessness charity.

Lloyd was a housing and regeneration policy special adviser to Theresa May for over a year until July 2019, when she was forced to resign having lost parliamentary support for her Brexit deal.

This interview, co-hosted by Jackie Sadek and Peter Bill, covers what Lloyd has learnt about effective campaigning before an election, his time close to the centre of power and why successive governments have so far failed to grapple with the complex structural problems that have led to the current housing crisis.

Episodes of Home Truths will be available every Tuesday.

Introduced and edited by Chloe McCulloch, editorial director for Building and Housing Today. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Home Truths Episode 2: In violent agreement

Jenny Daly, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey, appears in today’s episode of Building Talk’s latest series which is focused on the housing crisis and is co-hosted by Jackie Sadek and Peter Bill.

Daly started her career as a planner, before joining Harrow Estates, a subsidiary of Redrow, where she had a number of roles before becoming managing director. She joined Taylor Wimpey in 2014 as UK director of planning, then land director, progressing to group operations director and finally chief executive in April 2022, taking over from Pete Redfern.

In this interview, Daly talks about the impact of the economic cycle on private sector housebuilders’ build-out rates of new homes.

The conversation ranges from the impact of housing shortages on community tensions in her native Northern Ireland to the urgent need to improve construction skills and her desire to see a top-down, long-term vision and strategy for the planning system from the next government.

Episodes of Home Truths will be available every Tuesday.

Introduced and edited by Chloe McCulloch, editorial director for Building and Housing Today. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Home Truths Episode 1: The Swiss Army knife

Peter Freeman, chair of Homes England, is the guest in today’s first episode of Building Talk’s latest series which is focused on the housing crisis and is co-hosted by Jackie Sadek and Peter Bill.

Freeman, who has been in post over two years having been recently reappointed until 2025, is widely known in the industry as co-founder of Argent and instrumental in the redevelopment of Kings Cross. He is also chair of the Cambridge Delivery Group, announced by government in the spring budget to drive growth and provide more housing for Cambridge.

In this wide-ranging interview, the podcast’s co-hosts wanted to find out how big a contribution Homes England makes towards increasing the supply of new homes. In Freeman’s own words “despite the name, we don’t build any homes”, so what are the limits to the agency’s impact and influence and how does Freeman believe it could do more in the future?

Episodes of Home Truths will be available every Tuesday.

Introduced and edited by Chloe McCulloch, editorial director for Building and Housing Today. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

The Home Truths series is being hosted by Peter Bill and Jackie Sadek - housing experts, authors and old friends. 

With a general election round the corner, Peter and Jackie have joined up with Building Talks for a podcast series all about the housing crisis and how to fix it. 

Over five weeks they will be sharing their views and inviting guests in high places who know all about the challenges of building more homes that communities and the wider economy need to thrive.

Jackie is a government adviser-turned-housebuilder, while Peter is former housebuilder-turned-journalist. Peter is also a former Building Talks guest having appeared in our 180 anniversary special episode to talk about editing Building magazine in the 1990s.

In Jackie and Peter’s own words, they have been around the block a fair bit when it comes to housing – they’ve even written a book about it together called Broken Homes. 

That doesn’t mean they agree about all the problems or indeed some of the solutions – quite the opposite. So expect some lively debate, even some good-natured bickering between them.

The first episode of Home Truths will be available to download on Tuesday 7th May.

Introduced and edited by Chloe McCulloch, editorial director for Building and Housing Today. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Building Talks podcast.

As you may know, Building Magazine is 180 years old this year - having launched as “The Builder” back in 1843. 

In this special one-off episode, we celebrate by going back to the not-too-distant past with four previous editors of Building Magazine. From the tail-end of Thatcherism, through the Blair years, and right up to Brexit - they were covering the major the stories affecting the construction industry. 

We gathered Peter Bill, Adrian Barrick, Denise Chevin and Sarah Richardson in the studio to talk about their personal memories, the big projects, the larger-than- life characters, and the sagas that hit the front pages of Building magazine during their eras.

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: [email protected]. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s editor Chloe McCulloch. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Our guest in episode 4 of Building Talks… Creating Communities is Anna Mansfield, a director at the research-based urban design consultancy Publica.

Anna initially thought she wanted to be a fashion designer, but found her way into architecture, and from there into urban design and thinking about the city at a much larger scale. 

Like many people now working in a sector that has community, engagement and place at its heart, Anna observes how much the urban design discussion has moved on over recent years.

A key change that has occurred is the emphasis that is now put on celebrating and reinforcing the existing sense of place in every location where the built environment has an impact.

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: [email protected]. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s Ben Flatman with Chloe McCulloch, Building’s editorial director. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Our guest in episode 3 of Building Talks… Creating Communities is David Rudlin, urban design director at BDP.

David is one of the UK’s leading urban designers and planning experts. He began his career as a town planner and is a big supporter of the idea of the planner as someone who helps provide a clear strategic direction, and sets high standards for placemaking.

The belief that British cities have much to learn from looking at successful international case studies has also been an important part of David’s approach, and one of the ideas that led him to spend several years working for Urbed, an innovative urban design and research company.

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: [email protected]. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s Ben Flatman with Chloe McCulloch, Building’s editorial director. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.

Our guest in episode 2 of Building Talks… Creating Communities is Selina Mason, director of masterplanning and strategic design at Lendlease. 

Selina has been at the heart of debates around urban design and how we build better cities for the last two decades. Few people have the wide-ranging experiencing of public and private sector that she draws on to inform her approach to practice.

In her current role she is overseeing the development of the massive Smithfield masterplan in central Birmingham, but in her previous jobs, she has been director of architecture and design review at CABE, and was closely involved in the design of both the 2012 Olympics, and the delivery of the games’ legacy.

She is a huge advocate for a greater focus on people-focused urbanism, and in this podcast interview, she highlights the need for engagement and consultation.

To get in touch with the show go to: Twitter: @BuildingNews, Email: [email protected]. For more news and analysis go to www.building.co.uk.

Hosted by Building’s Ben Flatman with Chloe McCulloch, Building’s editorial director. Audio production by Tariq Aziz.