Crash Course With Michael Walker

Throughout this series we've been clear that to solve our rental crisis we'll need a lot more council homes. But what's it like to be responsible for building them, and how can councils build more homes in a time of austerity. To answer that question I spoke to my good friend Councillor Aydin Dikerdem, who is the cabinet member for housing in the London borough of Wandsworth.

Editing & Production: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

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Continuing on the theme of solutions to the housing crisis I interviewed economist Shreya Nanda about the Georgists and the YIMBYs.

Georgists follow the ideas of the 19th century thinker and reformer Henry George and support a land value tax. YIMBYs (which stands for Yes In My Backyard) think the way to get out of the housing crisis is to build, build, build! Shreya classes herself as both a Georgist & a YIMBY, which made this a very fruitful conversation.

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Duncan Weldon is an economist, author, and all round excellent communicator. He appeared on an earlier episode about London's crazy post-pandemic rents, but I also sat him down for a conversation about the politics and economics of the housing market more generally. We discussed how house prices got so high, whether more supply would solve the rental crisis, the politics of the YIMBY movement & what to make of Michael Gove.

To support the podcast and access all episodes in this series - and all future ones - sign up at patreon.com/crashcoursepod

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

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Vienna is consistently ranked as the city with the highest standard of living in the world and - not coincidentally - 60% of the Viennese live in social housing. To discover the secret of Vienna's housing success I spoke to the broadcaster Kirsty Lang who wrote a brilliant piece on Vienna in the FT last December.

To listen to the full episode - and the rest of the series - subscribe for as little as £3 a month at patreon.com/crashcoursepod

Scripting & Hosting: Michael Walker

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

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Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen", Peter Apps explains in precise detail the decisions - made both by businesses and government - that allowed it to happen. 

I felt very privileged to interview Peter on what is a really well researched and thought provoking book which, as well as being absolutely damning of our political class, gives a moving account of the human cost of the Grenfell tragedy. 

Editing & Production: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

To support the podcast and access all episodes, sign up at patreon.com/crashcoursepod

Peter's book is available to purchase here: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/show-me-the-bodies-2/

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Do private landlords play any useful social function?

Should they be able to do whatever they want with their properties?

And is it morally okay for a landlord without any increased costs to hike their tenants' rent?

Greg Tsuman is President of the National Association of Residential Letting Agents and a landlord of three properties. We didn't agree on much, but I'm grateful he was up for taking part in what became a pretty lively debate!

(Apologies the sound quality wasn't amazing on this call, but hopefully the tension makes it worth it...)

Presenting & Scripting: Michael Walker

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

To listen to the full episode sign up for as little as £3 a month at patreon.com/crashcoursepod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The rental crisis means tenants are paying ever higher proportions of their incomes to landlords, and I for one am not too pleased about paying for someone else's mortgage just because I can't afford a home of my own. So what is the moral status of landlordism? And how bad are landlords in Britain? I spoke to a landlord, and two people who's job it is to take them on.

Featuring:

• Alasdair Mcclenahan, Justice for Tenants
• Nikita Quarshie, Shelter
• Greg Tsuman, President-Elect ARLA Propertymark

Script & Hosting: Michael Walker

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

To support this podcast and access all episodes visit patreon.com/crashcoursepod

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In her excellent book "Big Capital", Anna Minton explains how the influence of international finance has intensified the housing crisis in London, including by setting the scene for the displacement of thousands of families via estate demolitions. I was lucky enough to sit down with her for a discussion of the ideas in that book, and I think this became a really clear and expansive treatment of hyper-gentrification.

Hosting & Scripting: Michael Walker

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

To listen to the full episode become a patron at www.patreon.com/crashcoursepod

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For decades renters in London have been forced to pay extortionate prices for insecure homes. But in 2022 the situation got dramatically worse. In this episode you'll hear from a flat hunter about the current nightmare that is looking for a place in live in the capital, and to an estate agent and an economist who explain how we got here.

Featuring:

• Ana Oppenheim
• Joshua Helliwell
• Duncan Weldon

Script & Hosting: Michael Walker

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

To support the show and access extra content, sign up at patreon.com/crashcoursepod

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John Boughton is the author of Municipal Dreams: The Rise and Fall of Council Housing. In this interview we were able to go into much more detail than we managed to fit into the first episode of Crash Course.

Themes included...

• The development of council housing before WW2
• The shift from council housing being aspirational to being demonised
• The original popularity of Right to Buy

To listen to the full interview sign up as a patron for as little as £3 a month.

https://www.patreon.com/crashcoursepod

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