January 30, 2023

Housing: Haven’t you got homes to go to?

38 minutes

How the housing dream was betrayed, and how to fix it. Council houses fit for the wartime generation gave way to a “home-owning democracy”, but we priced the young out of home ownership and refused to build the properties they need. How did Britain screw up housing so badly?

From prefabs to Poulson to Thatcher’s Right to Buy and NIMBYism, Ros Taylor finds out how Britain’s approach to housing went so very wrong. Along the way, Neil Kinnock remembers the cockroaches that infested his childhood home and what it meant to finally be treated with dignity. And Ros discovers what could be the future of housing.

“Through benefits, taxpayers are paying the mortgages of hundreds of thousands of private landlords who can jack up rent at will.” – Ros Taylor

“The revenue from Right To Buy went to the Treasury, not towards building new houses. It made about £47bn from Right To Buy.” – Jules Birch

“My mother would say, Come in Neil, your dinner’s on the table and it’s getting dirty.” – Neil Kinnock

“Council housing was irredeemably tainted by what happened in the 60s and 70s.” – Lynsey Hanley

“The average Englishman and Englishwoman dreams of his or her own home and garden.” – Mass Observation

“Council housing was no longer something to aspire to… it was now a place of last resort.” – Ros Taylor

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Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Jade Bailey. Voiceovers by Imogen Robertson. Original music by Dubstar. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Jam Tomorrow is a Podmasters production.

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