In this episode of Stonewater’s On the Air podcast, host Paula Palmer explores who social housing is really for in today’s pressured housing landscape. Holly Edwards, Stonewater’s Customer Experience Director, explains how lettings and allocations work, why fairness is so difficult to achieve, and how shortages shape both decision‑making and community sustainability.

Tim Brown from De Montfort University offers a policy and historical lens, discussing the ongoing challenge of fairness for vulnerable applicants and what the UK can — cautiously — learn from European systems.

Mark Kent, Deputy CEO at Local Space, provides insight from the frontline, describing councils operating in “permanent emergency mode,” the rise in temporary accommodation, and how intermediate rent has become a safety valve for a system under strain. 

Journalist Peter Apps rounds out the conversation with reflections on the long-term impact of needs‑based lettings, the misconceptions driving public debate, and the importance of reframing social housing as a mainstream public service rather than a last‑resort option.