Housing hits the headlines

The publication of the housing strategy has led to some interesting headlines over the weekend, which I thought I’d share below. Notwithstanding the complexity of the issues around housing in this country, it’s interesting to see how different media treat the same information.  The Guardian played it straight on Friday with a piece setting out plans to use brownfield sites to [...]

Why words matter in Pedants’ Corner

I was driving home from Pembrokeshire yesterday, with Radio 5 Live’s Richard Bacon inviting listeners to ‘moan in’ about the little things that drive them to distraction. Apart from the fact that all the callers were blokes, it was interesting to hear the range of minor matters that would wind them up – from the [...]

Links I like 11.08.01

The Road Map to Ethical Housing and Economic Recovery Lies in a Public House Building Programme – Huffington Post Not the most catchy headline, but Eoin Barry makes the case for house building as a driver of prosperity and economic growth as well as a route out of the housing crisis. He writes: “The Home Builders [...]

Housing could hold the key to Big Society comms challenge

I’ve blogged before about suggestions that the Big Society is failing to cut through public confusion and apathy. Surveys have revealed that most people do not understand it, leaving those responsible for delivering the vision with a major challenge. So it’s with interest that I started reading The report of the Commission on Big Society, published this month, which [...]

Totnes tale brings home benefits of affordable housing

Since joining the HCA, I have become less involved in developing human stories which can demonstrate the positive impact that affordable housing has than I have been in the past. This is mainly because although we directly fund the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes, they are build and managed by organisations that have the direct links with tenants and first time buyers who benefit from [...]

Affordable homes blend into Exmoor beauty

I visited a site today in one of the most beautiful villages I have ever been to, where the HCA is supporting the construction of new affordable housing. Wheddon Cross in Exmoor is one of those picturesque villages most people would dream of living. Situated on top of the rolling hills of Exmoor National Park, with a [...]

Four things taken from Torquay this year

The Chartered Institute of Housing’s South West conference in Torquay seems to have been a success this year, in spite of the cutbacks that have hit sponsorship budgets and delegate numbers and made events like this much more difficult to put on. The CIH is a key partner for the HCA and this is a really important event [...]

Good PR needs more than ‘great stories’

I’ve been working on an announcement for at least a couple of months, which has only seen the light of day today. It relates to the HCA’s decision to invest £16.6m in the delivery of 300 affordable homes and infrastructure at Cranbrook, a proposed new town near Exeter.

Funding news underlines local comms challenges

This week’s announcement that the HCA is investing almost £2.5m in a vital estate regeneration project in Devon was particularly satisfying for me. The Forches estate in Barnstaple in not at the front of many people’s minds when they think about the lifestyle that Devon offers. But the area poses some very real issues of substandard housing, deprivation and unemployment which exist in pockets across [...]

‘Stunning’ image shows eco-scheme in vivid detail

This new computer-generated image reveals in striking detail Sovereign South+West’s flagship environmentally sustainable housing development, which is currently being developed in Torbay. It reveals for the first time how the homes in Beechfield Avenue, Torquay, are expected to look when complete. The new project will be the first in Torbay to be built to Levels [...]