The Housing Podcast: is immigration the cause of the housing crisis?

Is immigration the cause of the housing crisis?

The Housing Podcast team is joined by Jonathan Portes, the former chief economist at the Cabinet Office, to discuss housing minister Dominic Raab’s claim that immigration has pushed up house prices.

The episode also features an interview with senior staff at Arhag, a specialist housing association which supports new migrants. Edited by Luke Barratt.

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Right to Buy or Wrong to Buy?

London Labour assembly member Tom Copley takes on Conservative councillor John Moss to debate one of housing's most divisive policies: the Right to Buy. Edited by Luke Barratt.

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Building regulations: the paper trail

Inside Housing presents: The Paper Trail. We go over building regulation changes covering decades to see how so many tower blocks around the country ended up with dangerous cladding.

We ask: was the cladding on Grenfell Tower legal? How did the regulations change to allow combustible materials? And what warnings were missed along the way? Edited by Luke Barratt.

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Are smaller homes the solution to the housing crisis?

The Housing Podcast team is joined by architect Julia Park, head of housing research at Levitt Bernstein, and Darius Ziatabari, director and co-founder of Equinox Living, to debate whether or not building smaller is the solution to the UK’s supply crisis. Edited by Luke Barratt.

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Conference special

In a special episode of the Housing Podcast, our business reporter Luke Barratt reports from giant property festival MIPIM on the south coast of France.

Meanwhile, deputy news editor Sophie gives us the lowdown on the National Housing Federation’s finance conference in Liverpool. Edited by Luke Barratt.

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Change of plan

Theresa May has unveiled a raft of tweaks to the government’s planning policies – including an attempt to stop developers dodging affordable housing commitments. The news desk discusses the key bits with Tom Kenny, housing policy officer at the Royal Town Planning Institute. Edited by Luke Barratt.

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The council housing debt cap

Councils are restricted from borrowing money to build housing, but the chancellor has offered them £1bn of leeway.

Could that make a difference to the housing crisis?

Featuring an appearance from Elly Shepherd, head of housing and planning policy at London Councils. Edited by Luke Barratt.

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Can desktop studies improve fire safety?

This week’s housing podcast is dedicated to a controversial area of building regulations – desktop studies.

The process, which involves clearing combustible materials for use on high rises without testing them, has been sharply under the spotlight since Grenfell and the government has announced plans to tweak officially guidance to more specifically reference their use.

But are they the correct way forward? Or should they be banned altogether?

Our news team considers the debate, and also run down the other big housing headlines of the week. Edited by Luke Barratt

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David Orr / homelessness

This episode features an interview with David Orr, the outgoing chief executive of the National Housing Federation.

Also, we shed some light on Britain’s homelessness problem – and discuss what’s being done about it. Edited by Luke Barratt.

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The Regeneration Game

Haringey Council’s plans to team up with a developer for a mass regeneration programme are dead.

The Inside Housing news team discusses what that means for regeneration across the country.

Also, we ponder some comments from housing minister Dominic Raab about the green belt. Edited by Luke Barratt.

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