Infrastructure conversations
creating change
The Infrastructure Podcast is powered by Antony Oliver Consulting
A series of conversations with some of the key leaders and influencers from across the UK infrastructure sector, produced and hosted by journalist and commentator Antony Oliver.
Latest episode
The Infrastructure Podcast: Episode 90
Guest: Jez Sweetland, founder of the Housing Festival
New homes in new ways
It's a powerful episode this week as we talk about housing and in particular what can be done to accelerate construction of the vital homes that are needed to support our society across the UK.
The need for housing – in particular affordable housing - has become one of THE most pressing social issues of our time. The current New Homes in New Ways project being hosted at the Building Centre in London makes that point abundantly clear – too many people are still living in temporary or substandard accommodation and it’s something that, for a developed nation like the UK, is simply unacceptable.
Yet despite widespread acknowledgment of the problem, progress towards change has been slow, and systemic barriers continue to stall meaningful solutions. The Government’s new target of building 1.5 million new homes in the next five years is ambitious and welcome, but it still raises fundamental questions about feasibility, funding, and strategic planning.
So what to do? My guest today is Jez Sweetland, founder of the Housing Festival think-tank and a passionate advocate for changing the way we deliver housing in the UK.
As he pointed out very powerfully in his opening address to the launch of the New Homes in New Ways, the fact that one in nine children is homeless in the London Borough of Newham is something that should cause us an industry and as a society to bow our heads with shame.
Because building affordable homes is doable – YES it requires financial resources and land and YES, it needs innovative thinking, new materials, new techniques and effective collaboration across the huge number of stakeholders that make housing possible.
But all of this is available and possible – so why is it so difficult - let’s hear more.
Resources
Housing Festival
Building Centre New Homes in New Ways Exhibition
Jez Sweetland Launch Speech for New Homes in New Ways
Playbook - Social Rent Housing at Pace - The MMC Playbook
Hope Rise – Innovation In Practice
Register Interest for Summit - On Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th February we will host a two-day summit, bringing together local authorities, housing commissioners and the MMC housing supply ecosystem, to mobilise the delivery of social rent homes on small sites. Tickets available soon!
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The power behind The Infrastructure Podcast
Antony Oliver Consulting
Editorial consultancy services for the infrastructure sector
Antony works with a range of clients across the infrastructure sector, helping to boost their communication and marketing strategies and delivery so as to stimulate discussion and action in the industry.
This work includes:
- editorial support and creation
- event organisation, preparation and delivery
- round table discussion hosting and workshop/team facilitation
- video and podcasting
He has spent the last 30 years working as a journalist and editor across the infrastructure sector. Having joined New Civil Engineer magazine in 1994, he edited the title for 14 years until 2013, expanding NCE from a traditional paper magazine to deliver live events and conferences and then embrace the expanding world of multi-media digital delivery.
In 2014 he left NCE to create and launch Infrastructure Intelligence, a new digital-first publication for the sector, and for two years led and developed this ground-breaking media brand for the Association for Engineering and Consultancy.
He is a chartered civil engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, having started his career with Owen Williams and Partners and Balfour Beatty. He is committed to driving change across the UK infrastructure sector and is a Trustee of the Built Environment Trust and a Director of the Building Centre in Store Street, London.
antony@antonyoliver.com
The next episode of
The Infrastructure Podcast will be published on Monday 25th November.
