Mitsubishi Electric

Housing Association Magazine Editor Joe Bradbury takes a sneak peek at the social housing Santa list. Excitable Edgar aside, what do we want for Christmas as a sector?

It’s understandable that many are struggling to feel jolly as another year is added to the number of years of failure in housing policy. The once common concept of home ownership is now an impossible dream for many, and untold numbers of people are being pushed into homelessness.

The catastrophic decline in social housing has left millions feeling insecure in unaffordable homes they’ll never own. Unless we take action, the future of man will be a generation of young families that are, at best, trapped renting privately for their whole lives, with billions in welfare costs being paid to private landlords. Bah humbug!

Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg recently carried with her over a 15-day, 3,000-mile voyage across the Atlantic a powerful message; "our war on nature must end.” The 16-year-old sailed from Plymouth to New York on a zero-emissions yacht in order to minimise the carbon footprint of her travel and will be participating in UN climate summits in New York City and Chile.

If anything is to be learned from this, it is that the time for action is now.

Earth Overshoot Day, the day that humanity uses up its allowance of natural resources such as water, soil and clean air for the entire year, fell on the 29th July this year. This means that humanity is currently using nature 1.75 times faster than the Earth’s ecosystems can regenerate.

Taking an holistic approach to the changing seasons

Joe Bradbury of Housing Association Magazine discusses the importance of protecting tenants from the extremities of our climate.

Last week saw the hottest day on record. As Britain (and most of Europe) was steeped in sun, temperatures rose to as high as 38.1C (100.6F) in parts of the country.
Whilst most of us saw that as a chance to don a pair of shorts and sit outside, it cannot be dismissed that extreme weather in either direction can spell disaster for vulnerable people.

Whatever your stance is on Brexit, immigration compounding the housing shortage was an important motivating factor that led many people to opt out of the EU. The subsequent uncertainty has resulted in many EU nationals leaving the UK; has that made the housing crisis any better? Or was decades of chronic under investment from all political parties (sadly still prevalent today) really to blame all along? Housing Association Magazine Editor Joe Bradbury investigates…

Way back in December 2012, Prime Minister Theresa May claimed in an evocative speech that over a third of all new housing demand in Britain was as a direct result of immigration: “There is evidence that without the demand caused by mass immigration, house prices could be 10% lower over a 20-year period,” she commented.

Joe Bradbury of Housing Association magazine discusses the importance of undertaking maintenance work to your heating systems throughout the summer months.

As we near the end of Spring, we need to be thinking about how to make the most of the lighter days and warmer weather that lie ahead of us. In this article, Joe Bradbury of Housing Association magazine discusses the importance of undertaking maintenance work to your heating systems throughout the summer months and how doing so will save you time, money and heartache in the long run.

Many consider the NHS to be one of our country’s most invaluable resources, yet it has found itself under immense strain for a long time, a pressure that is only set to increase.

With growing interest in a meat-free lifestyle, Mitsubishi Electric’s Russell Jones explores the benefits of cutting down on this carbon-intensive food supply.