We are pleased to announce our next Applied History event on History and the Housing Crisis to be held on the evening of 14 June 2016 at the Marx Memorial Library. The event is free to attend but booking is essential via our Eventbrite page.
We are currently in the midst of a housing crisis. House prices are on average seven times people’s incomes, and with the economic downturn repossession rates are soaring. In the private rental market rents are also soaring, especially in London, and at the same time one-third of private rented homes fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard. All the while the government continues to pursue the sale of council houses and housing association homes. Hundreds of thousands are pushed into homelessness, living in temporary accommodation or on the streets.
In this event we will ask what the historical roots to the current housing crisis are, what historical solutions have been posed, and how we might tell the history of housing politics. Did past politics of rent strikes or squatting work, and do they work in the same way today? What solutions have past local and national governments pursued to resolve housing crises, and could these be pursued again? And why is it important to remember the history of housing today? Should we look to the past to think about what the future of housing politics in Britain might look like?
Speakers:
- Dr Lisa Mckenzie – Research Fellow at LSE
- Gianmaria Givanni – Architect from Studio Givanni
- Elena Carter – Archivist, Tavistock Institute and Wellcome Library
- Paul Watt – Reader in Urban Studies at Birkbeck
This event is being led by Diarmaid Kelliher and Tank Green. It is supported by the Raphael Samuel History Centre.
Applied History Network 