UK housing crisis

My exclusive report about the plight faced by the residents of 2-30a Reginald Road (aka Reginald House), a block of flats next to the former site of the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, in south east London. Although the flats are structurally sound, the block faces demolition as part of a housing ‘regeneration’ project that is already underway on the former site of the garden, the former Tidemill primary school and its grounds, and residents — secure tenants, leaseholders and temporary tenants — all have problems with how they are being treated by the council regarding being moved out and being rehoused.

Marking the 5th anniversary, today, of the Grenfell Tower fire, on June 14, 2017, when 72 people died, in a disaster that should never have happened, but that came to pass because everyone responsible prioritised cost-cutting and profits over the safety of residents. I also discuss how the insanely flammable cladding, which was the primary cause of the disaster, was also used on hundreds of other buildings, both public and private, and discuss how, in the shameful deregulated world of housing safety, much of it is still in place, still endangering lives, and leaving everyone involved – whether leaseholders or tenants – trapped in homes that are both worthless and unsafe.

My review of Hat Vickers’ documentary film ‘The Battle for Deptford’, now available for free on YouTube, which focuses on community activism and the long struggle to save the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden and Reginald House, a block of structurally sound council flats, from destruction for a housing project in Deptford, in south east London.

A fundraiser marking ten years of my photo-journalism project ‘The State of London’, and marking five years since I began posting a photo a day from the project, plus accompanying essays, on Facebook. This is an entirely reader-funded project, so any help you can provide will be very gratefully received.

Publicising the new documentary film, ‘The Battle for Deptford’, directed by Hat Vickers, about the struggle to save the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden and Reginald House from destruction for an inappropriate housing development, which culminated in a two-month occupation of the garden that I was involved in, followed by its violent eviction by bailiffs hired by Lewisham Council.

The latest quarterly fundraiser for my ongoing, reader-supported photo-journalism project ‘The State of London’, for which I have no institutional backing whatsoever. Every day I cycle in London taking photos, choose a photo to post, research it and write about it, share it on social media, and interact with my supporters. It’s a labour of love, but if you can make a donation to support it that will be very much appreciated.

Celebrating 1,700 days since I first began posting photos of London, with accompanying essays, on ‘The State of London’ Facebook page, which I established in May 2017, on the fifth anniversary of when I first started cycling around London’s 120 postcodes taking photos, and which recently reached 5,000 followers.

Marking 1,600 days since I began posting a photo a day, with an accompanying essay, on my Facebook page ‘The State of London’, drawn from my daily bike rides though London’s 120 postcodes, which I began in 2012. I also extend my thanks to the nearly 6,000 people following the project on social media.

The latest fundraiser for my photo-journalism project ‘The State of London’, a labour of love for which I have no institutional backing whatsoever, and rely on your support to enable me to keep cycling, taking photos and posting a photo a day, with accompanying essays, on social media.

I remember the 72 people who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire exactly four years ago, through profiteering and cost-cutting on the part of those responsible for their safety, and I also look at how, since then, the cladding scandal that became so apparent at Grenfell now involves millions of people in unsafe tower blocks across the country, many of them leaseholders, who bought their homes in good faith, but now find themselves in unsafe and worthless properties, abandoned by the government and the developers of their homes, and facing bills of up to £100,000 to remove the dangerous cladding that was installed through no fault of their own.