Paul joined an expert panel of housing specialists at the Barbican on Friday 26 January 2024 to present ideas for a ‘New Manifesto for Public Housing’, curated by the Architecture Foundation as part of their Architecture on Stage programme.
Paul’s provocation argued for the need for the next government to establish a dedicated Minister for Public Housing. This would ensure a focus is placed on the design, funding, and delivery of social and genuinely affordable housing. After 50 years of neglect it is time for a mission based ‘Ministry of Public Housing’ that focuses on quality, dignity, and management of housing that is vital for health, well-being, life chances and environment improvements. For too long public housing has been a political football which has been overlooked and underfunded. In the 105 years since the Addison Act in 1919 the UK has never had a dedicated Minister for Public Housing. This needs to change!
Introduced and chaired by Claire Bennie from Municipal, the panelists included Pooja Agrawal (Public Practice), Russell Curtis (RCKA), Mellis Haward (Archio), Joseph Henry (Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design), Adam Khan (Adam Khan architects), Annalie Riches (Mikhail Riches Architects), Osama Shoush (Southwark Council) Astrid Smitham (Apparata) and Dame Kate Macintosh.
Over 1250 people attended interested in hearing how the country can build better and more council housing.