Once again the Housing Committee enjoyed an excellent seminar at Eland House, now home to the Department for Communities and Local Government.  We were welcomed by Shona Dunn the Deputy Director of Sustainable Buildings.  The morning session was chaired by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who had just been made a member of the Shadow Cabinet.  NCW first met Sayeeda when she came to speak to the Affiliates at Danbury Street.  

Our first speaker was Dr Oliver Hartwich from Policy Exchange. It was his talk on planning that inspired our last year’s resolution on the Green Belt. He emphasised our problems:  our houses are the smallest, the dearest and poorest quality in Europe. He was followed by Steven Daniels, Head of the HIP (Home Information Pack) Policy Team. There was an Alice in Wonderland quality to
his presentation, as the very next day there was an announcement to say that they would not be introduced as planned.

Sarah Wigglesworth, an architect was our next speaker.  Ardent viewers of Grand Designs will recognise her as the co-architect of one of the

houses featured in the programme. She and her partner have built an innovative house and office on a plot near Kings Cross station using materials such as straw bales and sand bags.    

Mike Kirk from Livesmart at Home, gave us a fascinating talk on the proposed IKEA Homes in Gateshead. He began by saying that he had heard all the jokes such as, the size of the Allen Key and the disposal of the cardboard boxes. He stressed the very high quality of these houses and apartments. 

The afternoon ended with a really inspiring presentation by Sue Eely.   A farmer’s wife, she found a new role during the Foot and Mouth outbreak. She became involved in an organisation, the ARC Addington Fund, which was set up to provide housing for rural workers who had lost their homes during the outbreak.  It continues its work to find affordable housing for rural workers.
 

A full report is available.