First published in Housing Today, 29/04/20 – https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/comment/how-brick-by-brick-is-adapting-to-life-under-lockdown/5105765.article. Well to put it mildly, these are challenging times for housing. No sooner had had the Gordian knot of Brexit started to unravel a little than a new international conundrum of epic proportions arrived. While everyone in the housing sector has had to rapidly adapt to this …
First published in Housing Today, 15/11/19 – https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/comment/cross-subsidy-may-be-dead-but-simply-calling-for-more-grant-is-not-the-answer-heres-what-we-should-do/5102745.article So. Farewell then, the cross-subsidy model. A perfect storm of rising costs, increased regulation and slower sales has apparently killed the goose that laid the golden egg of genuinely affordable housing for all. But did it ever exist, really? It is certainly true that social housing delivery …
First published in OnLondon 29/09/19 – https://www.onlondon.co.uk/colm-lacey-londons-borough-led-development-is-increasingly-serving-the-city-well. It’s an interesting time for reviewing the progress of local authority led development. There has been much debate about the potential of the public sector as a development actor and the emergence of a “new municipalism”. For some, this was a giant leap towards a more egalitarian and …
London’s borough-led development is serving the city well Read More »
First published in The Architects Journal, 11/07/19 – https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/brick-by-bricks-colm-lacey-therell-always-be-those-who-feel-sites-shouldnt-be-developed. Brick by Brick’s Colm Lacey talks about the challenges of the developer’s council-backed house-building programme and its latest batch of architect appointments. It has been three years since Brick by Brick set to work. What have you managed to achieve?So far we’ve won planning consent on around 40 …
Interview: ‘There’ll always be those who feel sites shouldn’t be developed’ Read More »
First published in The Developer, 28/02/19 – https://www.thedeveloper.live/opinion/opinion/developers-we-have-an-image-problem. The public don’t trust, or indeed respect, developers and this is negatively impacting urban discourse, writes Colm Lacey, chief executive of Brick by Brick The development industry has a problem with people. In the most recent Ipsos MORI Veracity Index, those surveyed ranked almost all of the …
First published in Building Magazine, 09/11/18 – https://www.building.co.uk/comment/grenfell-a-question-of-trust/5096447.article. If the Grenfell fire teaches us one thing, says Colm Lacey, it is that the construction and development sectors need to create a culture of trustworthiness and humanity. It is more than a year since the Grenfell Tower fire, and the enormity of what happened that night …
First published in On London 28/09/18 – https://www.onlondon.co.uk/colm-lacey-council-owned-developers-can-make-a-real-difference-to-housing-supply-in-london. Much has been said about the new generation of council-led development companies and their potential for contributing to housing supply. Some comment veers towards a hyperbolic romanticism, heralding the beginning of a new era of creative municipalism which can only do good. Others see them simply as …
Council-owned developers can make a real difference to housing supply in London Read More »
First published in The Architects Journal, 07/03/18 – https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/why-we-must-resist-the-urge-to-demolish-housing-estates. Fine-grained infill and refurbishment are in many cases to be preferred to the knock it down and start again approach to housing, writes Colm Lacey. Recent developments in Haringey and Earl’s Court have served to reinforce the contested nature of housing capacity, particularly social housing capacity, throughout the capital. Much of …
Why we must resist the urge to demolish housing estates Read More »
First published in Building Magazine, 11 Sep 2017. https://www.building.co.uk/comment/the-housing-crisis-should-local-authorities-become-developers/5089594.article Could a shift in local councils’ approaches to housing across the UK address the critical needs currently facing authorities? There are many distinctive things about Croydon. The lack of homes to suit local housing need is not one of them. Our housing supply issue is replicated …
The housing crisis: should local authorities become developers? Read More »
First published in Architects Journal 03/05/17 – https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/if-housing-developers-braved-risky-sites-we-would-all-reap-the-rewards. There is still ample opportunity for housing development in the suburbs, if only developers were prepared to take on difficult sites, writes Colm Lacey. We’re delighted to have received planning permission recently for our first batch of development sites in Croydon. The overarching aim of Brick by Brick is to …
If more housing developers braved ‘risky’ sites we would all reap the rewards Read More »