About Red Brick

The place for progressive housing debate

Red Brick is a progressive political blog with a particular focus on housing policy edited by Alex Toal since March 2024.

As a forum it is open to anyone interested in the progressive debate about housing, communities, and wider politics.

We are linked to the Labour Housing Group but the views expressed here are those of individual authors and/or the editors and are not necessarily the view of LHG or London LHG.

Through debate and the sharing of ideas in this open forum, we will help to develop sound Labour housing policies, support Labour councils to do their best to address housing needs, and support LHG to make sure housing is seen a priority for Labour.

It was founded in 2010 by Tony Clements and Steve Hilditch and been previously edited by our pseudonymous friend Monimbo.

<strong><span class="has-inline-color has-accent-color">Steve Hilditch</span></strong>
Steve Hilditch

Founder of Red Brick. Former Head of Policy for Shelter. Select Committee Advisor for Housing and Homelessness. Drafted the first London Mayor’s Housing Strategy under Ken Livingstone. Steve sits on the Editorial Panel of Red Brick.

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<strong><span class="has-inline-color has-accent-color">Chris Worrall</span></strong>
Chris Worrall

Editor of Red Brick between May 2020 and August 2022. Former Non-Executive Director of Housing for Women. Labour Housing Group, Executive Committee. Exploring innovative new models in housing with care for Guild Living. MPhil in Real Estate Finance, University of Cambridge.

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  • What’s holding back estate regeneration? Personal reflections and hopes for joined-up policy
    Ben Ridley-Johnson works in policy and projects towards the goal of ending street homelessness sustainably. His experience includes Research and Policy Officer at Colne Housing Society and Operations Manager for London & South East at Sanctuary Housing. In this piece he reflects on how the difficulties in estate regeneration have caused him to lose hope in the housing sector.
  • How we talk about homes matters
    Knowing how to communicate effectively and having the right framing strategies at our fingertips can help us win support for new affordable and decent homes. In this article, Natalie Tate, Project Lead for Talking about Housing at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, presents the toolkit recommendations developed by FrameWorks UK with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Nationwide Foundation.
  • Labour’s London Assembly achievements and what winning a majority could mean
    Sem Moema, London AM and Mayoral Advisor for Private Rented Sector and Affordability, looks back to Labour’s achievements on the London Assembly and ahead to what a Labour majority could deliver.
  • From promises to delivery – making Labour’s housing goals a reality
    At Labour Housing Group’s 2024 AGM, Toby Lloyd, formerly Head of Policy at Shelter, and advisor to the May government on housing issues, spoke on how a future Labour Government might achieve its housing goals.