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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  • The Supported Housing Act needs to back good providers
    While Emmaus UK’s research shows strong support for new supported housing standards, the government needs to think further to ensure good providers do not suffer unintended consequences
  • Not so nimby after all?
    Ben Marshall, Research Director at Ipsos, digs into the polling around support for new homes and the public’s views on how homes should be built, and how it should shape Labour’s housing agenda.
  • Foundations for the Future: how can new delivery models help to mitigate the housing emergency?
    Jack Pringle, Chair of the Board of the Royal Institute of British Architects, lays out the potential of new delivery models to deliver much-needed social homes.
  • Get on and build
    Town planner Mary Elkington of Figura Planning Ltd explains a bit about the speed of housebuilding today and how the government’s proposed approaches speeding of housing delivery may be one part of the answer.