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 Rose Grayston since March 2026.

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.

Red Brick editors:

2010 – 2022: Tony Clements, Steve Hilditch and Monimbo

2022 – 2024: Sheila Spencer

2024 – 2026: Alex Toal

2026 – Rose Grayston

Rose Grayston

Rose is editor of Red Brick. She has worked to develop and win support for solutions to the UK’s housing crisis as Expert Adviser to Matthew Pennycook, Minister for Housing and Planning, as a Labour activist and founding member of Open Labour, and through roles at Shelter, the New Economics Foundation and Generation Rent.

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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  Building the homes Brent needs: In conversation with Cllr Matt Kelcher
  Cllr Matt Kelcher is Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Planning at Brent Council. He speaks to Red Brick about how proactively welcoming new private housing can strengthen councils’ hand with developers.
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  How to increase investment in council housing and capitalise on the economic benefits
  Shelter’s Sam Bloomer argues the Government’s ambition for a new era of council housebuilding requires reform of the UK’s fiscal framework.
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  How can people who need air conditioning the most afford to run it during heatwaves?
  Matthew Scott of the Chartered Institute of Housing and Mehri Khosravi of the University of East London explore a new dimension of fuel poverty. As extreme heat becomes a normal part of life in the UK, how will lower-income and heat-vulnerable households afford to keep cool? Could a Hot Weather Payment be part of the answer?
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  Building a better private rented sector: A conversation with Edward Benyon
  Edward Benyon, a landlord in Hackney, believes England needs to think differently about the future of renting. He sat down with Red Brick to talk about the Renters’ Rights Act, long-term security, investment and why the Government should reward the kinds of landlords it wants to see.