Churches to receive specialist advice for housing schemes
30/06/2020
Churches planning to use their land and buildings to help people priced out of the housing market are to be given specialist support under a new scheme.
4 min readChurches, housing and building back better – has our relationship with property changed?
07/07/2020
Ambleside Methodists took the brave decision to give up their building to go on a new journey with the Anglicans. This allowed their old building to be turned into social housing, while creating a new community centre and keeping both churches going.
4 min readCompetitions launched for church projects tackling housing crisis
24/02/2020
Two competitions aimed at helping local churches to support people in housing need – from advocacy and advice for vulnerable tenants to ‘micro-housing’ schemes on church land – are launched today by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Housing, Church and Community.
5 min readConsultation, consultation, consultation: why churches should make their voice heard in planning
24/09/2020
The Archbishop of Canterbury's Housing Commission believes that churches should engage with the planning system. When the Diocese of Leicester replied to the Leicestershire Strategic Growth Plan they found that it was very beneficial for them.
3 min readCoronavirus, the housing crisis and Newham
01/06/2020
The housing crisis is being exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, told the Archbishop of Canterbury's Housing Commission about the issues his constituents are facing.
5 min readFrom the old we travel to the new: West London Mission and changing responses to homelessness
11/08/2020
West London Mission (WLM) has been empowering people affected by homelessness, poverty and trauma since 1887. Recently, though, an element has changed. Where previously they were just responding to crisis need, they’ve expanded to have a more preventative approach.
4 min readHousing Commission's Vice-Chair signs open letter on rough sleeping
04/06/2020
The vice-chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Housing Commission, the Right Revd Dr Graham Tomlin, Bishop of Kensington, has joined other London bishops in writing an open letter on rough sleeping to the Housing Secretary.
3 min readHow can you self-isolate without a house?
26/03/2020
Homelessness is always a serious issue, but right now people who are homeless are at considerable risk from coronavirus. This article explains how you can help.
4 min readHow did a group of self-confessed amateurs build 37 homes in Keswick?
18/11/2019
It all started back in 2009, with six open meetings of Keswick Churches Together about the issues facing the town. Housing kept coming up in these discussions. Determined to change things, a working group of mainly church-linked people was created to come up with solutions. At just the right time, the vicar of St John’s offered a piece of land next to the church graveyard - impractical for burials, but ideal for The Hopes development that now sits there with mountain views. And so the hard work began of forming a Community Land Trust, commissioning an architect, and securing planning permission and funding.
6 min readIn my house are many rooms: radical hospitality in the vicarage
10/03/2020
We’re in the midst of a housing crisis. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Housing, Church and Community believes that, if real change is going to be made, we all need to play our part. For Lent, we’re looking at how individual Christians can get involved. This week, Revd Dr Catherine Shelley writes about her experience of taking in lodgers.
8 min read