Hoe Street Central Bank (HSCB) occupies the former Co-Operative Bank in central Walthamstow, North London on a street that is also home to multiple estate agents. The area has seen house prices double since 2012 and astronomical rents drive people ever outwards. As the Bank of England rules on interest rate rises the speculative property bubble created by banks loaning to bricks and mortar floats precariously as the debt burden increases. This event looks at the current housing crisis, its foundations in debt and alternatives to this system.

Featuring:

JOE BESWICK OF NEW ECONOMICS FOUNDATION.  Joe heads up NEF’s thinking, research and campaigning on the housing crisis, and the fight for a fairer housing and land system. His work includes coordinating a national level campaign to stop the sell-off of public land, developing policies to boost the supply of genuinely affordable housing, and working with communities to fight for better rights for renters and put communities in control of local housing. Outside of NEF, he works with housing campaigns in London, including the London Renters Union and the Radical Housing Network. He has appeared on, or been featured in, the BBC, the Guardian, the Independent, Channel 4, the Mirror, New Statesman, the Evening Standard, Al Jazeera and Inside Housing magazine.

MICHAEL EDWARDS. Michael Edwards is UCL Teaching Fellow at the Bartlett School of Planning. He work  on the relationship between property markets and planning. He is active on London planning  most recently supporting community groups in challenges to the 2009 and Draft Replacement London Plan.  He is founder member of the International Network for Urban Research and Action (INURA) and of the Planners Network UK (PNUK).Michael Edwards is UCL Teaching Fellow at the Bartlett School of Planning. He work  on the relationship between property markets and planning. He is active on London planning  most recently supporting community groups in challenges to the 2009 and Draft Replacement London Plan.  He is founder member of the International Network for Urban Research and Action (INURA) and of the Planners Network UK (PNUK).

JESSIE BRENNAN is an artist whose practice explores the inter-relations between people and places, informed by their social and political contexts and a direct engagement with the individuals who occupy them. Her authored books include Regeneration! (2015) and Re: development (2016). She is a London Community Land Trust resident.

WALTHAM FOREST COMMUNITY LAND TRUST is being set up to build a sustainable, inclusive and affordable community of eco-homes in Walthamstow, E17. Join in the ideas session and be part of this exciting project.