Closer to Home

Hannah and Stephen meet up with a long-standing friend and colleague to discuss ways in which our concept of home is shaped by social, economic and political forces. We explore how the idea of home shifted in the popular imagination over the course of the last century. Has 'home' now become synonymous with 'capital asset'? If homes are really our most intimate, emotional spaces, why would we want...

Dr James Gregory joins Stephen and Hannah to discuss the concept of wellbeing and the relationship between wellbeing and housing tenure. Owner-occupiers, private tenants, and social tenants experience different levels of wellbeing and contentment in relation to their homes. Why might that be, and how can the differences be explained? What is making it difficult for people in all tenures to sustain...

Why do some buildings feel unnerving, unsettling or just somehow wrong ? Is it the location, the design, the geometry, or are there other forces at work? Why are we spooked by a house that doesn't feel like a home? What do the conventions and tropes of horror fiction and horror films reveal about our deepest anxieties about home? Why are we spooked by the echoes of former occupation in abandoned b...

Richard was born to a single parent in Bradford in the 1950s, and experienced social housing for the first time when he moved into a council house on the newly built Thorpe Edge estate at the age of 3. He later trained as a teacher and worked in education for 36 years, becoming deputy head of a large Bradford comprehensive school. Richard has continued to champion the interests of others, serving...

In this introductory episode, we discuss the origins of Closer to Home , the core ideas behind the podcast, and a number of other things which are at least tangentially associated with the core concept: Beyond housing supply: A stable sense of home is not the same as having a roof over your head. It's more than shelter, it’s about belonging, security, and the freedom to thrive. Home vs. housing cr...

Hannah and Stephen introduce Closer To Home, the podcast that asks the question: 'Are we dealing with a home crisis as much as we are a housing crisis?'