Have your say in campaign to tackle district’s housing crisis

A new movement in Bath & North East Somerset called The Housing Assembly is working to bring together the “unheard voices of the housing crisis”, uniting them to support initiatives aimed at delivering real solutions.

The stand at the University of Bath | Photo © Curo

The Housing Assembly brings together representatives from every aspect of the housing system in the district.

They include B&NES Council, the West of England Combined Authority, University of Bath, Royal United Hospital, Curo Group, Arup, Igloo Regeneration, Bath Spa University and national housing and design experts Alex Notay and Wayne Hemingway MBE.

The first campaign, ‘Greetings from the Housing Crisis…’, amplifies the voices of local residents, including families and young people, failed by the current system.

It has been running at the Fringe Arts Bath Festival and at the University of Bath, and features a vintage postcard stand displaying a series of provocative, housing-themed postcards, which invite written responses from the public.

The stand will be popping up at events across the region, giving people the opportunity to have their say.

Participants are encouraged to share their own stories and reflections on housing in the area and to delve deeper by joining the discussion forum on The Housing Assembly’s website.

Talented graphic design students from Bath College contributed to the display, designing postcards as part of their end-of-term project.

“Housing needs a reboot,” said Wayne Hemingway MBE, founder of Red or Dead and HemingwayDesign, which is collaborating on the project alongside the Housing Mission Delivery Board. The board is responsible for delivering the housing affordability strand of B&NES Council’s Economic Strategy.

He added: “We can’t just keep doing the same things over and over. It’s clear we need to build more homes. But the way the planning system operates means it’s often those who already own homes who object to new developments.

“Through The Housing Assembly, the aim is to help change that – by giving a voice to those who don’t currently have one in the conversation.”

There is an acute housing challenge in B&NES, with lower-than-average wages, higher-than-average house prices, and an earnings-to-house-price ratio of 1:18.

By transforming lived experience into influence, the initiative wants to create a trusted platform where the public can speak up, be heard and demand change.

You can add your voice to the postcard pop-up stand at Fringe Arts Bath Festival gallery at the old Post Office building in the centre of Bath, where it will be on display until Saturday, 7th June.

The stand will then tour to Old Bond Street in Bath, and will be at Midsomer Norton Farmers’ Market on Saturday 5th July and at Keynsham Music Festival on Sunday 6th July.