Chairman Killian Hurley was kind enough to share with us some of the wisdom that has enabled Mount Anvil to drive forward eight estate regeneration projects in seven London boroughs during the last five years – all subject to build cost inflation, new building regulations and a tough sales market – delivering 4,490 homes, including 1,596 affordable. “And there’s a clear pathway on all those schemes to make them viable,” he says.
Jul 15, 2025•15 min•Ep. 67
The masterplan to deliver 3,000 new homes at Staples Corner was two-and-a-half years in the making. Brent Council Regeneration Manager Kiran Chauhan describes her role in it, her pride in its adoption last November, and the joy she takes in testing ideas, and discovering innovations, that come from gathering different talents and experiences in collaboration to squeeze as much as possible out of constrained sites. That and the fulfilment from reassuring local people, about the benefits they will...
Jul 14, 2025•17 min•Ep. 66
Visiting Wembley High Road with Brent Council Head of Regeneration Jonathan Kay, we look at housing delivery in a "tight urban environment” very different from neighbouring Wembley Park: Cecil Avenue and Ujima House (renamed Zephaniah House, after the poet), providing 291 homes, 50% affordable, plus commercial and community spaces, in partnership with Wates.
Jul 11, 2025•16 min•Ep. 65
As Brent Council explores how to bring forward sites around Wembley Park, head of planning and development services David Glover discusses development costs and risks and how they are amplified by changing circumstances – even at a location with huge capacity and potential to deliver homes and jobs, with really good public transport access, near a major town centre, which isn’t going to impact existing communities...
Jul 10, 2025•23 min•Ep. 64
Head of Planning and Development Services David Glover examines aspects of engagement, including AI and digital engagement models (with a shout out for Cornwall Council’s work); how the council involves its communities in creating its Local Plan (and what should happen when a Local Plan is not adopted); and operating a strategic planning committee (and how it anticipates the Government’s planning reforms).
Jul 08, 2025•22 min•Ep. 63
Our conversation with Gerry Ansell, Director of Inclusive Regeneration and Climate Action at Brent Council, takes in the council’s role in delivering Wembley Park, the difficulties of direct delivery, the valuable role of planning committees and building safety regulation.
Jul 07, 2025•19 min•Ep. 62
In the sunny, verdant setting of the new Union Park, we meet John Stiles, Placemaking Manager at Brent Council, to talk about the success of the surrounding Wembley Park development – and the one thing he would change, if starting the scheme again from scratch.
Jul 03, 2025•19 min•Ep. 61
Describing her pride in providing homes for people of many nationalities and cultures, London Borough of Brent Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Property, Councillor Teo Benea sets out an ambition to build 23,000 new homes in the next few years. But beyond the homes themselves, she asks developers in the borough to focus on the spaces around them – especially places that enable that diverse community to come together.
Jul 01, 2025•18 min•Ep. 60
We are pleased to share this month's webinar from 1.5M New Homes: The Local Government Challenge, with London Borough of Camden. "Bold decisions: Councils thinking commercially" This webinar features: David Burns- Director of Economy, Regeneration and Investment at London Borough of Camden Anna Clarke- Director of Policy and Public Affairs at The Housing Forum Tom Conlon- Development Director at Red Loft Sarah Yates- Research and Events Manager at Future of London Toby Fox (Chair)- Founder of 1....
Jun 26, 2025•48 min•Ep. 59
With 50,000 people due to retire by the end of this decade from asset management roles, 20,000 from development roles, and 40% of the construction workforce, we need to recruit an awful lot of people just to stand still. Zohra Chiheb (Regeneration Team Leader, Camden Council) and Tom Conlon (Development Director, Red Loft) discuss the need for more capacity to support the 1.5m new homes ambition.
Jun 23, 2025•10 min•Ep. 58
The Camden Film Quarter is a bold scheme, to deliver over 1000 affordable, private sale, BTR and student homes, with media production facilities, a National Film and TV school and the London Screen Academy. And it’s required bold moves by @Camden Council: to act as convener, bringing together 18 landowners to get a consensus on making something of the area’s potential; to agree to dispose of its own land, rather than procuring a development partner, to deliver at pace; to be clear that it would ...
Jun 20, 2025•20 min•Ep. 57
Meeting at the Greenwood Centre, a facility co-designed with and providing shared services for disabled and older people, Regeneration Team Leader Zohra Chiheb talks us through her role in delivering Camden Council's Community Investment Programme, the day-to-day responsibilities of a project manager, the skills required and the values that inspired her to leave behind a career in architecture and take up a role in local government.
Jun 18, 2025•13 min•Ep. 56
The Government’s new homes agenda is as much about growth as it’s about housing – new jobs as well as new homes. The regeneration of Euston driven by HS2 is a case in point: 32,000 jobs and 4-5,000 new homes over 25 years. The Leader of Camden Council, Councillor Richard Olszewski, talks us through the scale of what could be achieved, what it takes to ensure that the growth is inclusive and local people benefit, and how a locally-led development corporation with planning powers would be the most...
Jun 13, 2025•16 min•Ep. 55
The new homes springing up around the HS2 redevelopment zone are part of the gain from investment in new national infrastructure – but also part of the cost. As she sets out what Camden Council wants to see change, to get more homes built, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Community Investment, Councillor Nasrine Djemai, talks us through the disruption she faced to her home and education as a local resident growing up in the area, and what that taught her about community engagement.
Jun 07, 2025•14 min•Ep. 54
“We’re not just sayers, we’re doers,” says Councillor Nasrine Djemai, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Community Investment at London Borough of Camden. “Camden is the place where things happen.” And for her and for Leader, Councillor Richard Olszewski, the focus is on making new homes happen. While setting out the borough’s enviable economic and cultural strengths, they acknowledge the overcrowding, high costs of temporary accommodation and long waiting lists for social and affordable homes tha...
Jun 06, 2025•8 min•Ep. 53
We are pleased to share this month's webinar from 1.5M New Homes: The Local Government Challenge, with Westminster City Council. "Best practice in deep community engagement on estate regeneration" This webinar features: Tom Beardmore - Social Value and Communications Director at Mount Anvil Tom Conlon - Development Director at Red Loft James Green - Director of Regeneration and Development Delivery and Operations at Westminster City Council Setareh Neshati- Director of Regeneration and Developme...
Jun 04, 2025•49 min•Ep. 52
In our final episode from Westminster, co-sponsor Mount Anvil’s newly-appointed Chief Growth Officer Lisa Ravenscroft describes the developer’s commitment to building robust public-private partnerships as a model for driving new homes delivery – exemplified by the Church Street regeneration to provide 450 homes, 50% affordable, and additional placemaking. On the difficulties of translating the soft, emotional aspects of a strong relationship into a corporate culture, she says setting out shared ...
May 30, 2025•10 min•Ep. 51
Interviewed shortly before the launch of “Good Homes for All”, the report by Architects' Action for Affordable Housing, Founder Member Luke Tozer of Pitman Tozer Architects, sets out his concern that good design might be neglected in the rush to build more homes. Luke also highlights the challenges of meeting promises to deliver on schedule, how disappointment can impact the trust that local communities have in the development process, and the need to change the adversarial culture of developmen...
May 30, 2025•16 min•Ep. 50
Development Manager John Ndukuba started out in engineering before making the switch to public sector housing delivery with Westminster City Council. He describes cutting his teeth on projects like Dudley House, providing 197 intermediate homes, a church and a school. A communications role led Nithushan Rajaratnam to a place on Future of London’s emerging talent programme and eventually his role as Assistant Development Manager at the Council. Together they explore what they get out of their wor...
May 29, 2025•16 min•Ep. 49
Senior Development Manager Mollie Mills O’Brien considers her role on the 144-home scheme at 291 Harrow Road, and the variety of daily tasks she has to keep the project “always in line with the vision: what stakeholders and what we have decided that place should be”. She sets out the skills and attributes she brings to development management; and she describes her journey from private sector development, taking her frustrations with the public sector into a local authority role and “doing what I...
May 23, 2025•11 min•Ep. 48
We hear about the evolution of Westminster City Council’s direct delivery programme, and the 45-strong team it takes to deliver 4,000 new homes. Over halfway to target, Setareh Neshati, Director of Regeneration and Development Delivery and Operations, reflects on the joy she takes in leading that programme, balancing the Council’s priorities, her determination not to be a bad client and her pleasure in a rigid governance process and strong resourcing that enables her team to operate at pace. “Th...
May 22, 2025•15 min•Ep. 47
We visit 300 Harrow Road to hear why Westminster City Council invested some £60m improving the proportion of social and affordable homes in this scheme and Westmead from 50% to 100%. And the leader, Councillor Adam Hug, hints at the imminent next phase of development sites coming forward, explaining how the council manages difficult build conditions for existing residents, competing demands for land, and the political impact of an accelerated housing programme in a “high cost, high reward” devel...
May 21, 2025•13 min•Ep. 46
“We’re very well resourced and we’re ready to go,” says James Green, Director of Regeneration and Development Strategy at Westminster City Council. Calling for “serious conversations” about raising grant funding to scale up its pipeline of over 2,000 new homes, he adds: “We’re hugely ambitious. We can do this, as a council.” If you want more homes built, fund the public sector, James says. He compares private and public sector housing delivery; lays bare the mathematics of delivering affordable ...
May 20, 2025•13 min•Ep. 45
Join Setareh Neshati, director of regeneration and development delivery and operations at Westminster City Council, on a journey that began with residents demonstrating against the regeneration of Ebury Bridge Estate to the delivery of 750 high-quality, net zero new homes, more than 50% affordable. Hear how industry KPIs were met, while fulfilling the Council's high ambitions for residents, despite building through Covid on a constrained site – the ingredients for successful housing delivery – a...
May 16, 2025•20 min•Ep. 44
This episode closes with a perfect summary of the state of public sector housing delivery from Westminster City Council Director of Development and Regeneration Strategy James Green: a highly ambitious target, immense challenges to overcome, relentless drive and determination to succeed – and optimism that solutions can be found. This is a great place to begin our Westminster season, a series of interviews with officers and members on what works and what needs to change to get more homes built. ...
May 13, 2025•12 min•Ep. 43
We are pleased to share this month's webinar from 1.5M New Homes: The Local Government Challenge, with London Borough of Lambeth. "Hard-wiring inclusivity into regeneration and development" This webinar features: Jo Davis- Director of JD Consulting and Solve Social Value Nabeel Khan- Corporate Director for Climate and Inclusive Growth at LB Lambeth Danny Sutcliffe- Partner at Red Loft Toby Fox (Chair)- Founder of 1.5M New Homes We asked Nabeel what was at this top of his in-tray, as the spending...
Apr 28, 2025•45 min•Ep. 42
Lambeth Council Development Manager Luke Kelly offers careers advice and reflects on the skills needed to perform his role, and the mixture of excitement and trepidation that goes with shaping and delivering homes that people will live in. “There’s nothing like getting stuck into a project,” he says.
Apr 23, 2025•8 min•Ep. 41
In Lambeth, south London, almost 5,000 households are in temporary accommodation and 30,000 on the waiting list for new homes. Councillor Danny Adilypour describes how the way “developer tax” s106 money is raised and spent, how the Council’s own direct delivery programme creates affordable and social homes, and how partnerships with private sector developers are shaped, ensure local people benefit from housebuilding.
Apr 16, 2025•12 min•Ep. 40
A visit to a housing site in Brixton, South London, to talk about successful new housing and the systemic issues holding back the delivery of new homes. Why does development take so long? How does the subsidy system for affordable and social homes work? What does it actually cost to build a house? All this and more.
Apr 10, 2025•13 min•Ep. 39
In the appropriate setting of the new black-led cultural events space, Brixton House Theatre (London’s first new theatre in half a century), we explore links between housing and Lambeth’s creative economic drivers, including the life sciences innovation district SC1, creating 60,000 new jobs as a key element of the London Growth Plan. With 20% of households facing deprivation, how does the Council ensure the benefits of growth are felt equally? “That really focuses our mind in terms of need,” sa...
Apr 08, 2025•7 min•Ep. 38
