Adrian Miles

‘No shops, no schools’: homes in England built without basic amenities Thousands of properties going up without access to playgrounds, community infrastructure and even doctors

This country needs a new understanding of what rural development should be. Sustainable homes and amenities at the density of Italian hill towns 4 storeys minimum going down to terraced townhouse density on the perimeter not whatever car led nonsense this is.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

There are ways of planning communities that increase density around amenities where cost is offset by adding value. Plenty of great examples. However this takes political will and developers will default to a poor quality default in absence of this.

Shocking to see something this misinformed from an mp. Creating unworkable and unhealthy communities is just building up worse problems for the future. Mental health, obesity problems etc.

Can confirm - kicking off with Ambulance Blues FFS.

Actually being in touch with people and offering them things that responds to their needs. Might catch on.

Amazing set from Neil Young at #Glastonbury looking forward to seeing him live at Hyde Park.

Really need a whole city civic event like this in London!

Government will meet target of 1.5m homes, says Rayner after watchdog forecast A Conservative former minister asked Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to ‘confirm’ the 1.5 million new homes target ‘has gone’.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Yes sorry wasn’t referring to your stats - I think it was noted recently that the Government have started announcing UK figures when saying they are in track for 1.5m. Will find link if possible.

Also the original pledge was just for England but Labour now seem to be using UK-wide stats

So the Government is aiming for on average 300k housing completions per year but current housing *starts* are around the 115k mark. That means starts will have to increase to well over 400k per year or more to have a chance of catching up and delivering 1.5m in 5 years.

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Stepping into a smooth quiet electric bus is a thing of wonder. All the hype around robotaxis etc and we already have something out of science fiction transforming central London that’s accessible and public!

Overall social housing has been a net generator of income for the state. It’s insane that such an essential good is treated as anything other than core to our national wellbeing.

Treat social housing as critical infrastructure to unlock billions, says Peabody boss Exclusive: Giving social housing same status as roads and energy would mean more investment in sector major providers say is at breaking point

Couldn’t agree more.

Treat social housing as critical infrastructure to unlock billions, says Peabody boss www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Would you live in a 25 sq m Isokon minimum flat?
When one was exhibited at Dorland Hall in 1933, 12 flats were let before building work had begun!
Visit a real one on Sunday May 25, 1100-1300. There may be a wait. A donation of £10 per visitor is appreciated.
archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/features/jun...

3) Ultimately, migration shouldn’t be managed by the same government department as crime and domestic security. It should be its own department - with a focus on community cohesion, infrastructure, and the country’s real economic needs.

How Spain’s radically different approach to migration helped its economy soar As immigration has increased, GDP has surged and unemployment has fallen to lowest level since 2008

Dreaming of an alternate reality where Starmer took the Spanish approach.

Sitting on a booming economy & thriving social care system would have made Farage look very silly in 2029.

I think that dream is now dead.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

End the 'absolute scandal' of new homes built without solar panels, government urged Last year, Labour promised a "rooftop revolution" that would see millions more homes fitted with solar panels. But they have been accused of wavering over proposals to make it mandatory.

Just four in 10 new homes in England currently come with solar power

The body representing local authorities think it should be *all* of them

It would benefit bill-payers & the climate, saving people £440 per year

news.sky.com/story/end-th...

Great article -

You help "left behind" areas by helping the nearest big city. Our problem is the relative economic weakness of our big cities outside London.

Paris residents to vote on making 500 more streets pedestrian Parisians vote in a referendum on Sunday to decide whether an extra 500 of the city's streets should be pedestrianised and greened, in a new push by the French capital's left-leaning town hall to curb car usage and improve air quality.

NEW: Paris residents are voting in a referendum today on whether an extra 500 of the city's streets should be pedestrianised & greened.

"For the past 25 yrs we've gradually been reclaiming public space for pedestrians & gentle traffic, & with 'garden streets' to create lungs within neighbourhoods.”

There has been a trend generally over the last 20 years to detail in a way that looks as crisp as possible for photoshoots but forgoes a sensible approach to weathering.

All UK families ‘to be worse off by 2030’ as poor bear the brunt, new data warns Keir Starmer has been dealt a fresh blow to his living standards pledge in advance of the spring statement

This is not sustainable and Labour is not meeting the moment:
All UK families ‘to be worse off by 2030’ as poor bear the brunt, new data warns www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Isokon Gallery The Isokon Gallery is a permanent exhibition telling the remarkable story of the Isokon building, the pioneering modern apartment block opened in 1934 as an experiment in new ways of urban living.

Isokon Gallery is now open to visitors for 2025! If you missed the exhibition ‘Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon’ and exhibition of previously unseen 1933-34 photographs, there is still time.
For more information, please visit the Isokon Gallery website: isokongallery.org

“The new society it imagined didn’t come into being – not for want of trying by the socialists, Stalinists and anarchists who lived in its microcosm here in the 1930s; but the building still stands as a statement of expanded possibility”

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky. Architecture. Politics. Gender.New Perspectives on Her Life and Work Paperback, 368 pages By Marcel Bois and Bernadette Reinhold Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897–2000) entered the modernist canon with her Frankfurt Kitchen. She is also considered a pioneer of social ar...

The first comprehensive publication in English on Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, best known as the designer of the Frankfurt Kitchen. Now available at our Gallery, and online too
Isokon gallery.org/products/margarete-schutte-lihotzky-architecture-politics-gender-new-perspectives-on-her-life-and-work

For full alt text, follow pastebin link in next post. Partial text: Amy E. Greer, attorney for Mahmoud Khalil provided the following update this evening: First, importantly, today I spoke to Mahmoud and he is healthy and his spirits are undaunted by his predicament. He also greatly appreciates, and, typically for him, is moved by the extraordinarily broad and steadfast support he has received from a variety of communities that understand what is at stake. He is in ICE custody in Louisiana, and arrangements have been made for local attorneys to visit him today and tomorrow. The remarks by government officials, including the President, on social media only confirm the purpose – and illegality – of Mahmoud's detention. He was chosen as an example to stifle entirely lawful dissent in violation of the First Amendment. While tomorrow or thereafter the government may cite the law or process, that toothpaste is out of the tube and irreversibly so. The government’s objective is as transparent as it is unlawful, and our role as Mahmoud’s lawyers is to ensure it does not prevail. Today Mahmoud's legal team, which includes Kyle Barron, CLEAR, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Amy Greer filed a motion to compel in federal court in the Southern District of New York, as part of the habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf over the weekend, seeking an order requiring the government to return to New York for any immigration proceedings.

UPDATE on Mahmoud Khalil from his lawyers and his wife: "Today I spoke to Mahmoud and he is healthy and his spirits are undaunted by his predicament." (Legal team now includes ACLU, CCR.)

UK construction activity falls at fastest pace since 2020 PMI index declines to five-year low as housebuilding plummets

Labour's promise to build 1.5m new homes is already sunk. Because it's terrified of state intervention and it's terrified of free movement it's going to leave another generation crammed into shoddy and overpriced rental properties. on.ft.com/3DpzKMj

If you love #modernism, you’ll love being part of our team of volunteer gallery assistants. Recruiting now for the 2025 season.