Mike Muir’s Post

❤️ This is why my ten fellow volunteer directors and I (and our army of supporters) at Oxfordshire Community Land Trust do what we do! ❤️ It's for stories such as these that make the evenings and weekend work more than worth the effort. Housing 16 people at Crofts Court might not sound significant, but to those 16 people it's everything, and it will no doubt be the same for those that follow. They have been failed by the market and have had to rely on local people who refuse to accept the status quo; a status quo that has created an affordable housing crisis in so many places around the UK and beyond. This crisis isn't a natural law, it isn't inevitable, it's the result of economic and planning policies and their priorities. As a new government starts to put forward its strategy and policies for addressing this affordable housing crisis, anything less than getting to the root of the problem will not be good enough. The crisis hasn't been formed in a vacuum and it will clearly require more than simply building additional homes without a proper focus on how to deliver genuinely and permanently affordable homes where they are needed. I have read very little from the new government in terms of re-opening the Community Housing Fund that was the lifeblood of so many proactive community land trusts, the absence of which continues to hold back a pipeline of thousands of community-led affordable homes. After having made so many political speeches in relation to those that supposedly stop development from taking place, it is disheartening that the government has not already committed to those community-led groups on the other side of that coin. Our sector has the potential to deliver over 250,000 genuinely and permanently affordable homes as set out in the Community Land Trust Network's State of the Sector Report - let's start fulfilling that potential and inspire the next generation of community activists to help deliver what their community needs 💪

That’s all well and good and I agree something needs to be done with The Grand but there are fundamental issues that need fixing first. Scarborough has a massive pothole issue and the council seems to think that filling the holes with gravel will fix the problem. There’s a massive issue with drainage in Falsgrave park causing it to be either a bog or an ice rink. The council won’t grit it in the winter for fear of liability if someone has an accident, in the meantime, residents, especially the older generation fear taking a walk in the winter because they don’t want to fall. The A64 has had “talks” about it being a dual carriage way for years, when will this become a reality? There’s plots of land/warehouse at the back of Morrison’s that would be ideal for rock climbing/ice rink/trampoline centre to encourage residents and visitors all year round. What will be done about the fact there are Poundlands and charity shops but nowhere to encourage locals to shop local building a sustainable local economy? Surely these are issues that should be tackled before injecting millions of, presumably tax payers’ money into a project that will take years to come to fruition or is this a project for you purely to attract voters?

Check out our Director of Fair Housing and Municipal Engagement, Whitney Demetrius, and CHAPA alum, Eric Shupin in this documentary!

“Let’s hope it’s a pop song to make people think”, Ralph McTell, Streets of London. Around the world, over 1.6 billion people are #homeless or living in inadequate #housing. Closer to home in #Australia, over 116,000 people are homeless every night. Habitat for Humanity International #Victoria recognises a severe lack of access to appropriate and affordable housing in Australia (and mental health support) and particularly in Victoria, making it incredibly difficult for low income families to find decent, secure accommodation. Victoria’s housing crisis snapshot: -Melbourne is the 4th least affordable major housing market in the world -The median price for a dwelling in Greater Melbourne has risen to $665,000 -It will take a medium income family 9.6 years to save a 20% deposit to buy a home -Only 0.9% of private rental properties in Greater Melbourne are affordable for households receiving income support payments (from Centrelink)

What is the difference between sb721 vs. sb326 under the California balcony bill? SB326 applies to condominiums and other community associations, and SB721 is subject to any wood frame buildings with more than three dwelling units. #sb326 #sb721 #balcony #balconyinspections #newcalifornialaw #5signs #drbalcony

Happy Saint David's Day everyone… As most readers will know, we have no affiliation with Wales apart from rubbing shoulders with great connections who are from Wales, however as we approach Spring, it is a great excuse to post a picture of the latest daffodils that are suddenly with us. It was either that or find a leek! It has been one of those weeks where we have had our heads down busily sorting some urgent problems for customers. One faced having a property repossessed, another had a sudden cashflow issue - happily both are resolved. We continue to be lucky in having more “run of the mill” leads too. Andy and Steven have been having client meetings with customers this week which will hopefully help our customers aspirations. Ali has been keeping us all on our toes especially with GDPR and compliance this week. At TRUST Networking it was great to welcome back Steve Phillip who founded The Jordan Legacy CIC. Steve and The Jordan Legacy are working towards a #ZeroSuicideSociety and in his talk “Creating Impact Through Practical Action” showed what we as employers and as individuals can do to help raise the awareness and reduce loss of life to suicide. Steve has attended We Are Wakefield at Pontefract Town Hall this morning. This is becoming a theme, but yes, we can confirm that he left Sheffield today and enjoyed the bright lights of Pontecarlo! Andy attended a drinks reception in Harrogate last night hosted by Ian Gostellow of Clough Corporate Solutions Limited. It was great to see Ian back in the swing of the drinks receptions that he used to host regularly before the pandemic. It was a first for Andy in that one of the attendees brought their lovely dog with them. The Crown Hotel caters for dogs and even brought out a special dog bowl. Andy confirms it only had water - I am sure the dog would have preferred a pint of mild. Have a great weekend! 📞01937 229222⠀⠀ 📧info@shadowfaxfunding.com⠀ 💻www.shadowfaxfunding.com #shadowfaxfundingsolutions #yorkshirebusiness #wetherby #leeds #harrogate #york #wakefield #sheffield #bradford #hull #ripon #barnsley #knaresborough #manchester #london #newcastle #darlington #businessgrowthplans #businessexpansion #propertydevelopers #propertyfinance #commercialfinance #businessfinance

If you want your end of year charitable dollars to make as big an impact as possible - check out Bill Antinore's link to Seeds of Hope below.

West Midlands and Staffordshire

Here's Why Tennessee Might Be a Good Place to Live #LPTrealty #TennesseeHome #JohnsonCityRealEstate #LarryDoesThat #YourHITTREP #realtor #realestateagent #realestateinvesting #housingmarket #tennesseerealtor