Brian Robson

👋 Hello to new followers. My feed is shaping up into a nice mix of people I knew at the other place and new friends I haven't met yet. Expect housing, homelessness and the joys of living in Yorkshire. Also interested in politics, philanthropy, and regional development.

🏠Big news for ending rough sleeping in England. Remember the £442m committed by the UK Gov to help get everyone sleeping rough in England off the streets by Christmas? Today, a further £432m has been announced – to help people beyond Christmas. Here’s why it matters...🧵[1/8]

As the Government works towards its commitment to bring everyone sleeping rough indoors this Christmas, we shared why the right funding, stable housing and skilled frontline workers are crucial to making lasting change.

During the visit, he met people with lived experience of #homelessness and spoke with frontline workers about the challenges of rough sleeping and what needs to change to help people move away from the streets for good.

We were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister Andy Burnham to St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity and The Connection at St Martin’s today, alongside the Chancellor and Rachel Blake MP, ahead of the Government’s Rough Sleeping Summit. Photos by Number 10 on Flickr

Today is the 40th anniversary of bus deregulation. I’m considering celebrating the occasion by poring over copies of the pre deregulation Tyne and Wear timetables with that warm glow of memories of the days when buses always ran to time and there was seamless integration with the Metro……..

Grim :( www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

"Together, the reality is that the climate crisis and the housing crisis are both converging in American homes – and together they are exacerbating unaffordability." buff.ly/q8ykBD5

'Neither YIMBYs nor tenant organizers have the power to solve the housing crisis without each other. The time is right to try to do it together.' prracperspective.ghost.io/bridging-the... Excellent from @prrac.bsky.social's @tsilverstein.bsky.social - written w/US context but highly relevant to UK.

This is what passes for drama in North Yorkshire's county town ⤵️

Very mixed feelings about Classcharts being down #IYKYK

Join our Trustee Board 🟣We particularly welcome people with lived experience of the benefits system or homelessness. Also looking for experience in HR, Diversity and Inclusion; communications and media; fundraising; or access to justice and the law. https://z2k.org/vacancies/

Some terrific speakers on this. 8pm UK time for Brits who want to understand lessons beyond NYC...

A government assessment advised that asylum seekers should not be housed in parts of Northern Ireland due to “actual or likely racial tensions”. Almost half of all areas were classified either as ‘Red’ zones unsafe for asylum seeker accommodation, or ‘Amber’ zones where officials had “reservations”

This looks really good, look forward to visiting - more of this, please :) www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Ha'way!!!

Drawing on more than a decade of evidence from People’s Health Trust's programmes and authored by Dr Kate Fryer, our new report explores the relationship between community power, wellbeing and health inequalities. Read the full report👇 www.peopleshealthtrust.org.uk/news/stories...

'..behind every statistic is a person looking for safety, stability and a place to call home' < great blog from Black South West Network's Fadumo Farah on @homelessnessimpact.bsky.social's new book www.blacksouthwestnetwork.org/blog/how-to-...

Today, the Telegraph can exclusively reveal that people who've got nowt often live near each other in less well off neighbourhoods. More as we get it.

The spirit of Richard Whiteley lives on in Yorkshire #Rountdown #BePrompt

This #WorldHomelessDay, we're joining organisations across the sector to imagine what a future free from homelessness could look like. We asked Crisis members to create postcards from their future selves in a world where homelessness no longer exists, to themselves today ❤️

October 21, join us for our upcoming webinar, Mamdani’s Housing Agenda: Early Lessons From New York City. We’ll explore affordability, tenant protections, housing production, community ownership, zoning, and more. 📅 Oct. 21 | 3 p.m. ET Register for the webinar: buff.ly/PYo3EKq

📢Today Google has added motor fuel prices to the maps app so you can see how expensive driving is. 🚲Not wanting to be left out we have been around the city to check on the cost of fuelling a cycle and produced our own map. 🎉It's good news - fuelling a cycle is still free everywhere.

Our Head of Strategic Partnerships & Development role closes tomorrow! Visit our website to apply. communityfoundationni.org/vacancies/he...

I mean, if this is the age of surveillance capitalism, I think I have less to fear than I thought. 'Likely lives in Yorkshire' - well, you've been sending me parcels there for the last 11 years, so good guess. 'Reads social commentary extensively' - not news to anyone who's ever met me.

This is really sad and unfuriating. This season's Sunderland away shirt (not Adidas) cost my 14yo over £100, by the time he got his favourite player's name and number on the back, plus the UEFA arm patches etc. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

This graph is a good reason to introduce my new paper: By Generation and by Design: A Review of the Empirical Rent Control Literature. This paints a (somewhat) misleading picture of rent control evidence because it groups all rent control together regardless of design feature.

Durham Station Road, painting by Eric Thompson (b.1947).

And some people think Holborn and St Pancras is this week's big election... Governing Party in Quebec (CAQ) expected to win zero seats, separatists leading. ⤵️

Intrigued by the significant differences between Aldi and Lidl here ⤵️

September's reading. 'When the Cranes Flie South' is still on my mind, a book that changes your perspectives. Also loved Eviction. Cusk good but not her best (IMO), the Granta inevitably mixed but good reading for Swedish hols. #booksky #monthlyreads

Colleague emails me and notes they're on a train at present. Copilot suggested responses: 'Drive safely!' and 'Have a safe flight!' 🤯

Private renters on housing support already go without essentials. Last year, six-in-ten (58 per cent) working-age adults in private-renting families on housing support could not afford basic items buff.ly/tmfEAWh

Fab little Norman Cornish exhibition on til January at Barnard Castle's Bowes Museum. Great to see them celebrating a local artist.

For the first time, one of our local bus routes is operated with double deckers. So we're having a day out on the bus. A lovely way to see #Yorkshire