Keir Starmer’s target of 1.5 million homes – however unrealistic you consider it – is at least a catalyser of action both within and outside of government.

What is clear is that places like Brent Cross Town – where Starmer and Angela Rayner kicked off their ‘freedom to buy’ housing campaign – is a neat encapsulation of what can be done while preserving a sense of place and appealing to all the main housing tenure types.

In this issue we talk to Tom Goodall, who is leading the project with Related Argent, building on the lessons learned at King’s Cross to prepare a new town where people can, he hopes, flourish.

Still on the ongoing housing crisis, that 1.5 million homes target is the subject of our viewpoint this time, while Professor Yolande Barnes ruminates more widely on the concept of growth as a cornerstone of government policy.

Louise Rodgers spends some time with Bell Phillips Architects – itself a key contributor to King’s Cross, and housing more generally – as the practice moves into a new era, and Sharon Giffen of Earls Court reveals what the new quarter of London she is helping create can return to the city in housing, mixed with good placemaking principles.

Another housing success story, Tower Court – overall winner of NLA’s New London Awards – is the subject of our building review this time, while New Londoner of the Year Georgia Gould spells out what is ahead for her and for the built environment.

There’s much more besides: reports from Opportunity London’s Jace Tyrell from the Far East as he gears up with the rest of the industry for MIPIM; a new ‘The Quarter in Comms’ column, this time from ING’s Damian Wild on his hopes for the Cannes event ING represents and what his team learned from a trip to Rotterdam; and articles on subjects ranging from neurodiversity and lab design to water, or heat networks to Sir Denys Lasdun’s National Theatre.

Enjoy the issue!

David Taylor
Editor