Insights 2025 – event presentations published

This year’s Insights publication from Understanding Society looks at the housing crisis, and the launch event in February showcased research into how tackling it could also address inequality, child poverty, health, and climate change.

The presentations from the day are now available:

• The Good, the Bad, and the Future – keynote address on housing and economic inequality from Susan Smith, Honorary Professor of Social & Economic Geography, University of Cambridge

• Tackling child poverty through affordable housing – Cara Pacitti, Senior Economist, Resolution Foundation

• Housing and people’s changing lives – Rory Coulter, Associate Professor in Human Geography, University College London

• What tenures provide mental health protection? Comparing the UK and Australia – Rebecca Bentley, Principal Research Fellow in Social Epidemiology, Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Housing, University of Melbourne

• Tenures, ageing, cold homes and mental health – Amy Clair, Lecturer and Deputy Director, Australian Centre for Housing Research, School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide

• What are the effects of sustained exposure to housing affordability problems? – Jennifer Dykxhoorn, Principal Research Fellow / Associate Professor, University College London

• How is rising housing wealth changing energy consumption? – Helen Bao, Professor of Urban Economics & Public Policy, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge

• Household or individual carbon emissions? Differentiating the drivers – Ting Liu, Research Associate, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London

You can also still download Insights 2025, which looks at:

• the extent of the housing shortage
• its effects on inequalities (especially for younger people, older people, and marginalised groups)
• how housing can play a part in economic growth
• how housing affects health, both mental and physical
• the role of housing in the drive for net zero.

For further analysis, there will be a blog about the outcomes of the event, including findings from a panel discussion of experts, made up of:

• Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, Centre for Cities
• Branwen Evans, Group Director, Sustainability and Policy, Places for People
• David O’Leary, Executive Director, House Builders Federation
• Rachel Williamson, interim Director of Policy, Communication and Public Affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing

And look out later this week for a new episode of our podcast in which Rory Coulter discusses the housing crisis and the possible policy options for building our way out of it with Kevin Garvey, Head of Member Relations at the National Housing Federation.