Daniel Reast
@danreast.bsky.social
Senior Research Officer at Centre for London. Views my own. Local government, planning, housing, local economies and much more. Also found in Metro, Big Issue, Independent, Mirror et al.
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Huge week for housing policy: Planning & Infrastructure Act now law, Leasehold Reform draft out, New Homes Accelerator 2 live, big social housing updates, construction regulator, Section 106 changes and new design guidance. A real flurry of new (and nerdy) changes - and dare I say a bit of optimism?
January 29, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Huge week for housing policy: Planning & Infrastructure Act now law, Leasehold Reform draft out, New Homes Accelerator 2 live, big social housing updates, construction regulator, Section 106 changes and new design guidance. A real flurry of new (and nerdy) changes - and dare I say a bit of optimism?
Of course Burnham should be allowed to stand. Any opponents should be be content that if allowed he has several contests to win if his ambitions are to be realised: by-election, leadership contest, general election, and the general contest of being a backbench critic. Hardly smooth sailing.
January 24, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Of course Burnham should be allowed to stand. Any opponents should be be content that if allowed he has several contests to win if his ambitions are to be realised: by-election, leadership contest, general election, and the general contest of being a backbench critic. Hardly smooth sailing.
Grima Wormtongue of evil advisor in Lord of the Rings fame has defected to Reform UK.
January 18, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Grima Wormtongue of evil advisor in Lord of the Rings fame has defected to Reform UK.
Reposted by Daniel Reast
Delighted to see our work spotlighted by @inclusionlondon.bsky.social.
Data is critical for assessing the housing needs of Londoners - especially for those with accessibily requirements.
See our research officer @danreast.bsky.social speak to this below ⬇️
Data is critical for assessing the housing needs of Londoners - especially for those with accessibily requirements.
See our research officer @danreast.bsky.social speak to this below ⬇️
Centre for London are right: There’s no clear picture of accessible housing across London. We need @mayoroflondon.bsky.social + councils to improve data standards across London so we can identify the demand and supply of accessible housing. Thank you @ellybakeram.bsky.social for raising this issue.
January 15, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Delighted to see our work spotlighted by @inclusionlondon.bsky.social.
Data is critical for assessing the housing needs of Londoners - especially for those with accessibily requirements.
See our research officer @danreast.bsky.social speak to this below ⬇️
Data is critical for assessing the housing needs of Londoners - especially for those with accessibily requirements.
See our research officer @danreast.bsky.social speak to this below ⬇️
Reposted by Daniel Reast
Centre for London are right: There’s no clear picture of accessible housing across London. We need @mayoroflondon.bsky.social + councils to improve data standards across London so we can identify the demand and supply of accessible housing. Thank you @ellybakeram.bsky.social for raising this issue.
January 15, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Centre for London are right: There’s no clear picture of accessible housing across London. We need @mayoroflondon.bsky.social + councils to improve data standards across London so we can identify the demand and supply of accessible housing. Thank you @ellybakeram.bsky.social for raising this issue.
Going hard on the 'London is crime-ridden and awful' line didn't work for the past few mayoral elections and it won't work for Laila Cunningham and Reform. The politics of decline don't work in the capital. www.itv.com/news/london/...
www.itv.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Going hard on the 'London is crime-ridden and awful' line didn't work for the past few mayoral elections and it won't work for Laila Cunningham and Reform. The politics of decline don't work in the capital. www.itv.com/news/london/...
Maduro being charged with conspiracy to possess machine guns against the United States is quite the irony.
January 3, 2026 at 1:02 PM
Maduro being charged with conspiracy to possess machine guns against the United States is quite the irony.
Turns out standing up on a stupidly overcrowded, congested and overheating Boxing Day train for well over two and a half hours means you walk like Quasimodo the next day.
December 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Turns out standing up on a stupidly overcrowded, congested and overheating Boxing Day train for well over two and a half hours means you walk like Quasimodo the next day.
Yes I know it's Christmas but the reaction to Haringey Council including the Rowans Bowling Alley site in their list of allocations has been atrociously communicated. There's literally no plans for redevelopment being proposed.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/rowan...
www.independent.co.uk/voices/rowan...
Rowans bowling alley is loved by all. Why does the council want to tear it down?
The fight to save a busy, profitable and beloved bowling alley from becoming flats is not about nostalgia, says Jack Burke. It is about how culture has become expendable – and why that should worry an...
www.independent.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Yes I know it's Christmas but the reaction to Haringey Council including the Rowans Bowling Alley site in their list of allocations has been atrociously communicated. There's literally no plans for redevelopment being proposed.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/rowan...
www.independent.co.uk/voices/rowan...
Post-budget drama appears to have settled on a pretty muddy exchange of what ifs and who dids, instead of policy and its effects. Bit tired of it honestly.
December 1, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Post-budget drama appears to have settled on a pretty muddy exchange of what ifs and who dids, instead of policy and its effects. Bit tired of it honestly.
Did somebody say mansion tax?? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Tax raid on solicitors and GPs as Rachel Reeves targets wealthy
The chancellor considers the national insurance exemptions offered by limited liability partnerships to be unfair, and will use her budget to change the rules
www.thetimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Did somebody say mansion tax?? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
If London meets targets, cutting to 20% would mean losing 13k affordable homes.
But it's failing to meet targets. London is the most expensive place to build in Britain. There's many reasons for this.
But a dose of realism is needed while recognising the desperate need for affordable homes.
But it's failing to meet targets. London is the most expensive place to build in Britain. There's many reasons for this.
But a dose of realism is needed while recognising the desperate need for affordable homes.
October 16, 2025 at 6:44 AM
If London meets targets, cutting to 20% would mean losing 13k affordable homes.
But it's failing to meet targets. London is the most expensive place to build in Britain. There's many reasons for this.
But a dose of realism is needed while recognising the desperate need for affordable homes.
But it's failing to meet targets. London is the most expensive place to build in Britain. There's many reasons for this.
But a dose of realism is needed while recognising the desperate need for affordable homes.
Planning reforms should make bidets compulsory in new builds so we're not filling with wet wipes and causing millions of pounds worth of damage & disruption. Health and sanitary benefits to bidets also obvious. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Thames Water removes 100-tonne fatberg from west London sewer
Toxic mass chiselled out of Feltham pipes amid campaign to stop people tipping harmful substances down drains
www.theguardian.com
October 7, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Planning reforms should make bidets compulsory in new builds so we're not filling with wet wipes and causing millions of pounds worth of damage & disruption. Health and sanitary benefits to bidets also obvious. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Devastating to lose such a pivotal queer nightlife venue in Soho. G-A-Y was often the first queer bar visited after coming out, like a rite of passage for so many. Old Compton Street will struggle to replace it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
G-A-Y Bar to close as Old Compton Street 'has lost LGBT identity' - BBC News
Owner Jeremy Joseph says it is "time to say goodbye" as he hopes to keep his other venue open.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 2, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Devastating to lose such a pivotal queer nightlife venue in Soho. G-A-Y was often the first queer bar visited after coming out, like a rite of passage for so many. Old Compton Street will struggle to replace it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Will never miss the opportunity to share this performance from Danny la Rue at the Royal Variety Performance in 1969. Drag at its most vintage, outrageous, camp and authentic. youtu.be/dGXslU0H4qY?...
Danny La Rue - The Royal Variety Performance 1969
YouTube video by MoonlightMusic Remasters
youtu.be
October 2, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Will never miss the opportunity to share this performance from Danny la Rue at the Royal Variety Performance in 1969. Drag at its most vintage, outrageous, camp and authentic. youtu.be/dGXslU0H4qY?...
I don't know if I'm comfortable with the memeification of our party politics. Embarrassing for all involved, especially Bell.
September 29, 2025 at 10:38 AM
I don't know if I'm comfortable with the memeification of our party politics. Embarrassing for all involved, especially Bell.
*whisper* I don't think Thamesmead should count as a New Town when it's already (and historically been) a site of significant regeneration...
But good news nonetheless. Extend that DLR out to Belvedere and Erith and then we're golden.
But good news nonetheless. Extend that DLR out to Belvedere and Erith and then we're golden.
September 28, 2025 at 10:11 PM
*whisper* I don't think Thamesmead should count as a New Town when it's already (and historically been) a site of significant regeneration...
But good news nonetheless. Extend that DLR out to Belvedere and Erith and then we're golden.
But good news nonetheless. Extend that DLR out to Belvedere and Erith and then we're golden.
I'm sure the students handing out copies of The Communist newspaper outside Kingston Station have hearts in the right place, but I don't think the Yardley-Drummonds of the borough were interested.
September 19, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I'm sure the students handing out copies of The Communist newspaper outside Kingston Station have hearts in the right place, but I don't think the Yardley-Drummonds of the borough were interested.
It's happened before but I do think a Tube strike exposes a glaring divide in London's transport system: the sudden realisation that other forms of public transit exist.
September 9, 2025 at 7:25 AM
It's happened before but I do think a Tube strike exposes a glaring divide in London's transport system: the sudden realisation that other forms of public transit exist.
To be Mayor of London, you have to have a positive, inclusive vision for the city. Describing your home as lawless, bleak and terrifying to live in is not that vision.
London would significantly more unsafe with a Mayor who thinks hate speech should be decriminalised.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
London would significantly more unsafe with a Mayor who thinks hate speech should be decriminalised.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
Nowhere’s safe in London, claims Reform rising star who wants to be mayor
British Muslim Laila Cunningham wants an end to hate-speech prosecutions - and the former CPS lawyer says Muslims who want Islamophobia laws should leave the UK
inews.co.uk
September 6, 2025 at 11:09 AM
To be Mayor of London, you have to have a positive, inclusive vision for the city. Describing your home as lawless, bleak and terrifying to live in is not that vision.
London would significantly more unsafe with a Mayor who thinks hate speech should be decriminalised.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
London would significantly more unsafe with a Mayor who thinks hate speech should be decriminalised.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
Alan Campbell leaving the Chief Whip for the Commons Leader role, with Jonny Reynolds demoted to Whips Office is one to watch for backbench discipline...
September 5, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Alan Campbell leaving the Chief Whip for the Commons Leader role, with Jonny Reynolds demoted to Whips Office is one to watch for backbench discipline...
Truly sad to lose one of the Labour Party's most authentic, genuine voices speaking from experience. There's been lots of disgraced former ministers but Angela Rayner isn't going to be one of them.
September 5, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Truly sad to lose one of the Labour Party's most authentic, genuine voices speaking from experience. There's been lots of disgraced former ministers but Angela Rayner isn't going to be one of them.
Truly banal, tiny tinfoil hat conspiracy theory to think Angela Rayner planned her stamp duty scandal to get the Treasury to agree on abolishing it altogether... www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/e67d46a...
I feel sorry for Angela Rayner, even I didn’t know about the tax rule she broke
The mess our Deputy Prime Minister is in proves Britain’s tangled tax system needs reform
www.telegraph.co.uk
September 4, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Truly banal, tiny tinfoil hat conspiracy theory to think Angela Rayner planned her stamp duty scandal to get the Treasury to agree on abolishing it altogether... www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/e67d46a...
Reposted by Daniel Reast
Case against Powell's Rivers of Blood speech was one of principle - that it was "racialist in tone and liable to exacerbate racial tensions" as the Conservative Party leader said in sacking him - rather than one of politics and popularity of "taking people with you" as Jenrick thinks.
Times leader
Times leader
September 4, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Case against Powell's Rivers of Blood speech was one of principle - that it was "racialist in tone and liable to exacerbate racial tensions" as the Conservative Party leader said in sacking him - rather than one of politics and popularity of "taking people with you" as Jenrick thinks.
Times leader
Times leader