Jules Birch
@julesbirch.bsky.social
Journalist interested in anything connected with housing. Which means just about everything. Doctorate in housing since the financial crisis
Reposted by Jules Birch
My brother fought in the infantry and lost soldiers in Afghanistan. The press used to report deaths before families had been told and I would check my phone over and over, scared it would ring.
I went to the inquest of one of his killed men. I saw his red-eyed parents, girlfriend and baby daughter.
I went to the inquest of one of his killed men. I saw his red-eyed parents, girlfriend and baby daughter.
Trump on NATO: "I've always said, will they be there if we ever needed them? That's really the ultimate test. I'm not sure of that. We've never needed them. They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan and this or that. And they did. They stayed a little back, off the front lines."
January 22, 2026 at 1:29 PM
My brother fought in the infantry and lost soldiers in Afghanistan. The press used to report deaths before families had been told and I would check my phone over and over, scared it would ring.
I went to the inquest of one of his killed men. I saw his red-eyed parents, girlfriend and baby daughter.
I went to the inquest of one of his killed men. I saw his red-eyed parents, girlfriend and baby daughter.
Reposted by Jules Birch
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 this new agency will be created exactly 20 years after the Scottish Government, under Salmond, axed Communities Scotland, an agency that did EXACTLY THIS
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
John Swinney announces plan for national housing agency
The first minister says the proposals will deliver new homes more quickly and more affordably.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 12:57 PM
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 this new agency will be created exactly 20 years after the Scottish Government, under Salmond, axed Communities Scotland, an agency that did EXACTLY THIS
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Jules Birch
I went to Minneapolis last week. What I saw was horrifying and inspiring in equal measure. Gift link to my latest column: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Opinion | In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:56 PM
I went to Minneapolis last week. What I saw was horrifying and inspiring in equal measure. Gift link to my latest column: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Just realised I’ve been naively missing a pro trick as a columnist - next week’s will be a rewrite of today’s arguing the complete opposite
January 19, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Just realised I’ve been naively missing a pro trick as a columnist - next week’s will be a rewrite of today’s arguing the complete opposite
Just got offered my first OAP discount in the barbers 🤦♂️
January 18, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Just got offered my first OAP discount in the barbers 🤦♂️
Definite vibes of when Labour MPs joined the SDP in 1981 except that however many more Tories follow Jenrick, Dorries, Kruger, Zahawi etc they’ll still add up to about 1% of Shirley Williams or Roy Jenkins. They’re joining someone else’s party not founding one and seem to have no ideas of their own
January 15, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Definite vibes of when Labour MPs joined the SDP in 1981 except that however many more Tories follow Jenrick, Dorries, Kruger, Zahawi etc they’ll still add up to about 1% of Shirley Williams or Roy Jenkins. They’re joining someone else’s party not founding one and seem to have no ideas of their own
Reposted by Jules Birch
Watching the Jenrick Press Conference:
Really hoping a journalist asks him in the manner of Mrs Merton:
"What was it about losing the Tory leadership contest that helped you realise that the Tories had broken Britain?"
Really hoping a journalist asks him in the manner of Mrs Merton:
"What was it about losing the Tory leadership contest that helped you realise that the Tories had broken Britain?"
a woman with glasses is sitting in a crowd and says " what first attracted you to the millionaire paul daniels "
ALT: a woman with glasses is sitting in a crowd and says " what first attracted you to the millionaire paul daniels "
media.tenor.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Watching the Jenrick Press Conference:
Really hoping a journalist asks him in the manner of Mrs Merton:
"What was it about losing the Tory leadership contest that helped you realise that the Tories had broken Britain?"
Really hoping a journalist asks him in the manner of Mrs Merton:
"What was it about losing the Tory leadership contest that helped you realise that the Tories had broken Britain?"
Fraud investigation of for-profit social housing investment trust searches homes in Altrincham, Maidenhead, London - and Venice
www.gov.uk/government/n...
www.gov.uk/government/n...
SFO announces investigation in social housing sector
The SFO has arrested six people and searched seven sites in connection with a fraud and bribery investigation into the past management of Home REIT.
www.gov.uk
January 15, 2026 at 9:25 AM
Fraud investigation of for-profit social housing investment trust searches homes in Altrincham, Maidenhead, London - and Venice
www.gov.uk/government/n...
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Blaming AI seems to miss the point. Old enough to remember when it was lazy to just google it, let alone only look at the first result, let alone trust a dodgy summary. Google now so cluttered with AI and sponsored results it's virtually unusable
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...
Police chief admits misleading MPs after AI used in justification for banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans
An intelligence report referred to a football game that never happened - Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will make a statement later today.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Blaming AI seems to miss the point. Old enough to remember when it was lazy to just google it, let alone only look at the first result, let alone trust a dodgy summary. Google now so cluttered with AI and sponsored results it's virtually unusable
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...
Big news for housing in Wales if the result in May turns out like this poll. Plaid and Greens both committed to rent regulation and the right to adequate housing
BREAKING: Explosive new poll for ITV Cymru Wales puts Plaid Cymru surging ahead of Reform UK in May’s Welsh elections.
Plaid 37%
Reform 23%
Greens 13%
Labour 10%
Tories 10%
Lib Dems 5%
Plaid could form majority with Greens on this basis, with Labour out of govt for first time since devolution.
Plaid 37%
Reform 23%
Greens 13%
Labour 10%
Tories 10%
Lib Dems 5%
Plaid could form majority with Greens on this basis, with Labour out of govt for first time since devolution.
January 14, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Big news for housing in Wales if the result in May turns out like this poll. Plaid and Greens both committed to rent regulation and the right to adequate housing
Nominative indeterminism?
Exclusive: My interview with James Cleverly
🔵 Grenfell Inquiry “did not prove deregulatory attitude was the problem”
🔵 Vows to reduce headcount of planners
🔵 Renters Rights Act should be replaced by ‘’more targeted approach”
www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/sir-...
🔵 Grenfell Inquiry “did not prove deregulatory attitude was the problem”
🔵 Vows to reduce headcount of planners
🔵 Renters Rights Act should be replaced by ‘’more targeted approach”
www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/sir-...
Sir James Cleverly interview: Regulation is ‘always the wrong answer’
Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly shares his views on Grenfell, the Renters’ Rights Act and the Conservative Party’s pledge to end stamp duty.
www.insidehousing.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Nominative indeterminism?
@amylawrence.bsky.social hi Amy - on the thing about home fans applauding opposition on the pod I remember this happening at Highbury in 1982 or 1983. Spartak Moscow hammered us 5-2 in UEFA cup but were so brilliant we applauded them off the pitch. Spartak players came back out to applaud fans
January 13, 2026 at 4:21 PM
@amylawrence.bsky.social hi Amy - on the thing about home fans applauding opposition on the pod I remember this happening at Highbury in 1982 or 1983. Spartak Moscow hammered us 5-2 in UEFA cup but were so brilliant we applauded them off the pitch. Spartak players came back out to applaud fans
Reposted by Jules Birch
a decade is a long time in politics
January 12, 2026 at 11:55 AM
a decade is a long time in politics
Haven’t seen trees like this near where I live since 1987
January 9, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Haven’t seen trees like this near where I live since 1987
Reposted by Jules Birch
“We’re going to continue generating sexualised images of children but you’ll have to pay for them” has to be the ultimate example of moral bankruptcy.
January 9, 2026 at 2:45 PM
“We’re going to continue generating sexualised images of children but you’ll have to pay for them” has to be the ultimate example of moral bankruptcy.
Reposted by Jules Birch
A headline to sum up our times:
January 9, 2026 at 11:09 AM
A headline to sum up our times:
First one of these I can remember 😱
January 8, 2026 at 2:13 PM
First one of these I can remember 😱
How on earth did BBC Sport readers manage to name more Englishmen than Australians in their Ashes XI?
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...
The Ashes 2025-26: Who made your team of the series?
Find out which players made the cut into the BBC Sport team of the series for the Ashes.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 1:02 PM
How on earth did BBC Sport readers manage to name more Englishmen than Australians in their Ashes XI?
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...
If you've ever wondered how co-living went from idealism and alternative living in the 1960s to rapacious capitalism hiding behind funky branding in the 2020s, this article explains a lot
What happens when venture capitalists try to reinvent housing in their own image? Find out in my new @ijurresearch.bsky.social article ‘Hyperscaling Housing’
It traces VC-fuelled attempts to aggressively scale real estate start-ups, and the devastating consequences for tenants.
It traces VC-fuelled attempts to aggressively scale real estate start-ups, and the devastating consequences for tenants.
HYPERSCALING HOUSING: Venture Capital, Real Estate Start‐Ups and the Race to Build a Global Residential Brand
What happens when venture capitalists try to reinvent housing in their own image? Synonymous with the rise of Big Tech, venture capitalists (VCs) are asset managers that invest in early-stage compani...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:55 AM
If you've ever wondered how co-living went from idealism and alternative living in the 1960s to rapacious capitalism hiding behind funky branding in the 2020s, this article explains a lot
This is probably just the start of local protests against new town plans. Is a govt that's done multiple u-turns already going to resist?
www.ft.com/content/64ee...
www.ft.com/content/64ee...
‘Not in my name’: Labour’s new towns battle
Ministers’ response to the UK’s acute housing shortage is running into local opposition
www.ft.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:41 AM
This is probably just the start of local protests against new town plans. Is a govt that's done multiple u-turns already going to resist?
www.ft.com/content/64ee...
www.ft.com/content/64ee...
'People live in homes, not corporations' is a sentiment most would agree with - but will he follow through? If investors barred from single family homes (houses) why not flats too (which are also homes)? If Blackstone etc barred in US will they expand elsewhere?
www.ft.com/content/70ad...
www.ft.com/content/70ad...
White House moves to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes
Change would hit buyout groups such as Blackstone and Cerberus that have amassed large residential portfolios
www.ft.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:36 AM
'People live in homes, not corporations' is a sentiment most would agree with - but will he follow through? If investors barred from single family homes (houses) why not flats too (which are also homes)? If Blackstone etc barred in US will they expand elsewhere?
www.ft.com/content/70ad...
www.ft.com/content/70ad...
Seem to remember pretty much this format being done as satire a few years back
www.c21media.net/news/itv-stu...
www.c21media.net/news/itv-stu...
ITV Studios and Vincent TV lay the foundations for housing crisis format Try Before You Buy
ITV Studios and Dutch indie prodco Vincent TV have teamed up to develop new property format, Try Before You Buy.
www.c21media.net
January 5, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Seem to remember pretty much this format being done as satire a few years back
www.c21media.net/news/itv-stu...
www.c21media.net/news/itv-stu...
Reposted by Jules Birch
"his [Trump's] plan appears to be for Venezuela to remain under the day-to-day rule of a senior chavista, with its democratically elected leaders excluded and its wealth controlled by American corporations." www.economist.com/the-americas...
Donald Trump wants to run Venezuela, and dominate the western hemisphere
Snatching Nicolás Maduro and attempting to take control of Venezuela and its oil is an extraordinary display of the new “Donroe doctrine”
www.economist.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:48 PM
"his [Trump's] plan appears to be for Venezuela to remain under the day-to-day rule of a senior chavista, with its democratically elected leaders excluded and its wealth controlled by American corporations." www.economist.com/the-americas...
Reposted by Jules Birch
The Telegraph's big book of woke things reaches Zulu (1964)
December 31, 2025 at 8:21 PM
The Telegraph's big book of woke things reaches Zulu (1964)
Reposted by Jules Birch
Now he is literally the Poundland Donald Trump
December 30, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Now he is literally the Poundland Donald Trump