About this episode

Jonathan Glancey discusses the state of affordable housing in Britain and how to improve it on the Country Life Podcast.

Britain is full of architectural talent and ideas. So why is our affordable housing in such a state? 'We need to think of unusual sites and then do something special with them,' says the architecture critic and writer Jonathan Glancey, who joins James Fisher on this week's Country Life Podcast. Making housing better for all of us — not just the privileged few — is at the heart of the discussion between James and Jonathan, just as it's one of the key issues in Jonathan's latest book, Where We Live: The Fractured Art of British Housebuilding and How to Build the Homes We Need , which is out in June 2026. Jonathan's years of experience and expertise — from his first job at the The Architectural Review to his many years as The Guardian's architecture and design editor — shines through as he talks about everything from the model villages built by the great railway companies of Victorian Britain through to the huge mistakes made in social housing between 1945 and 1990. He illuminates the topic in fascinating detail, in a talk which is by turns inspiring, depressing and forward-looking. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Where We…

People in this episode

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Jonathan Glancey

Topics covered

• affordable housing
• architecture
• social housing
• British housebuilding
• urban planning
• design

Keywords

• affordable housing
• architecture
• social housing
• urban planning
• British housebuilding
• design
• Jonathan Glancey
• James Fisher
• The Guardian
• Icon Books

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Icon Books, The Architectural Review, The Guardian

Books & works: Where We Live: The Fractured Art of British Housebuilding and How to Build the Homes We Need

Places: Britain

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