At this year’s Good Homes Alliance Conference, which took place at the British Library Knowledge Centre on 28th January, keynote speaker Peter Apps delivered a powerful and thought-provoking keynote exploring a fundamental question: What is a good home?
Peter is an award-winning journalist and author known for his work on housing policy and his books on the root causes of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and London’s housing crisis.
A Good Home Is Defined by People
Apps reminded delegates that housing providers do not “create” good homes — people do. The role of the housing sector is to provide the secure, affordable, warm and safe foundations that allow individuals and families to build their lives, communities and futures.
Lessons from History
Reflecting on the UK’s housing history, Apps highlighted:
- The transformative impact of 20th century social housing in tackling poverty and improving living standards.
- The long-term consequences of short-term thinking: from poorly built post-war prefabs to high-rise failures like Ronan Point.
- How shifting priorities – cost-cutting, political targets, financial engineering -have too often displaced the core mission of serving residents.
The Cost of Forgetting What Matters
Referencing the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, Apps underscored what can happen when organisations lose sight of their primary responsibility: putting residents’ safety and wellbeing first.
He also drew attention to the scale of today’s housing challenge:
- Millions of homes failing to meet basic standards
- Widespread damp, mould and cold affecting health outcomes
- Climate change intensifying risks through flooding, overheating and extreme weather
A Call to Refocus
Despite the challenges, Apps’ message was ultimately hopeful. The majority of social homes, historically and today, have been built well. Success comes when organisations:
- Prioritise residents over short-term political or financial pressures
- Deliver warmth, ventilation, safety and affordability
- Listen to residents and respond with professionalism and respect
A Timeless Responsibility
Political cycles will come and go, Apps concluded, but the core responsibility of housing providers remains constant: to ensure homes are secure, affordable, warm and safe, providing the blank canvas on which people can create good homes of their own.
His keynote was a timely reminder of why quality, performance and resident-centred design must remain at the heart of the built environment sector’s work — and why collaboration across the industry is more important than ever.