I Want a Council House

No, no, no. That's not me being greedy.

'I Want a Council House' is the name of a new show commissioned by Channel 4 looking at what life is like for the 1.8 million people in the UK who live in or need social housing.

The programme is being filmed over six months, mainly in Tower Hamlets and Manchester.

As well as following the stories of some of those on the waiting list, it will follow the work done daily by both the councils' lettings teams and the homeless persons' unit. More importantly, it will look at the perception problems faced by cash-strapped councils who are (sometimes) trying their best to solve their housing shortages.

For example - in Tower Hamlets the council faced huge opposition when it announced it wanted to demolish Robin Hood Gardens in favour of building high-density housing. Over at the Balfron Tower (pictured below) there are different issues. The building is listed, they can't knock it down. But they also don't have the money to renovate it. So now that all the families have been moved out a private development partner is being brought on board to fix it up. But at the end, how much social housing will there be left in there?

In both cases they may well be trying to do the right thing - the council needs money and it needs homes. But with so many forces at play - existing communities, historic architecture, raising money in the right way to develop the right thing - it's a thankless task.

It's easy to admire council housing built in the past - in so many cases local authorities did an excellent job. But there's hardly any being built now. Right-to-buy has come and gone - it's time to move on. Hopefully this programme will help liven up the debate.