The Right Revd Graham Tomlin, Bishop of Kensington is Deputy Chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Housing, Church and Community.
The Commission was launched in April 2019 with the remit of re-imagining housing policy. It comprises of ten commissioners drawn from the church, the housing sector, business and local government.
As well as making recommendations for Government and other key actors in the housing market, it was tasked with looking at what actions the Church of England could take, in partnership with others, to help tackle the crisis at local, regional, and national level.
Over the past two years, they have reviewed academic and policy research and spent extensive time talking to people who are living at the sharp end of the housing crisis. As well as learning directly from dioceses and local parishes, who have direct experience of tackling these issues, we have also talked with Government, think tanks, charities and industry professionals.
The housing crisis is neither accidental nor inevitable. If we, as a society, want to resolve it, if we are willing to share the cost more evenly, and if we implement the recommendations outlined in the report over a sustained period of time, then we will create homes and communities that are truly sustainable, safe, stable, sociable and satisfying for us all.
The Housing Commission publish their report “Coming Home” on Sunday 21st February and all churches are asked to respond. For a wealth of resources, our “response” page is here.
You can read more about the Commissions’ work here
Bishop Graham and Malcom Brown have recently published a book based on the themes of the Commission: “Coming Home”- Christian perspectives on housing can be purchased here, along with a Grove Booklet “Why Should the Church Care About Housing?” which can be purchased here
A full summary of this report and our response to it is here
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To read the report
