On 28 February 2023, FrameWorks UK, in collaboration with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, launched a toolkit, ‘How to talk about homes’, with a live broadcast online. The toolkit was underpinned by analysis of conversations with members of the public and various organisations. The resource, as I understood it, was created to equip people who want …
What is it? The Conservative Party’s manifesto of November 2019 offered ideas on how Government could help more people buy a house: Encouraging financial institutions to create a ‘new market’ that makes it easier for people to take on mortgage debts at long-term fixed rates, and to ‘slash the cost of deposits’. Enabling local authorities …
‘Man, being the only creature created for his own sake, finds himself only in a sincere gift of himself.’ Gaudium et spes, 24. The final part of this reflection presents a bold view of some systemic changes that realising integral ecology may call forth in England over at least a generation. Over the course of …
What is home? Part 5: Reconnecting participation in our common home Read More »
‘Building the Kingdom of God, I think you have to consciously and intentionally decide you are going to work with local materials, and find out where God is in the local community. You need to have a fairly well developed doctrine of Creation and of Incarnation, particularly if you are working in an area with …
What is home? Part 4: A Christian vision for housing in England Read More »
How has the vision of a journey towards a promised land unfolded in the history of our own countries? A comprehensive assessment of the long history of land law and planning in England is beyond our scope; but even the sketch below points to its vital significance to inform what action Catholics might take for …
What is home? Part 3: The welfare of the communities of England Read More »
To the context in Part 1, the Judaeo-Christian tradition has much to say. The living God of Abraham has long covenanted with the people a ‘promised land’. The land is a gift, not of their choice, but where they are sent, participating in the providence of an abundant Creator. Their task involves dedicated will, common …
‘Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in.’ ‘I should have called itSomething you somehow haven’t to deserve.’ Robert Frost, The Death of the Hired Man, published in 1914. People’s ideas and practices about ‘house’ and ‘home’ are shaped by changing conditions, often over long periods of …
What is home? – Part 1: Time is greater than space, reality greater than ideas Read More »