housing and homelessness

Illustration of rows of orange and green houses plus cards from the game Monopoly.

Investigations

Bristol council paying huge sums of money to rent homes from banned landlord

Back in 2022, Bristol City Council obtained a five-year court order barring landlord Naomi Knapp from renting out her homes. Now, it’s spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money to use her properties as emergency accommodation.

Alex Turner Daisy Steinhardt
Alex Turner and Daisy Steinhardt

People's History

A red brick corner building on a city street with large windows and white panels

Celebrating 30 years of the Base for Anarchy and Solidarity in Easton (BASE)

Tom Anderson
Tom Anderson

People's History

A photograph of terraced housing and a harbour from photograph of Bristol in 1880.

How a 19th-century journalist revealed the extent of poverty in Victorian Bristol

Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne
Illustration of a three tower blocks held by rope falling on three people's heads, on a pink background

Reports

As Bristol battles to build affordable housing, developers are still gaming the system

The Cable has uncovered a brazen attempt by prolific property developers to escape building affordable housing, at a time when the city is still falling well short of its own targets.

Matty Edwards
Matty Edwards
A man in a dark jacket stands in front of an overgrown Family Caring Centre sign, surrounded by trees and branches.

Area in Focus

‘South Bristol loses again’: new race to save athletics track

Matty Edwards
Matty Edwards
Bristol Unpacked podcast cover featuring two people in circular frames on a dark background with yellow accents and 'The Bristol Cable' logo.

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

Listen: Bristol Unpacked, with former Lord Mayor Paul Goggin on homelessness, mental health and the struggle for south Bristol votes

Alex Turner Neil Maggs George Colwey
Alex Turner, Neil Maggs and George Colwey

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

Graphic for Bristol Unpacked poodcast, featuring two individuals in separate yellow circles; one wearing a beanie and the other speaking into a microphone, with the logo of The Bristol Cable displayed on the right.

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Amanda Sharman on leading the charge for boat-dwellers’ rights

Who are the boat-dwellers living around Bristol's harbour, and why have they been at loggerheads with Bristol City Council? Neil Maggs chats to Bristol Boaters' Community Association co-chair Amanda Sharman to find out.

Alex Turner George Colwey Neil Maggs
Alex Turner, George Colwey and Neil Maggs

Reports

An aerial photo of a row of buildings, where one of the roofs has collapsed

One of Bristol’s worst ‘eyesore’ buildings has partially collapsed. What is the council doing about it?

The roof of a building owned by a notorious Bristol landlord has caved in, after years of attempts to force him to clean it up.

Alex King
Alex King

The Big Story

Two adults and a young child stand on a high-rise walkway with a twilight sky in the background. Both adults are wearing colourful headscarves.

Enduring trauma, and a struggle for justice: one year on from the Barton House high-rise evacuation

On 14 November 2023 an east Bristol tower block was evacuated over fears it could collapse, making national news. A year on, residents tell the Cable about the disruption to their lives, the ongoing impact on their wellbeing and their children's – and how a community has been left traumatised.

Priyanka Raval
Priyanka Raval

Reports

An illustration of various sizes of houses and towers with giant overdue and reminder letters sprouting between them

Council still hounding people with bailiffs after ‘ethical’ approach promise

The Cable has uncovered evidence Bristol City Council is referring thousands of council tax debts to enforcement agencies despite a stated policy to do so only as a last resort.

Matty Edwards
Matty Edwards

Opinion

An illustration of tower blocks that look old and battered, with tools laid out in front of them

‘Bristol’s council housing failings are shocking – but are just the tip of a massive national iceberg’

Decades of underinvestment in council homes by central government have led to unacceptable living standards for tenants, in our city and across the country. A national solution is needed.

Paul Smith
Paul Smith (Elim Housing Association)

Reports

Watchdog finds ‘serious failings’ after concluding council does not know what state its housing is in

Bristol City Council has been called out by a government regulator for not meeting new quality standards, with thousands of repairs and damp and mould cases long overdue for action and many safety check records missing.

Alex Turner
Alex Turner
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