The Battle for Housing Quality: upholding housing values in a time of financial and political pressure
> Click on the image to watch the recording of the event
On 14th January 2026, Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani chaired the termly Coming Home event exploring the challenges around delivering good quality, affordable homes in the face of current financial and political pressures.
The Coming Home report proposed that a distinctively Christian approach to housing and community could be encapsulated in five core values Safe, Stable, Sociable, Sustainable and Satisfying. The event considered how these can be translated into the practical design and delivery of affordable homes.
We took a dive into the past, to learn from the inspirational approach taken by Fr Basil Jellicoe and the St Pancras House Improvement Society. Bishop Guli’s housing adviser Jonathan Tame shared how they wonderfully illustrated and foreshadowed the values in Coming Home. (Download Jonathan’s slides here)
Then we considered the present, as architect Charina Coronado took us through the RIBA prize winning Dover Court Estate redevelopment in Islington, demonstrating how it reflected the five S values in Coming Home. (Download Charina’s slides here)
Following that, former housing minister Eddie Hughes discussed the Church Development Agency’s new 'Five S Design Guide' and how they are hoping to use it as a guide for architects and developers. (Download Eddie’s slides here)
Finally, Graham Brookfield from Homes England explained the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme, and how it will help housing associations, local authorities and other charity or community organisations to deliver social and affordable homes. (Download Graham’s slides here)
In the ensuing panel discussion, Bishop Guli fielded questions from the event participants which the guest speakers responded to, before Eleanor Sanderson, the bishop of Hull, provided a spiritual reflection on how God has given each of us agency to get involved in housing as an expression of God’s kingdom.
