The recent terror attacks on Europe, in cities including Manchester, London, Paris, Nice, Stockholm and Berlin, have amplified the need for debate on how we defend urban centres and the public realm.  With a shift change having taken place in the past decade major financial and political centres are seemingly no longer the sole focus of terrorism, with terror groups and individuals now more and more targeting ‘soft spaces’ (our social and cultural areas, defined by human activity).

Heritage issues are rarely far away for the property industry, and strategic development in my experience seems particularly vulnerable to its ‘charms’. To a large extent, that arises strategic sites naturally being situated on greenfield and settlement edge sites, close to small to medium sized settlements. In a landscape scattered with prominent ancient churches, country houses and their parks and gardens, listed rural farmhouses, and village cores designated as Conservation Areas, heritage, and in particular the setting of heritage assets, can have a major impact on development potential and risk.

7 in 10 years, 10 in 15 years, average political life expectancy of 1.3 years. I have heard and misquoted enough statistics about coming and going housing ministers to keep me going until the inevitable next one comes along.

It's been a while since I wrote a blog article. I could say I've been busy. But in truth, it's because of the Election. Not the result (albeit I'll certainly come back to that), rather it being called in the first place. My initial instinct when I heard that Theresa May had called time on the Tory's 2015 mandate was to see if it was a wind up. Honestly, did anyone apart from political groupies and the young and optimistic, have the stomach for another election? Hadn't we had enough upheaval as a consequence of the Scottish referendum, the ’15 Election, and Brexit to keep us reeling for a good few years? And didn't we have more important things to focus on, such as salvaging what remains of this economic cycle before the burners start running low on gas, and how on earth to present ourselves as a credible, progressive nation whilst formally commencing Brexit negations?

Following the election Chris has joined Iceni Projects as Associate in the Engagement (Manchester) team.  He has over a decade of political experience in the North West, including running three successful general election campaigns – 2010, 2015, 2017. He has also worked for a Member of Parliament and served as a Borough Councillor on a Lancashire council.

Quota sampling, herding, socio-economic profiling and weighting – just some of the essential parts that make up the mysterious world of opinion polling. An old political dictum states that one should always ignore the polls, especially if you’re the one running for office. However, in reality they are plastered all over the media, online and print, so who can help but take note.

Date: Tuesday 30th May 2017

Amid general election frenzy, new Metro Mayors settling into their roles and Jeremy Paxman shouting at party leaders…Iceni has decided to take a week off from politics. Instead of politicians and elections, this week we want to talk about young people and how they’re reacting to the housing crisis.

One thing is clear: housing and planning will not be at the top of the Prime Minister’s in tray come 9 June. Brexit is set to devour civil service and governmental resources as the withdrawal negotiations begin in earnest: Brexit will eclipse domestic policy for years to come.

For the first time in a long time the three main parties are proposing very different policies. Here are 7 things you need to know about what they are saying on housing and planning.