Why is Britain's housing in crisis? What can be done about it? Housing expert Mike Tyrrell explains

The George Lansbury Memorial Trust was founded in 2012 to commemorate and reflect upon the life, work and legacy of George Lansbury (1859-1940). A pioneering campaigner for peace, women’s rights, local democracy and improvements in labour conditions, Lansbury was an adopted East Ender who made a great contribution to local as well as national life, serving as Poplar’s first Labour Mayor in 1919-20 and MP for Bromley-by-Bow 1910-12 and 1922-40. Among the many problems that bedevilled the East End then was the prevalence of slum housing and the high cost of rent. As Mike Tyrrell – this year’s seventh Lansbury Memorial Lecturer – reminds us, such problems have not gone away. Britain in general, and London in particular, is faced with a mounting housing crisis. Mike is very well-qualified to address this subject as an East Ender and housing expert who served as Chief Executive of Tower Hamlets Community Housing 2000-2016.