About Chris
Who is Chris Worrall?
Chris Worrall is a vociferous housing campaigner on tenant and resident issues and a local community activist in East London. Chris is the Chairman of a local resident association in E3 that covers a 1,000 unit new build mixed-use scheme where he helps leaseholders, private renters, and tenants alike tackle housing related issues.
Chris is able to use his extensive knowledge in residential investment and Board-level housing experience to this end, challenging issues on service charge, property management, and managing complex landlord tenant relationships.
Chris sits as a Non-Executive Director of a housing charity focused on women fleeing domestic abuse called Housing for Women and sits as an Independent Development Committee Member for a medium-sized housing association in East London.
His background in real estate investment and finance for one of the UK's largest Build-to-Rent developers, Quintain, has seen him acutely involved with billions of pounds worth of real estate development of owner-operated residential housing. Prior to Quintain he has worked for New York based real estate private equity investor Thor Equities, which at the time was the second largest landlord on Fifth Avenue, where he led on a number of investments in Central London and Europe.
Chris now works in the land acquisition team of Guild Living, a later living developer who seeks to change the way we age through developing a new housing with care model. He hold's a Masters in Real Estate Finance from the University of Cambridge, a First-Class honours degree from UCL in Project Management for Construction, and a HND in Construction from the College of North West London.
In his spare time Chris is the Chair of the Bromley South Ward in Poplar and Limehouse Constituency Labour Party (CLP), and sits on the Labour Housing Group Executive Committee. Chris was responsible for drafting and co-ordinating LHGs written submission for the long-term delivery of social and affordable rented housing inquiry held by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.
Chris is the Editor of the blog Red Brick. A blog founded by Steve Hilditch and Tony Clements that is renowned by The Guardian as "a superb blog analysing social housing policy". Chris is also a trade unionist and a member of the GMB. Read more about Chris's motivations for becoming a community and Labour Party activist here.
A wink and a nudge to corruption in our planning system
What do bribery, conflicts of interest, opaque lobbying, weak oversight, curiously timed donations, excessive hospitality, and the revolving door all have in common? They are all corruption risks inherent within our discretionary planning system.
We should be worrying about the findings made by anti-corruption organisation Transparency International, who found many local authorities lack the necessary safeguards to prevent corruption in our planning system. This begs the question – why is the left not demanding more from planning reform?
https://redbrickblog.co.uk/2020/11/a-wink-and-a-nudge-to-corruption-in-our-planning-system/
Lest we forget the role of demand in housing affordability
For a significant number of young and low-income people housing affordability is getting worse. Housing affordability, or the lack thereof, is a concept widely understood by those living in the United Kingdom. Or is it?
On 8th July 2020, a ground-breaking new book was published by Bristol University Press. ‘Understanding Affordability: The Economics of Housing Markets’, by Professor Geoffrey Meen (Reading University) and Professor Christine Whitehead (LSE). The book sets out to unpick the complex forces exacerbating the endemic unaffordability of UK Housing. Thankfully, it offers insight and recommendations to improve our country’s dire situation.
https://redbrickblog.co.uk/2020/10/lest-we-forget-the-role-of-demand-in-housing-affordability/
Levelling-up the land market under Labour
On the 6th August 2020 the Conservative Government announced a change to the standard method for calculating the housing need requirement. The debate had up until this point shifted from the ‘numbers’ question. Towards the ‘how’ and ‘where’. Now the proposed new method seeks to achieve a ‘fair share’ under Boris Johnson’s ‘levelling-up’ agenda. But is this the right approach?
https://redbrickblog.co.uk/2020/09/levelling-up-the-land-market-under-labour/
Busting the housing supply shortage ‘myth’
Supply is one of the key problems in the UK housing market. Sadly, the latest in-vogue argument is that the perceived housing supply shortage is a misconception. This track of thought has permeated right across the political spectrum. But do these claims hold weight?
https://redbrickblog.co.uk/2020/08/busting-the-housing-supply-shortage-myth/
When averages don't have to be so mean
Chris's contribution to the Red Brick blog on the 2nd June 2020 discusses how the rates of Local Housing Allowances have been unfair, as well as what a progressive policy that results in more support for households at lower parts of the income distribution could look like for Labour.
https://redbrickblog.co.uk/2020/06/when-averages-dont-have-to-be-so-mean/
Sweet Eid Initiative
Chris supported the Sweet Eid Initiative led by Human Relief Foundation and Poplar Harca, whereby sweets were gratefully received by Head Teacher Paul Jackman, for the children having to attend Manor Field Primary School during lockdown.
The Big Debate: What should Labour's Housing Policy be?
Chris joined Anisha Faruk of Open Labour, Anya Martin Head of Policy of PriceOut UK and Councillor Ben Clay of Tenant's Union UK for a comradely debate on the motion:
"This house believes that the Labour Party should adopt the 'Cancel the Rent' policy as laid out in the open letter titled 'On the Subject of Rent and COVID-19'"
Recorded 22nd May 2020
In Conversation with Thangam Debbonaire MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing Thangam Debbonaire joined Chris for an event on 'The Future of Labour's Housing Policy' hosted by the Young Fabians and Labour Housing Group on 14th May 2020.
In Conversation with Ian Murray MP
On 16th March 2020 at 7pm Young Fabian member Chris Worrall was joined by Ian Murray MP in his office in the House of Commons to talk all things Scotland, contesting the deputy leadership, and the future of the UK Labour Party.
Campaign: Clarion Housing Crisis
Tired of being ignored by their landlord, Clarion Housing, resident's were interviewed about their experience living under the mismanagement of Europe's largest housing association.
Chris was instrumental in pulling the campaign together for collective action against a "social" landlord who has clearly forgotten their social purpose.
Both shared owners and tenants have had serious increases in service charge as well as as shocking stories of repairs and maintenance issues.
Service-charge Scrooges hike up costs before Christmas
Chris was interviewed for an article in The Times covering the plight of shared owners who have been victims of mismanagement and incorrect accounts of "social" landlord Clarion Housing.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/service-charge-scrooges-hike-up-costs-before-christmas-mzjdf0rqq