Municipal Dreams
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municipaldreams.bsky.social
Municipal Dreams
@municipaldreams.bsky.social
8.7K followers 1.7K following 1.7K posts
Social historian of housing. Author of 'A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates' (RIBA Books) and 'Municipal Dreams: the Rise and Fall of Council Housing' (Verso). I blog at https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/.
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municipaldreams.bsky.social
I met Neftalem at the weekend and was impressed with him and the importance of his research. Please help if you are able or encourage people you may know to help. (Reposts welcome.)
neftalememanuel.bsky.social Neftalem Emanuel @neftalememanuel.bsky.social · 14h
Have you, a family member or friend moved from council housing to renting privately?

I’m a PhD researcher looking into what drives these moves, how it impacts tenants' lives and their views of the council housing tenure.

Please reach out and share among your contacts! 👇

#socialhousing
#renting
November 24, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
municipaldreams.bsky.social
🚨 My latest blog post is on Bergpolderflat, Rotterdam - the 1934 modernist scheme that revolutionised social housing and provided the prototype of the postwar slab block:
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/h...
Crane and early steel frame Completed steel frame Black and white photo of completed building
November 22, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
municipaldreams.bsky.social
🚨 NEW on Substack, my post on Liverpool’s interwar multi-storey Housing: Building an "A1 community in a properly planned township of flats"
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/liverpools...
Exterior view of rounded five-storey brick built tenement block Arched entrance with glimpse of inner courtyard Interior view with walkways and balconies
November 22, 2025 at 9:01 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
Born on this day in 1819, George Eliot. Here's my favourite bit from the greatest English novel - Eliot's concluding paean to Middlemarch's heroine, Dorothea (who, among other things worked to improve the housing of the local agricultural labourers). Here's to all the Dorotheas, past and present.
Text: Her full nature ... spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs
November 22, 2025 at 8:37 PM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
🚨 NEW on Substack, my post on Liverpool’s interwar multi-storey Housing: Building an "A1 community in a properly planned township of flats"
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/liverpools...
Exterior view of rounded five-storey brick built tenement block Arched entrance with glimpse of inner courtyard Interior view with walkways and balconies
November 22, 2025 at 9:01 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
🚨 My latest blog post is on Bergpolderflat, Rotterdam - the 1934 modernist scheme that revolutionised social housing and provided the prototype of the postwar slab block:
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/h...
Crane and early steel frame Completed steel frame Black and white photo of completed building
November 22, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
dmhardcc.bsky.social
It’s been a dreadful week in a rough year…decade…forever, and the only solution for the weekend is to finally treat myself to this wonderful book by @municipaldreams.bsky.social. Bookmark from the mighty @bookhaus.bsky.social. A refuge for a couple of days
A photo of A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates by John Boughton. A beautiful full colour hardback absolutely full of brilliance. The most joyful kind of scholarship and a solace
November 21, 2025 at 10:17 PM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
1/ 🧵 Ashbourne's almshouses, now all managed by The Old Trust. Firstly Owlfield’s Almshouses, eight almshouses built in the 1640s endowed by Ashbourne-born London fishmonger Roger Owlfield in his will of 1630. The upper storey was added in 1848.
Two-storey limestone almshouses on main street
November 21, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
timmorton2.bsky.social
When you think of #NewTowns what do you think of? #Brutalism #NewTopias #Thistopias #roundabouts #Architecture #Planning? How about the people?
#Corby75
@municipaldreams.bsky.social
@grindrod.bsky.social
@matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social
@alisoninman.bsky.social
youtu.be/CjNj2Ln_Qu4?...
Celebrating 75 Years of Corby Town: The 'Signs of the Times’ (Highlights)
YouTube video by Corby Community Channel
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
1/ New blog posts this week explore two forms of interwar multistorey housing. Firstly, Bergpolderflat, Rotterdam, 1934 - the pioneering modernist scheme that became the prototype of the postwar slab block:
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/h...
Black and white image of slab block showing entrance, staircase and lift end, and private balconies
November 21, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
mikeyashworth.bsky.social
From a 1936 handbook on Liverpool & Merseyside

flic.kr/p/2qXVLSN
Municipal Housing : page from : Merseyside : brochure issued by : The Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Co. Ltd. : 1936
A brochure issued with the compliments of the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Co. Ltd., then a major insurance company and headquartered in Liverpool. Formed in 1836 it expanded by acquiring ...
flic.kr
November 20, 2025 at 9:29 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
'Is it less possible to raise an A1 community in a properly planned township of flats than in a garden city or suburb?', City Architect Lancelot Keay, 1935. New on Substack, my post on Liverpool's interwar multi-storey tenement housing:
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/liverpools...
Black and white image of the entrance to six-storey tenement block Gerard Gardens
November 20, 2025 at 8:38 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
My second book, A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates, is a full colour hardback so not cheap but it's currently discounted and obviously worth every penny. It would make a wonderful Christmas present for someone special in your life. 😊
www.ribabooks.com/a-history-of...
A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates
Buy A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates by Boughton, John from the RIBA online Bookshop. ISBN 9781914124631
www.ribabooks.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
municipaldreams.bsky.social
🚨 New post: How Rotterdam Shaped Social Housing: Part II, Bergpolderflat and the Prototypical Slab Block
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/h...
Frontispiece and inside line drawing illustration of Bergpolderflat from Yorke and Gibberd, The Modern Flat (1937)
November 18, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
municipaldreams.bsky.social
I'll be talking with @peteapps.bsky.social about his important new book, 'Homesick - How Housing Broke London and How to Fix It' at the Writeidea Festival, Tower Hamlets Town Hall, 1pm, Saturday 22 November. Tickets free but you need to reserve a place.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/peter-apps...
Peter Apps: Homesick - How Housing Broke London and How to Fix It
Homesick is the gripping story of how housing defines a city’s past, present and future.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
I'll be talking with @peteapps.bsky.social about his important new book, 'Homesick - How Housing Broke London and How to Fix It' at the Writeidea Festival, Tower Hamlets Town Hall, 1pm, Saturday 22 November. Tickets free but you need to reserve a place.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/peter-apps...
Peter Apps: Homesick - How Housing Broke London and How to Fix It
Homesick is the gripping story of how housing defines a city’s past, present and future.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
🚨 New post: How Rotterdam Shaped Social Housing: Part II, Bergpolderflat and the Prototypical Slab Block
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/h...
Frontispiece and inside line drawing illustration of Bergpolderflat from Yorke and Gibberd, The Modern Flat (1937)
November 18, 2025 at 8:12 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
A bit of visual council housing history for housing geeks. I reckon these two photos (immediately adjacent) of a street in Kent tell you to all you need to know. Any thoughts?
Terrace of council housing with brick façade Semi-detached council housing, one house concrete panel faced, the other with brick.
November 17, 2025 at 8:01 PM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
Another example of decipherable housing history in Detling, Kent.
Brick facade, one window bricked up, with timber and plaster rear
November 17, 2025 at 7:56 PM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
We've been walking this weekend. The early morning haze and blue sky yesterday flattered to deceive.
Meadow, cows, early morning haze and blue sky
November 16, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
lucaspoy.bsky.social
📢 NEW BOOK ALERT!

The housing crisis is global, but so is the resistance.

A thread to introduce “Rent Strikes”, edited together with @hannesrolf.bsky.social, and published open access by @uclpress.bsky.social and @iisg-amsterdam.bsky.social

uclpress.co.uk/book/rent-st...

🧵(1/10)
November 13, 2025 at 10:36 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
Born on this day, 1897, Nye Bevan, Minister of Health and Housing when Labour built 805,000 council homes between 1945-51. He believed high-quality council housing should reflect 'the living tapestry of a mixed community'.
Bevan visiting newly built council estate with local councillors
November 15, 2025 at 8:28 AM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
St John's Hospital - Bakewell Almshouses. Originally founded in 1602 by John Manners; the current building - originally six homes - dates from 1709. Maintained by the Dukes of Rutland from 1703 to 1920. After falling into dereliction, restored by trustees in 2006.
Row of stone almshouses; church spire in background Plaque Text: The word 'hospital' used to mean lodging house, a place where 'hospitality' was provided. The original 1602 building was provided by John Manners, after an initiative by Bess of Hardwick with the 1597 approval of Queen Elizabeth I. The current building dates from 1709 and housed six separate homes, hence the six front doors you see today. The homes had one tiny room downstairs and one upstairs - no bathroom, toilet or kitchen. The Manners family, Dukes of Rutland from 1703, maintained the building until 1920. They gave it and the adjacent former town hall to the trustees who had been running the charity. The town hall was sold at a 1966 auction for £1,137.Financial problems caused the homes to become derelict and unfit for habitation by 2001. They were rescued and restored by the trustees in 2004-2006 at a cost of £325,000, which was raised through donations and grants. There are now three larger homes, combining modern facilities with many historical features. Award plaques for sensitive quality restoration
November 14, 2025 at 3:58 PM
municipaldreams.bsky.social
🚨 NEW POST: the scheme that inspired our postwar 'streets in the sky' - the Justus van Effen Estate in Rotterdam, Michiel Brinkman's masterpiece of the early 1920s. (New photos by @matthew-cook.bsky.social added.)

municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/h...
Courtyard and gallery view Gallery view with pot plants Inner courtyard
November 14, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Municipal Dreams
romeoromeotango.bsky.social
Do follow @municipaldreams.bsky.social . It's an excellent account.
municipaldreams.bsky.social Municipal Dreams @municipaldreams.bsky.social · 11d
🚨 New on Substack: my post on the postwar history of Lewisham's Honor Oak Estate - a story of exclusion, regeneration and changing community; the childhood home of Ian Wright (pictured here with his inspirational teacher Sidney Pigden).
municipaldreams.substack.com/p/the-honor-...
Ian Wright shaking hands with Sidney Pigden in a football ground
November 13, 2025 at 2:43 PM