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Good morning.

Over this past year my home has been a wonderful refuge. It’s warm. It’s secure, it’s within easy access of beautiful countryside and shops, and it’s safe. But just a short walk from my front door there are numerous homes which by contrast have become places of danger. The former mill cottages of East Lancashire, poorly maintained and overcrowded, have provided the ideal environment in which a virus can spread.

Poor housing is one of the main reasons that deprived communities have been disproportionately hit by coronavirus and the wider damage it causes. The house is becoming more and more a symbol of inequality.

This is just one aspect of what many people are describing as a housing crisis in our nation with a growing concern about the chronic lack of affordable, quality homes. As with any crisis the temptation is to rush to easy and quick solutions, but the risk is that we might make things worse and end up building the slums of the future. It’s important first to stop and think about the purpose of the home.

On Sunday the Archbishops published the report from their Commission on Housing. Commentators and journalists have focused on the practical recommendations such as the future use of church owned land. But to my mind, just as interesting is the vision for housing that the report presents us with.

The Bible is rich with imagery of the home. In St Johns Gospel Jesus says that, ‘He has come to make his home amongst us,’ a vivid way of describing the Christian belief that in Jesus God has come to share in our human life. And by making his home with them, Jesus also invites people to an eternal home, the New Jerusalem, a place of staggering beauty where God for ever dwells among them. So for a Christian, the homes we live in here on earth echo something of that heavenly home.

From the basis of that big picture vision, the report then invites its readers to imagine a better future. One in which everyone has access to a home that is decent, safe and beautiful; which is designed to enable good relationships and which gives people a stable place within the wider community. Imagine everyone being able to live in homes they can delight in because they are beautiful and sustainable.

Today the Prime Minister will be describing how we can come out of lockdown. As we re-imagine our national life, the role that housing plays in offering people safety and dignity will be critical. But we can’t just build our way out of the housing crisis. We also need to imagine our way out of it.

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