With the housing crisis worsening both in our area and across the country, I find myself contemplating what one of this city’s most remarkable social advocates and champions, Harry Cowley, would be feeling about the current situation.

Harry, an anti-fascist and former leader of The Barrow Boys, led them through the notorious Oxford St confrontation which resulted in their gaining permission to sell produce on The Level and subsequently led to the establishment of The Open Market. However, he was most famously recognized as the leader of The Vigilantes.

When servicemen returning from the Second World War discovered that very few “homes for heroes” had been provided, The Vigilantes frequently broke into unoccupied buildings and relocated the veterans there. While squatting itself was not technically unlawful at that period, the illegal entry meant the group was rarely apprehended. This direct action failed to win universal approval but clearly represented a response to a government that seemed unconcerned about its returning military personnel.

Eventually, their objective was achieved after the organization sent direct appeals to Brighton Council and Prime Minister Churchill requesting immediate action. Churchill attempted to suppress national press coverage of The Vigilantes’ activities, though his cabinet fortunately refused his request. The administration then empowered local authorities to seize vacant properties, though this was never intended as a sustainable solution, and by summer 1946, more than 40,000 families were occupying RAF installations, former prisoner-of-war camps, empty residences, and decommissioned army barracks.

The post-war Labour administration, pressured by this grassroots movement, initiated the most extensive residential construction program this nation has ever undertaken. Surely we have reached a point where similar action is needed today? The typical UK home now costs £300,000, and when searching this price range on the leading property portal, over 1,000 properties are listed for sale at or below this amount within our city as investors liquidate their holdings, forcing former tenants into homelessness and burdening the council with escalating expenses.

Observing your surroundings while walking through the municipal center reveals numerous vacant or deteriorating residences, and it’s noteworthy that municipal data indicates nearly 1,000 properties have been unoccupied for more than a year.

Recently, ‘national empty homes week’ drew attention to the outcry over vacant dwellings while individuals endure street homelessness and local authorities throughout the country allocate substantial sums to temporary shelter. England alone contains 1 million uninhabited properties, with over 250,000 people requiring housing.

There exists evident commitment from the council that measures are necessary, and it’s encouraging to witness long-vacant properties being returned to occupancy. However, this remains preliminary, and progress must accelerate considerably. Our Harry Cowley would be deeply distressed by how minimal advancement has occurred since The Vigilantes’ era.

A municipality unable to accommodate its essential workers is preparing serious future difficulties, and even now we’re approaching a point where living expenses become merely survival costs. Our city confronts a severe shortage of genuinely affordable housing, with numerous residents working multiple employment just to maintain shelter. This ignores the over 2,000 individuals currently residing in temporary accommodations, 40 percent of whom are minors.

We must move beyond marginal adjustments, beginning with fundamentally reconsidering our perspective on housing. Shelter constitutes a basic human requirement and should be a universal right. It represents more than mere protection—it provides stability and forms the foundation upon which we construct our lives. It was Keir Hardie himself who, in his 1888 electoral manifesto, advocated for fair rental costs and decent living conditions.

While we lack Keir Hardie, we do have Keir Starmer, whose administration established an ambitious objective of constructing 1.5 million homes nationally over five years, exceeding 300,000 annually. They clearly fall far short of this target, though local circumstances would improve if the Government permitted councils to purchase long-term vacant properties at substantially reduced rates for public benefit.

This housing emergency cannot be resolved without the kind of decisive intervention we witnessed eight decades ago, yet the Government appears to lack the determination or courage for such progressive measures. This isn’t about expanding squatters’ rights (forgive me, Harry), but we might well draw lessons from ambitious post-war administrations responding to crises with long-term solutions. Because this situation will soon become an emergency.

Much more needs to be accomplished across the board to directly address the urgent requirement in our city for safe and stable housing—a straightforward issue of insufficient resources allocated appropriately for people to live with dignity.

Steve Davis serves as Green Group Convenor and Leader of the Opposition.