‘Cranes are changing Bristol’s skyline, but our city is not a museum’

Looking out of the window of my one-bedroom flat (which costs an extortionate £900 per month but would be much more if my landlord wasn’t the market rent arm of a housing association), I can see 12 cranes.

None of these are the four that former Bristol mayor George Ferguson campaigned to save from the scrapyard in the 1970s – and is now using as his reason to oppose 245 new homes in the next phase of Wapping Wharf – but, to me, they’re a much more pleasing sight on our skyline.

These cranes are a sign that Bristol is adapting itself to modern times and the pressing housing need.

Bristol’s renters are paying the largest chunk of their wages each month – by far – to their landlords.

The cost-of-living crisis is hitting most people, but it’s hitting private renters even harder because they have someone wealthier than them seeking to squeeze out ever more unearned profit under threat of homelessness.

But it’s not just the thousands of individual struggles to pay rent each month which is emblematic of Bristol’s housing crisis, it’s also the herculean task of even finding somewhere to rent.

Bedminster’s skyline is just one area of Bristol experiencing rapid change – photo: Martin Booth

We have found ourselves in a situation where Bristol renters are competing against each other for the privilege of buying a rich person a second home. And that’s because of supply.

Of course, I support rent controls as a transitionary measure while we abolish private landlordism entirely.

However, even when that happens (I’m an incurable optimist), there is still not enough housing to meet Bristol’s needs.

If we want to get serious about bringing down rents, house prices, and homelessness, we need to make sure there are enough homes to meet demand, and those homes need to be put somewhere. We have two choices: build out or build up.

A crane used for bungee jumping in front of the cranes in front of the M Shed – photo: Martin Booth

Building out means expanding Bristol’s footprint, concreting over vast swathes of fields and green spaces, and creating new, mostly car dependent communities, far away from the heart of the city.

The alternative is to expand the capacity in our centre, building hundreds of new homes on relatively small patches of land.

Yes, they’ll change the skyline of Bristol, but this city cannot be a museum.

Those who wish to see views of Bristol as it was, or as it is now, should go on a day out to M Shed, not fight for ever worsening prospects for Bristol’s renters and first-time buyers.

George Ferguson says that the housing crisis “should never be used as a reason to wreck the soul of the city”. But the soul of Bristol is its people, not the undiminished silhouette of some cranes.

I’d urge George to take another look at his priorities but, either way, I hope that in the short term he can enjoy the sight of many more cranes over Bristol.

This is an opinion piece by Joe Rayment, a former Labour councillor and parliamentary candidate, now campaigning for greater housebuilding and an end to private landlordism

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• New and improved plans for next phase of Wapping Wharf
• ‘The housing crisis should not be used to wreck the soul of our city’
• Scrapping council tax reduction scheme ‘slap in the face’

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: