About

Tom has 20 years’ experience in research and policy roles concerning housing and community development. Over this time, he has worked on frontline housing issues within local authorities and housing associations, advised central government on a range of community-related policies, and led large-scale research projects in the housing field.

Tom's research is inter-disciplinary, focusing on issues of housing affordability, supply and alternative forms of provision and management. He has a keen interest in the role of community organisations in housing development. Tom’s recent research has explored how the housing needs of specific groups can be met, notably those on low incomes or in later life. Tom is active in the study of community owned assets, co-authoring influential policy research which has informed large government funding programmes. Tom is the Principal Investigator on several related studies, notably an evaluation of Power to Change’s Homes in Community Hands programme - a multi-million-pound investment scheme aimed at scaling-up community-led housing in five areas in England.

In his doctoral research Tom provided unique insights into the collective ownership of housing in England and Canada, exploring some of the causal processes which affect the development of these initiatives. His recent academic work has centred on the causal connections between collectivised forms of housing provision and their affordability. In addition, Tom has co-authored articles on the private housebuilding industry, revealing important trends in profit making and value extraction from within this sector.

Specialist areas of interest

• Housing affordability
• Housing supply
• Community-led housing
• The UK housebuilding industry
• Community development
• Social mechanisms theory
• Case study research

PhD supervision

Tom would welcome discussion on supervising students around any of the following areas

• Community-led approaches to housing and regeneration
• Alternative forms of property ownership
• Collectivism and social movements
• Housebuilding and housing supply
• Financialisation
• Comparative housing studies

Teaching

College of Social Sciences and Arts

Research

• Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research
• Social and Economic Research Institute

2019-2031 Social Impact Audit. Man GPM.

2019-2022 Homes in Community Hands Evaluation. Power to Change.

2021 The National Village Halls Survey. Action for Communities in Rural England.

2020 Research into the early construction messages emerging from the Innovative Housing Programme. Welsh Government.

2019-2021 Evaluation and Learning Partner. Nationwide Foundation.

2018-2019 An economic assessment of assets in community ownership. Power to Change.

2018-2019 Older People’s Housing, Care and Support Needs in South Cambridgeshire. Cambridgeshire County Council.

2018-19 The Future of the CLT Fund. CAF Venturesome.

2018-19 The Sheffield and Rotherham Strategic Housing Market Assessment. Sheffield City Council and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

2018 Effective housing for people on low incomes in the Welsh Valleys. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

2017-18 Housing, integration and segregation: A rapid literature review. Department for Communities and Local Government.

Publications

Postgraduate supervision

Tom supervises PhDs on a broad range of housing and property related issues, including community-led approaches to housing and regeneration and community ownership of assets. He currently supervises Carina Skropke’s PhD entitled ‘Community ownership of physical assets in changing times’.

Media

Tom is a researcher at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR). He is a specialist in housing affordability, supply and collective ownership of assets. He is a respected author on UK housing issues and the community and voluntary sector.