The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-03)

The Sunday Times April 3, 2022 2GN 3

NEWS

Move over nimbies, there’s a new acronym in town. The battle to climb on Britain’s gold-plated property ladder has spawned a movement of yimbies fighting for more housing developments. Who or what is a yimby? It stands for Yes In My Back Yard — the cry of young wannabe homeowners whose response to planning proposals is the opposite of Not In My Back Yard (nimbies). It is easy to understand their frustra- tion. The percentage of those aged 25 to 34 who are able to buy their own home dropped from 59 per cent in 2003-04 to 41 per cent in 2019-20, according to the Office for National Statistics. A first-time buyer typically needs wealthy parents, a well-paying job or to move to a remoter part of Britain to be able to afford to get on to the housing ladder. The average price of a first home is £251,040, requiring a typical deposit of £62,500, according to the Halifax. Tom Williams, 28, became a yimby because he has had enough of spending £925 a month for a two-bedroom flat in Lambeth, south London. He says he is “sick and tired of perfectly good developments being blocked”. Last month he waited for three hours, until about 11pm, to have the chance to speak for about ten minutes at a Lambeth council planning committee meeting, held via video, in favour of the construc- tion of 141 flats. More than 60 of them will be sold or rented at below market rate as “affordable” housing. The plans were approved. He said: “All too often progress tack- ling [the housing crisis] is crushed by groups of people who already own their own homes simply because they were lucky enough to have been born a decade before those who don’t. “Until the planning system is sorted out, it needs people who care about the housing crisis to go and speak up in favour of new homes.” Planning meetings held via video and updated council websites have made it easier for younger people to get involved. Waiting for three hours is exasperating, but it is a little more civilised doing it at home rather than while sitting in a council chamber. Anya Martin, the director of Priced- Out, a campaign for affordable house pri- ces, has noticed more comments in favour of new housing on online planning portals. She said: “There does seem to be a growing recognition among young people that they are the ones who pay for our failure to build.” Activists in Brighton, Bristol, Cam- bridge, Oxford, London and Portsmouth have joined forces to form the Yimby Alli- ance to advocate for more housing. Alfie Robinson, 23, an architectural history graduate, became a yimby after he struggled even to book a viewing of a rental property in Norwich. “No matter

how much work people of my generation do today, they still won’t be able to buy a house,” he said. “It’s not about denigrat- ing the work the older generation has done. It’s about saying, ‘We won’t get as far by working just as hard.’ ” Yimbys, most of whom are in their twenties and thirties, are drumming up support on websites such as Just Build Homes, a tool that alerts them to new planning applications in their area. Millie Dodd, 24, who works at Just Build Homes, said: “Surveys show that in every part of the UK the majority of people are in favour of building more homes, but local planning officers and council- lors rarely hear from them. “We aim to change that. Supporters of new homes have just as much right

to be heard as people who oppose development.” Yimbyism is now a global movement, with young activists in Paris, Berlin and cities all over North America. Open New York, a pro-housing campaign that started on Twitter, won a huge victory last December after a three-year battle to create more affordable homes in SoHo and nearby NoHo in Lower Manhattan. More than 40 campaigners spoke in favour of development at a public hear- ing and paved the way for 3,200 homes — 800 of them affordable — to be built in one of New York’s wealthiest districts. The average price for an apartment in the area is $2.75 million (£2.1 million). Will Thomas, executive director of Open New York, said the feat would have

been politically impossible only a few years ago. Rents have risen by up to 50 per cent in some parts of the city, he said, as discounts offered during the pan- demic expire, and homelessness is at its highest rate since the Great Depression. When Thomas, 29, moved to New York, he shared a one-bedroom apartment with two others. He said: “The objectors against housing tend to be quite localised whereas the beneficiaries can be spread across the city. The people that could live in a development might not even know that the building is being pro- posed, so how can they organise in support of it? “Social media has allowed those dif- fuse beneficiaries to get in contact and to start fighting for their housing future.”

like!” Mandabach recalls of that 2012 meeting with Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders. The drama, starring Cillian Murphy as improbably handsome gangland boss Tommy Shelby, is now in its sixth and final series, which ends tonight. “But when Steve talked about this family of working- class gangsters, I think he saw in my heart that I was truly connecting with the story.” Peaky Blinders landed quietly on BBC2 in 2013. It is now a global hit and cultural phenomenon, spawning festivals, fashion trends and — soon — a dance theatre production. Famous fans have included David Beckham, Snoop Dogg and

David Bowie. Mandabach owns the licensing for it all. “But I wish I could have a dime for every Peaky haircut I see,” she says of the Shelbys’ oft-imitated undercut. Knight, who had been nominated for an Oscar in 2003 for Dirty Pretty Things, had long dreamt of making a TV series set in the Birmingham of his youth. He grew up with the stories his family told about a real gang called the Peaky Blinders, whom they had known. Knight has called Mandabach “one of those people who says things until they’re true”. It was this kind of drive that helped lift her out of destitution in 1960s Chicago.

With the help of a second cousin, who adopted her and her brother, Mandabach made it to college. She studied theatre for a year in England and got her first job in Los Angeles with Norman Lear, the renowned 1970s sitcom producer. In 1983, Mandabach moved to New York to work on a new comedy called The Cosby Show (she says she knew nothing of the sexual assaults of which Bill Cosby would later be accused). A string of hits followed — Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That ’70s Show. In 2005, she moved to London to pursue greater creative freedom. But it took a while to get going. “My

office was the members’ bar at the Royal Festival Hall,” says Mandabach from the home in Kensington she shares with her partner, Ken Bolan, a Fulham antiques dealer. It was at the bar that Knight told Mandabach about his idea. She might not have been familiar with the West Midlands but the family story hit home. During her twenties, her father had unexpectedly reappeared. To avoid being taken out by the mob, Irving Edelson had joined the navy and fled to the Philippines before returning to the US. But his daughter kept him at a distance for the rest of his life. Mandabach compares

Edelson to the character of Arthur Shelby Sr, Tommy’s father, a hustler who had abandoned his young children. “A lot of people in television are either orphans or people who want to explore identity,” she says. “And Tommy is a character who keeps changing to find out who he is.” Peaky Blinders connected with audiences in ways Mandabach only dreamt of. “But then,” she asks, “isn’t everybody watching TV to find out something more about themselves?” The final episode of Peaky Blinders is on BBC1 tonight at 9pm

Caryn Mandabach recalls the “bad guys” who showed up at her mother’s funeral. She was 16 and, weeks earlier, her father had disappeared. “They were looking for him,” Mandabach says of the burly mobsters who stood silently at the back. Her father, a small-time Chicago gangster, had left the family saddled with debt of the life-threatening kind. This experience resonated almost 50 years later when Mandabach, now a successful television producer, met a British screenwriter with an idea for a flashy mob drama. “I didn’t even know what a Birmingham accent sounded

Simon Usborne

Millie Dodd says supporters of new homes have a right to be heard

Rosamund Urwin and Liam Kelly Authors including Ian Rankin and Jeanette Winterson have criticised Amazon for allowing customers to get refunds on ebooks that they have finished reading. Under the online giant’s returns policy, buyers can receive a full refund within 14 days of purchase, even if they have read every word, depriving authors of royalties from those sales. A petition was started last Thursday demanding that this policy be changed, prompting the Society of Authors, the writers’ union, to put pressure on Amazon to shorten its returns window.

Writers riled by Amazon offering refunds — after readers finish the book

author’s royalty for books that have been or could have been read,” she said. The author Paul Theroux said the policy “has been abused”. One person had read his son Louis’s ebook and, after “finding an unwelcome reference to herself (but having read the entire book), returned it for a full refund”, he said. The Change.org petition calling for a change in the policy has more than 24, signatures. Amazon said: “Our e-book return rates are consistently low and we have policies and mechanisms in place to prevent this from being abused.” Week ending, page 25

made to pay royalties for products returned more than seven days after purchase, rather than a 365-day limit. Ebook royalties are calculated on a proportion of receipts, typically 25 per cent, whereas for physical copies writers are paid a percentage, usually between 7.5 and 10 per cent, of the recommended retail price. Nicola Solomon, chief executive of the Society of Authors, said that the returns window should be cut to about 48 hours and that royalties should be deducted only in cases of accidental purchase. “Seven days is more than enough to read a whole ebook and exchange, and it is not fair to deduct the

BBC’s hunt for

new political

editor turns into

real-life W1A

I’m a yimby, come and

build in my backyard

Melissa York

Young activists are taking on their elders at planning meetings to build more homes RICK FINDLER FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES

Authors say this is a growing problem, with one claiming that more than 100 copies of their books were returned last month, compared with fewer than ten in the first two months of the year. The trend appears to be driven by users of TikTok, the video-sharing platform that has engaged many young readers through the hashtag #booktok. Videos about returning ebooks have been viewed more than 17 million times. Some users provide tutorials on how to return books after reading them. Jeanette Winterson, whose novels include Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Frankissstein: A Love Story, criticised the company and

its billionaire founder Jeff Bezos for failing to ensure that writers were fairly paid. “It’s difficult to know how writers are supposed to live; perhaps we are meant to double up as Amazon delivery drivers?” she said. “Jeff Bezos started selling books because they have a long shelf life, are easy to package and their ISBN system is an algorithm dream. The man has never given a toss about books, bookstores or writers.” Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus novels, added: “I am appalled. Writers have a tough enough time as it is trying to make a living. If someone can read your book without paying

you anything for the privilege you’re sunk.” Amanda Craig, whose novels include The Lie of the Land, likened Amazon’s power over the publishing industry to Walmart’s over US farmers. “It’s grossly deleterious to authors and publishers alike,” she said. “If you buy a book and part-read it, you can’t return it to a shop. The same should apply to ebooks. I hope it is challenged in court.” It is not the first time that Amazon has faced complaints by authors over its returns policy. In December 2020 Audible, its audiobook site, was

FRANCESCO GUIDICINI FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES

Jeanette Winterson and Ian Rankin led the criticism of ebook returns

Tip your cap to the mobster’s daughter we have to thank for Peaky Blinders

Chris Mason has re-emerged as the frontrunner to replace Laura Kuenssberg as the BBC’s political editor after a protracted appointments process that has descended into farce. The presenter of Radio 4’s Any Questions? ruled himself out of the running in January but has been persuaded to put himself forward amid rumours that bosses do not wish to appoint either of the final two candidates. The corporation is understood to have whittled the applicants down to Anushka Asthana, 42, deputy political editor of ITV News, and Sophy Ridge, 37, of Sky News before deciding that their preferred candidate might already be in W1A after all. Colleagues say Mason, 41, who is regarded as an adept broadcaster with sound judgment and a flair for political analysis, has applied only in recent days. BBC bosses are understood to have asked him to do so after he was courted by rivals. It was revealed five months ago that Kuenssberg, who earned at least £260,000 last year, was stepping down as political editor, and BBC bosses had hoped to appoint a successor by February. Kuenssberg’s last assignment as political editor will be covering the local elections next month. At first the corporation appealed for internal candidates, but then the three BBC frontrunners — the deputy political editor, Vicki Young, 51, Mason and the former North America editor Jon Sopel — made clear they did not want the job. It was opened up to external candidates. Applicants said Jonathan Munro, the BBC’s interim head of news, and Katy Searle, its executive editor for politics, had emphasised during interviews that they wanted a journalist who would produce exclusives. Mason is not known for big scoops. “They said they wanted

someone who breaks stories, but I think they’ve realised they actually need a wise statesman who is good at analysing events, and Chris will do brilliantly at that,” said a senior political journalist. “This feels like a moment of self-realisation for the BBC, that they can’t be that bold.” A journalist who applied and has been ruled out added that the process has been “a farce worthy of W1A”, a sitcom about the BBC. Mason would be in line for a significant pay rise. He now earns less than £150,000 so is not obliged to reveal his salary. However, in 2017, before he took over Any Questions?, he revealed on Twitter that he earned £60,000 a year. Mason went to a grammar school in Skipton before studying geography at Cambridge. He joined the BBC in 2002. lSir Ian Cheshire, 62, has been named as the new chairman of Channel 4. Insiders believe the appointment of the City grandee signals the broadcaster’s imminent sale. Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, said Cheshire would lead Channel 4 through a “time of rapid change for the sector”. A Channel 4 source said: “That reference to ‘change’ must mean we’re heading for a sale. Cheshire has no broadcast experience, but he has the corporate experience to get us ready for privatisation.” @RosamundUrwin

Rosamund Urwin and Tim Shipman

al n the ners —

e of news, executive ad wanted a d Mason is oops. wanted BBC bosses are set to stop looking for a scoop-getter and go for Chris Mason

American producer Caryn Mandabach, right, helped bring gangster Tommy Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, to life

ALAMY

The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-03)

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