Britain's weird hate for air conditioning

On The Abundance Agenda this week, James explains why buses are cool – and shares depressing news about what appears to be another delay to HS2.

Then Martin digs deep into a new report packed with ideas for increasing Britain’s housing supply. The secret? More air conditioning and smaller homes!

And finally, we speak to writer, comedian and prolific podcaster Andrew Hunter Murray about the phenomenon of empty houses… and why they are actually good.

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

You can find Andrew Hunter Murray’s novel, A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering here. He’s also on the Private Eye Podcast, No Such Thing As A Fish, and The Naked Week.

The report Breaking the Bottlenecks by Centre for Cities can be found here.

James’s unwise wading in on Blue Labour and the politics of immigration is here.

Martin’s latest post about the nature of diagnosis is here.

Liz’s post on why we need seven bins is here.

00:00 Introduction to the Abundance Agenda Podcast

00:35 The Struggles of Non-London Bus Services

01:31 Exciting News: West Yorkshire's Weaver Network

03:02 The Future of Bus Franchising in the UK

06:40 HS2: Costs and Delays

12:34 Challenges in Building More Housing

15:56 The Debate on Air Conditioning and Flat Sizes

28:45 Substack News and Housekeeping

30:38 Introducing Our Guest: Andrew Hunter Murray

31:34 Andrew's Obsession with Second Homes

32:46 The Second Home Situation in the UK

35:12 Potential Solutions to the Housing Crisis

37:33 The Impact of Second Home Ownership Policies

39:36 Incremental Changes and Taxation

46:01 Gentle Density and Housing Solutions

52:19 Political Viability of Abundance Ideas

55:38 Conclusion and Podcast Promotion