Toxic assets of shared ownership, Five years since Brexit + a 'half-job' council

Happy Friday! What often feels like the longest month is coming to a close, and there's been the odd morning where it's felt like Spring is inching its way towards us soon (inbetween storms!). Each Friday we'll bring you our picks from what we've published each week as The Lead's week that was digest for the week ending Friday 31 January 2025.

A reminder we're publishing over on Substack now so this site acts as an archive and we'll publish this digest each Friday. Our email newsletter lands in tens of thousands of inboxes each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with in-depth storytelling, incisive writing on topics not always making the headlines, our commitment to news and features across the North of England and more. It's free to receive the emails, and if you can please do support us with a paid subscription to ensure we can keep bringing you news and features on topics you might not see covered in the same depth elsewhere.

We tell the stories of Robert, Darren and Paul as they outline how what they thought would be their dream home has become a 'toxic asset'. In many cases the shared ownership homes they bought through housing association schemes are leaving them trapped, or having to pay the difference to be able to move. It's when 'owning' your own home, is anything but, as Hannah Fearn reports in our special report feature.

Today marks five years since Brexit officially began, while there will be plenty of wailing we asked Best for Britain's Niall McGourty for his reasons to be cheerful despite what has on nearly all economic measures been a terrible idea. 

We also welcome Teesside Lead editor, Leigh Jones, to write on a year since the Teesworks public review was published. The document went deep into the subject of transparency when it comes to £560million of public being spent at one of the UK's single-largest brownfield development sites.

Elsewhere across The Lead North and we've been focused on prominent local buildings and their futures, from the TVR Factory in Blackpool to the former George pub in Southport. 

And we'll leave you with the curious case of the Bamber Bridge henge. It's very Lancashire, the entire saga.

Some The Lead parish notices too:

• Thanks to everyone who took part in our reader survey - there was some great feedback and things for us to reflect on as a team. We're commissioning some new features and long reads for the weeks ahead, so we're taking your ideas and feedback onboard. Health, politics and climate came through strongly - so expect to see more of these. We'll also be introducing some stories and insights for paid subscribers only too.
• We're on Bluesky, as well as X, so do give us a follow to be notified of new stories going live. Our piece about why we're staying on X, despite everything, is a good read.
• If you're a freelance journalist, or have a story tip, our pitching guidelines have all been updated and are over on our Substack.

Useful links

• See all our newsletters on Substack and read the full archive of them
• Our local titles are The Blackpool Lead, The Lancashire Lead, The Southport Lead, The Calderdale Lead and The Teesside Lead - all on Substack and providing in-depth news and features every Wednesday and Sunday, direct to thousands of inboxes.
• If you're able to support us with a subscription, you can do so via Substack. There's monthly, annual and founder options available. It helps ensure we can keep covering stories beyond the usual headlines, going deep into topics you care about and may be surprised to see covered too.