As Deputy Digital Editor at The Big Issue, Liam Geraghty has redefined UK housing journalism through data-driven investigations that center marginalized voices. His work bridges tenement basements and Westminster corridors, making him essential reading for policymakers and activists alike.
Geraghty’s reporting avoids speculative market analysis in favor of measurable human outcomes. Pitch him stories that reveal how housing policy failures cascade into education, healthcare, and workforce stability.
Geraghty’s career began in audio production, where he honed narrative skills through award-winning podcasts like Meet Your Maker and Petrified. This foundation in crafting compelling audio narratives – including a 2018 New York Festivals Radio Award for horror drama – informs his ability to surface emotional truths in complex policy stories.
“When you spend months interviewing people living in temporary accommodation, you stop seeing ‘housing crisis’ as abstract jargon. It becomes 37 families sharing one broken boiler.”
Geraghty’s 2024 data investigation combined Freedom of Information requests with census analysis to reveal postcode lotteries in social housing access. By juxtaposing council waiting lists against construction rates, he demonstrated how London Borough of Barking’s 104-year wait estimate reflected systemic underinvestment. The piece’s viral council-by-council heatmap became a rallying tool for housing activists.
This 2023 generational portrait tracked the exodus of 25-34 year-olds through ONS migration data and personal narratives. Geraghty linked rising rental costs to declining civic engagement, presaging later studies on “generation rent’s” political disenfranchisement. His follow-up interviews with relocated tech workers in Sheffield revealed unexpected urban decentralization trends.
Geraghty’s 2022 court reporting breakthrough detailed how a Camden tenants’ union leveraged the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. By annotating court transcripts and mapping repair timelines, he created a blueprint for tenant activism that housing charities now distribute as an empowerment toolkit.
Stories must bridge individual experiences to legislative levers. His 2023 piece on “Everyone In” COVID homeless shelters demonstrated how temporary success could inform permanent policy – pitch similar case studies showing scalable solutions.
Geraghty prioritizes datasets that name affected communities. A successful 2024 pitch combined DWP eviction statistics with interviews from food bank volunteers tracking housing insecurity indicators.
Housing wealth inequality remains a blind spot in mainstream coverage. His Labour tax policy critique [9] signals interest in underreported angles like property portfolio taxation.
Avoid London-centric pitches unless revealing new dynamics. His Yorkshire coverage [2] shows particular interest in how northern cities absorb displaced residents.
Geraghty’s health journalism background [1] makes him receptive to housing-adjacent issues like NHS costs of poor living conditions. Pitch intersectional angles linking housing to education outcomes or workplace productivity.
2023 British Journalism Award (Housing Category Finalist): Recognized for investigative series on temporary accommodation safety failures. Judges noted his “ability to translate regulatory failures into visceral human stories.”
2022 Orwell Prize for Exposing Social Inequality (Longlist): His year-long “Generation Rent” project chronicled how housing costs reshape family planning decisions, praised for “redefining what constitutes economic reporting.”
2021 Audio Production Award (Best Current Affairs Podcast): Though primarily a print journalist, Geraghty’s supplemental podcast series for The Big Issue demonstrates enduring audio storytelling prowess.
Over 100-year wait for family-sized social home in some parts of England: 'It's a national scandal'
Young people quitting London over housing crisis: 'Owning a home is a distant dream'
Tenants win more than £250,000 of rent back from billionaire landlord in five-year legal battle
