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Don’t be fooled: reviving the Help to Buy scheme won’t make housing more affordable in 2026
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook with two other people, all in hi-vis with hard hats
Maya Singer Hobbs

Don’t be fooled: reviving the Help to Buy scheme won’t make housing more affordable in 2026

A government review of the Help to Buy scheme found that it provided ‘significant value for money’. IPPR’s Maya Singer Hobbs argues there are better ways to boost affordability than a revival of the post-financial-crash scheme
Big Issue founder leads call for a national empty homes strategy: ‘A completely wasted resource’
Big Issue founder Lord John Bird at a House of Lords debate on empty homes
Housing

Big Issue founder leads call for a national empty homes strategy: ‘A completely wasted resource’

How Big Issue came up from the streets, 35 years on: ‘It was the most chaotic, beautiful madness’ 
a montage showing 35 years of the Big Issue
Big Issue 35

How Big Issue came up from the streets, 35 years on: ‘It was the most chaotic, beautiful madness’ 

Top Stories

It has taken years to regulate bailiffs. Stopping intimidation is as important as recovering debt
Vikki Brownridge

It has taken years to regulate bailiffs. Stopping intimidation is as important as recovering debt

Council spending on housing homeless families in England at almost £3bn a year: ‘It’s crippling’
Housing

Council spending on housing homeless families in England at almost £3bn a year: ‘It’s crippling’

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Cost of living crisis

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People could face an ‘impossible winter’ with energy bills forecast to rise by 25% in January
an elderly person looking out
Energy bills

People could face an ‘impossible winter’ with energy bills forecast to rise by 25% in January

Inside the Big Issue: 35 years of a hand up
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: 35 years of a hand up

More children will get free school meals this school year. Here’s what you need to know
child eating meal at school
Free school meals

More children will get free school meals this school year. Here’s what you need to know

What are Andy Burnham’s cost of living plans and what will they mean for you?
Andy Burnham as he arrived at 10 Downing Street.
Cost of living

What are Andy Burnham’s cost of living plans and what will they mean for you?

Housing

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Big Issue founder leads call for a national empty homes strategy: ‘A completely wasted resource’
Big Issue founder Lord John Bird at a House of Lords debate on empty homes
Housing

Big Issue founder leads call for a national empty homes strategy: ‘A completely wasted resource’

Don’t be fooled: reviving the Help to Buy scheme won’t make housing more affordable in 2026
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook with two other people, all in hi-vis with hard hats
Maya Singer Hobbs

Don’t be fooled: reviving the Help to Buy scheme won’t make housing more affordable in 2026

Council spending on housing homeless families in England at almost £3bn a year: ‘It’s crippling’
Jordan has been in and out of homelessness services for many years. Now in temporary accommodation, Jordan has been supported with his mental health and is positively moving forward.
Housing

Council spending on housing homeless families in England at almost £3bn a year: ‘It’s crippling’

‘I grew up in social housing and now I’m going to Harvard. It’s given me drive to change the world’
Monay Thomas in a graduation gown and mortar board celebrating her graduation from LSE
Education

‘I grew up in social housing and now I’m going to Harvard. It’s given me drive to change the world’

Our vendors

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What it’s like to sell the Big Issue magazine for 35 years: ‘We’re part of a British institution’
Big Issue at 35

What it’s like to sell the Big Issue magazine for 35 years: ‘We’re part of a British institution’

How a Big Issue vendor overcame homelessness to play hockey for England: ‘It means everything’
Former Big Issue player turned hockey player Dan Bleach in a changing room
Big Issue 35

How a Big Issue vendor overcame homelessness to play hockey for England: ‘It means everything’

Bryan Adams named as Big Issue ambassador: ‘Keep fighting the fight’
Bryan Adams
Social Justice

Bryan Adams named as Big Issue ambassador: ‘Keep fighting the fight’

How Big Issue saved vendor Robin Price’s life as magazine turns 35: ‘Without them, I’d be dead’
Robin Price
our vendors

How Big Issue saved vendor Robin Price’s life as magazine turns 35: ‘Without them, I’d be dead’

Employment

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I’m a KFC youth worker. Young people aren’t a lost cause – we’re failing them at the first hurdle
Young people at the KFC Youth Foundation Middlesborough Youth Hub.
Ellie Smith

I’m a KFC youth worker. Young people aren’t a lost cause – we’re failing them at the first hurdle

How your first job can determine what you earn for the rest of your career
a woman shaking hands with a man at a desk
Employment

How your first job can determine what you earn for the rest of your career

Over a million workers ‘trapped in poverty’ as they lose nearly £500 a month in cancelled shifts
A barista at work. Insecure work can be expensive for employees
insecure work

Over a million workers ‘trapped in poverty’ as they lose nearly £500 a month in cancelled shifts

NEET numbers fall but young people still face jobs crisis: ‘This is not a turning point’
people walking
NEETs

NEET numbers fall but young people still face jobs crisis: ‘This is not a turning point’

Social justice

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How Big Issue came up from the streets, 35 years on: ‘It was the most chaotic, beautiful madness’ 
a montage showing 35 years of the Big Issue
Big Issue 35

How Big Issue came up from the streets, 35 years on: ‘It was the most chaotic, beautiful madness’ 

It has taken years to regulate bailiffs. Stopping intimidation is as important as recovering debt
a hand holding a bill with past due stamped on it
Vikki Brownridge

It has taken years to regulate bailiffs. Stopping intimidation is as important as recovering debt

Labour is facing calls to means-test disability benefit PIP. Here’s why it would push up poverty
Andy Burnham
Disability benefits

Labour is facing calls to means-test disability benefit PIP. Here’s why it would push up poverty

Why music megastar Bryan Adams became a Big Issue Ambassador: ‘Big kudos for everything you do’
Bryan Adams
Big Issue 35

Why music megastar Bryan Adams became a Big Issue Ambassador: ‘Big kudos for everything you do’

Activism

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Protesters block roads and occupy offices over the cost of living: ‘Bills are rising but so are we’
Acorn protesters occupied offices to protest the cost of living crisis
Protest

Protesters block roads and occupy offices over the cost of living: ‘Bills are rising but so are we’

How being named a Big Issue Changemaker changes lives
The Big Issue Changemakers 2026 event
Changemakers

How being named a Big Issue Changemaker changes lives

Leicester Riders: The basketball team taking on knife crime
Sport

Leicester Riders: The basketball team taking on knife crime

‘Football is a release, it takes away all the stress you have and you just feel free with the ball’
Nairobi's Zebstrong team at the Street Child World Cup
World Cup

‘Football is a release, it takes away all the stress you have and you just feel free with the ball’

Environment

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A data centre is uniting bugs and bikers to fight Google: ‘We demand you replace what you destroy’
The old speedway ground in Thurrock being eyed up by Google carries both sporting and ecological significance
Technology

A data centre is uniting bugs and bikers to fight Google: ‘We demand you replace what you destroy’

‘Extreme heat is not just a climate issue. It is a housing crisis too’
Heatwave in London circa 1935
Housing

‘Extreme heat is not just a climate issue. It is a housing crisis too’

Sustainable Ventures: How Europe’s biggest climate tech hub is innovating to save the planet
Sustainable Ventures HQ in London's old County Hall building
Big Issue Invest

Sustainable Ventures: How Europe’s biggest climate tech hub is innovating to save the planet

Why I wrote an opera about Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg raising a fist in protest
Music

Why I wrote an opera about Greta Thunberg