Liam Geraghty

From Audio Storytelling to Housing Muckraker

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.”

Key Investigative Milestones

• 2024 social housing wait time exposé prompting parliamentary questions
• 2023 investigation into mold-related health crises in council flats
• 2022 undercover series on “no-fault” eviction practices

Defining Works: Three Pillars of Impact

Over 100-year wait for family-sized social home in some parts of England

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.

Young people quitting London over housing crisis

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.

Tenants win £250k from billionaire landlord

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.

Pitch Perfect: Navigating Geraghty’s Beat

Focus on Policy Tangibles

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.

Data with Human Faces

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.

Follow the Money

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.

Regional Nuances Matter

Avoid London-centric pitches unless revealing new dynamics. His Yorkshire coverage [2] shows particular interest in how northern cities absorb displaced residents.

Cross-Beat Opportunities

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.

Awards and Industry Recognition

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.