Campaign Overview
Yorkshire Building Society’s campaign showcased the potential to convert empty or underused buildings into homes, addressing the UK’s housing shortage. By framing repurposing as a practical, solution-led story, the campaign created compelling angles for broadcast journalists while making the issue tangible for audiences. Coverage across BBC Radio 5 Live, all BBC regional stations, and TV news brought national visibility to the housing shortfall and the economic benefits of reuse. The campaign demonstrated how research-driven storytelling, combined with spokesperson commentary, can turn complex policy into engaging, widely picked-up broadcast content.
Strong Results in Context
The campaign generated substantial coverage and audience impact:
- Secured BBC Radio 5 Live coverage, ensuring national attention on the housing reuse narrative
- Achieved coverage across every BBC regional radio station in the UK, providing consistent regional reach
- Featured on BBC Look North TV news, offering high-visibility visual coverage
- Extended reach through radio news wire distribution to additional regional outlets
- Messaging consistently presented repurposing as a financially viable, practical solution to the housing crisis
Audience Insight
- 2.6 million potential homes could be created through repurposing empty buildings
- 748,000 empty homes in the UK highlight available opportunity
- 6.5 million housing shortfall underscores urgent need
- Estimated £20,000 reuse cost with £4 return per £1 invested demonstrates financial viability
The Challenge
- Housing debate is politically saturated, with new-build narratives dominating media
- Needed a clear, solution-focused story journalists could use
- Coordinating national and regional TV and radio coverage for consistent messaging
- Translating complex housing data into stories that audiences could understand and relate to
