Tenants: The People on the Frontline of Britain's Housing Emergency
Tony is facing eviction instead of enjoying retirement; Limarra isn't 'homeless enough' to get help from the council; and for Kelly and her asthmatic son Morgan, another new rented house is a matter of life and death. This is twenty-first century Britain, where millions are trying to build lives in privately rented accommodation, which creates profit for landlords but not safe and stable homes for tenants.
This fierce and moving account tells their stories, and the story of how we built a housing system where homelessness is a constant threat. Award-winning housing journalist Vicky Spratt traces decades of bad decisions to show how and why the British dream of homeownership has withered and the safety net of social housing has unravelled. She has spent years talking with those on the frontline all around the country. Here, she illuminates the ways this national emergency cuts across generations, class and education and is devastating our health, destroying communities and transforming the social, economic and political landscape beyond recognition.
But it is not irreversible. The Covid-19 pandemic showed that radical action is possible, and there are real steps we can take to give everyone the chance of a good home. This urgent, ground breaking book leads the way.
Vicky Spratt is a journalist whose work regularly shapes public policy. Her 2016 campaign Make Renting Fair got letting fees in England and Wales banned, and she has spoken at political conferences, APPGs, and appeared on BBC News, Newsnight, Woman's Hour, Radio 4 and NTS radio. She is currently the i Paper's Housing Correspondent and a writer and editor at Refinery29, as part of the Vice Media Group.
Author: Vicky Spratt
Format: Paperback, 352 pages, 128mm x 196mm, 280 g
Published: 2023, Profile Books Ltd, United Kingdom
Genre: Social Issues, Services & Welfare
Tony is facing eviction instead of enjoying retirement; Limarra isn't 'homeless enough' to get help from the council; and for Kelly and her asthmatic son Morgan, another new rented house is a matter of life and death. This is twenty-first century Britain, where millions are trying to build lives in privately rented accommodation, which creates profit for landlords but not safe and stable homes for tenants.
This fierce and moving account tells their stories, and the story of how we built a housing system where homelessness is a constant threat. Award-winning housing journalist Vicky Spratt traces decades of bad decisions to show how and why the British dream of homeownership has withered and the safety net of social housing has unravelled. She has spent years talking with those on the frontline all around the country. Here, she illuminates the ways this national emergency cuts across generations, class and education and is devastating our health, destroying communities and transforming the social, economic and political landscape beyond recognition.
But it is not irreversible. The Covid-19 pandemic showed that radical action is possible, and there are real steps we can take to give everyone the chance of a good home. This urgent, ground breaking book leads the way.
Vicky Spratt is a journalist whose work regularly shapes public policy. Her 2016 campaign Make Renting Fair got letting fees in England and Wales banned, and she has spoken at political conferences, APPGs, and appeared on BBC News, Newsnight, Woman's Hour, Radio 4 and NTS radio. She is currently the i Paper's Housing Correspondent and a writer and editor at Refinery29, as part of the Vice Media Group.