Homesick

How housing broke London and how to fix it.

In London, only those with large cash deposits can get on the property ladder. The wait for social housing can last decades. Yet in the 1980s, builders and nurses could afford family-sized homes, there was abundant social housing and long-term security for private renters. Orwell Prize-winning writer Peter Apps examines the last 40 years of housing policy and follows a diverse group of Londoners as their fortunes rise and fall. He also gives reason to hope, exploring the ways London could once more offer its citizens permanence, safety and opportunity.

• Hardback
• 352 pages
• Published 2025
• ISBN 9781836430360