Tag Archives: Emmanuel Carrere

Homesick by Peter Apps is a study of the current housing crisis in London. The specific failures that led to the fire at Grenfell Tower are covered in Apps’ excellent book Show Me The Bodies, while Homesick examines the broader landscape of housing in the capital and how working people have been priced out of both buying and renting in London. The first half of the book looks at the last five decades of housing policy in the context of rapid deindustrialisation and deregulation of the private sector, and the impact of those policies is brought to life through profiles of various people who reside in London who explain how this economic transformation has affected their living situation and their local communities. It’s mind-boggling that people on relatively low incomes used to be able to afford property in zones 2 and 3 just a few short decades ago. After a couple of terrifying chapters about London’s ageing population and the current and future risks of flooding, fire and climate change, Apps attempts a slightly more optimistic conclusion by covering how other cities in Europe have addressed issues with social housing, although I can’t say I felt very hopeful about how these ideas could even begin to tackle the scale and complexity of the problem in London. Nevertheless, Apps is an excellent reporter and Homesick is essential reading. Continue reading →