London is facing the worst housing crisis in modern times, with knock-on effects for the rest of the UK. Despite the desperate shortage of housing, tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of affordable homes are being pulled down, replaced by luxury apartments aimed at foreign investors. In this ideological war, housing is no longer considered a public good. Instead, only market solutions are considered - and these respond to the needs of global capital, rather than the needs of ordinary people. In politically uncertain times, the housing crisis has become a key driver creating and fuelling the inequalities of a divided nation. Anna Minton cuts through the complexities, jargon and spin to give a clear-sighted account of how we got into this mess and how we can get out of it.
Anna Minton is a writer, journalist and Reader in Architecture at the University of East London. Her first book, Ground Control, was published in 2009 to widespread acclaim. The Royal Commission's Fellow in the Built Environment between 2011 and 2014, she is a regular contributor to the Guardian and a frequent broadcaster and commentator.
Dr Hannah White is a researcher and writer. In 2015 she examined the importance of council housing with Professor Loretta Lees, University of Leicester and Cambridge House Law Centre based in Southwark and in 2016 organised the conference 'Can we afford to lose council housing?’ which looked at the likely impact of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. Her other research work includes study of New Labour’s Community Cohesion Framework, institutional racism and prejudice and social inequality.
