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Homesick: How Housing Broke London and How to Fix It
From the author of the Orwell Prize-winner SHOW ME THE HOW WE LET GRENFELL HAPPEN, the gripping story of how housing defines a city's past, present and future
A Waterstones Book of the Year 2025
'Apps set the gold standard with his Grenfell coverage. With Homesick, he dismantles the sham of UK housing policy – razor-sharp, stylish, and morally unflinching.' Darren McGarvey
In London, only those with vast cash deposits can get on the property ladder, private rents have spiralled out of control and the wait for social housing is measured in decades. Once vibrant communities are being uprooted, schools are closing down and homelessness is rampant.
It was not always like this. In the 1980s, builders and nurses could afford family-sized homes, there was abundant social housing and long-term security for private renters.
Tracing the last forty years of housing policy, Peter Apps examines this transformation, following a diverse group of Londoners as their fortunes rise and fall across the decades amid the economic forces sweeping through the city. With clear-eyed urgency, he reveals what will happen when a generation of renters retires and climate change brings fire and flood to a city unprepared for extremes.
He also gives us reason to hope, exploring the ways London can transform from a market for private profit to a place that once more offers permanence, safety and opportunity for its citizens. A place to call home.
A Waterstones Book of the Year 2025
'Apps set the gold standard with his Grenfell coverage. With Homesick, he dismantles the sham of UK housing policy – razor-sharp, stylish, and morally unflinching.' Darren McGarvey
In London, only those with vast cash deposits can get on the property ladder, private rents have spiralled out of control and the wait for social housing is measured in decades. Once vibrant communities are being uprooted, schools are closing down and homelessness is rampant.
It was not always like this. In the 1980s, builders and nurses could afford family-sized homes, there was abundant social housing and long-term security for private renters.
Tracing the last forty years of housing policy, Peter Apps examines this transformation, following a diverse group of Londoners as their fortunes rise and fall across the decades amid the economic forces sweeping through the city. With clear-eyed urgency, he reveals what will happen when a generation of renters retires and climate change brings fire and flood to a city unprepared for extremes.
He also gives us reason to hope, exploring the ways London can transform from a market for private profit to a place that once more offers permanence, safety and opportunity for its citizens. A place to call home.
- GenresNonfiction
353 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2025
9 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Peter Apps
28 books11 followersPeter Apps lives in England, and Deja Vu To The Nth is his third novel. He wrote it because he still thinks people are pretty amazing even though Peter hasn’t met anyone who has built a space portal, but then again, he hasn’t looked in everyone’s garden shed either.
He was born on 1st January 1948 has lived in Sheerness, Kent for most of his life. The Isle of Sheppey where Sheerness is situated has a long, rich history which has always fascinated Peter. History might seem a far cry from Science Fiction but imagining life in a Roman settlement is imagining a world just as alien as a distant planet.
Although he worked in a series of routine jobs he likes to do his own thing when he can.
For example, all his computers are Microsoft free zones and prefers to use Linux. He has always had an interest in science, especially Astronomy. Now that planets have been discovered around other suns, he feels that the time is coming when we could discover intelligent life out there.
Other interests include classical music and jazz. He also likes to settle down in the evening to watch a good film while enjoying a nice glass of bitter or else visiting his local for a chat over a friendly drink.
He was born on 1st January 1948 has lived in Sheerness, Kent for most of his life. The Isle of Sheppey where Sheerness is situated has a long, rich history which has always fascinated Peter. History might seem a far cry from Science Fiction but imagining life in a Roman settlement is imagining a world just as alien as a distant planet.
Although he worked in a series of routine jobs he likes to do his own thing when he can.
For example, all his computers are Microsoft free zones and prefers to use Linux. He has always had an interest in science, especially Astronomy. Now that planets have been discovered around other suns, he feels that the time is coming when we could discover intelligent life out there.
Other interests include classical music and jazz. He also likes to settle down in the evening to watch a good film while enjoying a nice glass of bitter or else visiting his local for a chat over a friendly drink.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 8, 2025
The book is credited to the wrong Peter Apps btw should be this one instead https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
November 17, 2025
Not what you want to hear when uve just started renting
October 3, 2025
The housing crisis happened by design, not accident.
In the 1970s, private landlords were a dying species. Only 16.6 percent of Londoners were renting privately (versus 45.5 percent twenty years ago). Furthermore, the Conservative Policy Council had argued that 'within a generation' they would be 'as extinct as the dinosaur'.
Why? Council housing. Getting one was not too difficult, and there was only a short delay. Furthermore, these council houses were roomy and the rents were not too high. Why then rent privately?
By the 1980s, as a result of the decline in London's population, there was even too much social housing! For example, in 1981, Lambeth had 3,100 empty council properties, Islington had 2,800, Southwark had 2,700, and Hackney had 2,300.
Students could join a queue at 9 a.m. and become council tenants by the afternoon. What a difference from today, when the student loan does not even cover the cost of the rent!
What then happened was not by accident but by design.
In 1981, the Conservative government introduced 'Right to Buy'. Council tenants who had been living in a property for at least three years could buy it at a 33 percent discount. Furthermore, for each additional year that tenants had lived in the property, there was a further 1 percent discount up to 50 percent.
By 1990, there were 26,258 homes being sold a year in London - a third of the nation's total sales. Furthermore, the 3-and-4-bedroom houses were the ones that got sold. As a result, there was also a decline in the number of homes suitable for families. Furthermore, the housing stock was also not replaced. By the 1990s, capital spending on council housing had declined to a third of what it had been in the 1970s.
This also shifted the social composition of those in council housing. In 1980, 41 percent of the tenants were 'skilled or semi-skilled manual' workers, and 42 percent were 'economically inactive' (including pensioners). However, by 1990, only 26 percent were 'skilled or semi-skilled manual' workers, and 61 percent were economically inactive.
As council housing declined, private landlords came back from the dead! Furthermore, they were able to charge the 'market rent,' which was funded by housing benefit. Before Thatcher, £21.3 billion a year was spent on new social housing and only £1 billion a year on housing benefit. By 2001, however, only £4.1 billion a year was spent on new social housing and £15.4 billion on housing benefits.
This happened by design, not accident. In 1991, the housing minister George Young stated that 'housing benefit will underpin market rents - we have made that absolutely clear. If people cannot afford to pay that market rent, housing benefit will take the strain'.
In a functioning market, house prices in London reflect what average working people can afford to pay to live in them. Is the market functioning? No. According to analysis by campaign group Generation Rent, average London rents were 106 percent of a teaching assistant's wages, 90 percent of a pharmacy assistant's, 76 percent of a chef's, and 49 percent of a primary school teacher's.
Housing in London (and also in the United Kingdom) is broken. However, how it happened was not by accident but by design.
In the 1970s, private landlords were a dying species. Only 16.6 percent of Londoners were renting privately (versus 45.5 percent twenty years ago). Furthermore, the Conservative Policy Council had argued that 'within a generation' they would be 'as extinct as the dinosaur'.
Why? Council housing. Getting one was not too difficult, and there was only a short delay. Furthermore, these council houses were roomy and the rents were not too high. Why then rent privately?
By the 1980s, as a result of the decline in London's population, there was even too much social housing! For example, in 1981, Lambeth had 3,100 empty council properties, Islington had 2,800, Southwark had 2,700, and Hackney had 2,300.
Students could join a queue at 9 a.m. and become council tenants by the afternoon. What a difference from today, when the student loan does not even cover the cost of the rent!
What then happened was not by accident but by design.
In 1981, the Conservative government introduced 'Right to Buy'. Council tenants who had been living in a property for at least three years could buy it at a 33 percent discount. Furthermore, for each additional year that tenants had lived in the property, there was a further 1 percent discount up to 50 percent.
By 1990, there were 26,258 homes being sold a year in London - a third of the nation's total sales. Furthermore, the 3-and-4-bedroom houses were the ones that got sold. As a result, there was also a decline in the number of homes suitable for families. Furthermore, the housing stock was also not replaced. By the 1990s, capital spending on council housing had declined to a third of what it had been in the 1970s.
This also shifted the social composition of those in council housing. In 1980, 41 percent of the tenants were 'skilled or semi-skilled manual' workers, and 42 percent were 'economically inactive' (including pensioners). However, by 1990, only 26 percent were 'skilled or semi-skilled manual' workers, and 61 percent were economically inactive.
As council housing declined, private landlords came back from the dead! Furthermore, they were able to charge the 'market rent,' which was funded by housing benefit. Before Thatcher, £21.3 billion a year was spent on new social housing and only £1 billion a year on housing benefit. By 2001, however, only £4.1 billion a year was spent on new social housing and £15.4 billion on housing benefits.
This happened by design, not accident. In 1991, the housing minister George Young stated that 'housing benefit will underpin market rents - we have made that absolutely clear. If people cannot afford to pay that market rent, housing benefit will take the strain'.
In a functioning market, house prices in London reflect what average working people can afford to pay to live in them. Is the market functioning? No. According to analysis by campaign group Generation Rent, average London rents were 106 percent of a teaching assistant's wages, 90 percent of a pharmacy assistant's, 76 percent of a chef's, and 49 percent of a primary school teacher's.
Housing in London (and also in the United Kingdom) is broken. However, how it happened was not by accident but by design.
December 14, 2025
The book did a great job of tracking lots of the big political changes in the Thatcher era up to present day, identifying Right to Buy, de-regulation of the private rented sector and finance etc.
It interweaves people’s stories through those eras and creates a compelling narrative.
But the author has some blind spots that start to grate. For example he clearly thinks building homes for profit is inherently evil and discounts the positive impact of building new homes that aren’t for Social Rent.
He argues against regeneration schemes like Woodberry Down and largely justifies that position by interviewing a couple of disgruntled people. There are surveys of people living in Woodberry Down that show most Social Housing tenants like their new homes and feel a sense of belonging in the neighbourhood. And social housing tenants in other social housing estates routinely vote in favour of regeneration projects. But there are homes being sold for profit alongside the reprovided social housing so it is bad apparently. He suggests the homes could have been refurbished but doesn’t really tackle the economic and practical arguments for why that isn’t always possible.
He prefers Rent Control as a solution and leans on newer initiatives in Spain where we haven’t had time to see the full impact so he can argue it could be good. To be he fair acknowledges its controversy and that fact it hasn’t worked or has had negative impacts in some places but tries to convince you that we could find the “magic solution”.
The book doesn’t do a good job on the “how to fix it” part. The author identifies right to buy and the fall in building social rent homes as the original sin but his thinking on how to get back to building social housing is muddled. This is where the reality is quite technical and the book’s more journalistic style isn’t quite suited.
He makes some fair points but concludes on the idea that we need a grass roots movement to fix the issue - despite the fact grass root movements overwhelmingly tend to be against any new development including social housing.
It interweaves people’s stories through those eras and creates a compelling narrative.
But the author has some blind spots that start to grate. For example he clearly thinks building homes for profit is inherently evil and discounts the positive impact of building new homes that aren’t for Social Rent.
He argues against regeneration schemes like Woodberry Down and largely justifies that position by interviewing a couple of disgruntled people. There are surveys of people living in Woodberry Down that show most Social Housing tenants like their new homes and feel a sense of belonging in the neighbourhood. And social housing tenants in other social housing estates routinely vote in favour of regeneration projects. But there are homes being sold for profit alongside the reprovided social housing so it is bad apparently. He suggests the homes could have been refurbished but doesn’t really tackle the economic and practical arguments for why that isn’t always possible.
He prefers Rent Control as a solution and leans on newer initiatives in Spain where we haven’t had time to see the full impact so he can argue it could be good. To be he fair acknowledges its controversy and that fact it hasn’t worked or has had negative impacts in some places but tries to convince you that we could find the “magic solution”.
The book doesn’t do a good job on the “how to fix it” part. The author identifies right to buy and the fall in building social rent homes as the original sin but his thinking on how to get back to building social housing is muddled. This is where the reality is quite technical and the book’s more journalistic style isn’t quite suited.
He makes some fair points but concludes on the idea that we need a grass roots movement to fix the issue - despite the fact grass root movements overwhelmingly tend to be against any new development including social housing.
July 8, 2025
Read a review copy of this book - but review's not for Goodreads, so I won't share it here. Really enjoyed the book and how it bounced between policy and individual stories. It's the story of big, careless, people (Thatcher, Cameron), and small people - not just the folks bouncing from bedsit to bedsit, but banker functionaries, etc, and how they're caught up in the transformation of housing into investments.
It's fairly London specific, and could maybe stand to look at What This Means for other cities. But of course, I don't live in London so I'm biased.
It's fairly London specific, and could maybe stand to look at What This Means for other cities. But of course, I don't live in London so I'm biased.
October 13, 2025
The use of a whole range of personal stories along with identifying the various political positions at the time, make for an interesting and informative book. My only slight cavil would be that it doesn’t really match the subtitle: “How to fix it”. It offers all sorts of alternatives, as practiced in other countries, but modestly chooses not to state a first preference.
November 26, 2025
Loved it Pete but next time i would like to walk away from your writing without a new phobia*
*I'm going to worry about the East Coast tidal surge every time I get on the tube now.
*I'm going to worry about the East Coast tidal surge every time I get on the tube now.
January 12, 2026
Key book to understand London housing market
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews