A Home of One's Own: Why the Housing Crisis Matters & What Needs to Change

by Hashi Mohamed

As cities expand and rents rise, what does it really mean to have a home?

'A marvel, by an inspiring and deeply humane writer' - Philippe Sands

A home is important because it offers sanctuary and privacy. It can help improve mental health and emotional resilience, and it can help break people out of cycles of poverty. Yet in the past 30 years we've seen home ownership dwindle as council housing stocks deplete and more of us are caught in insecure tenancies. And it's not just London - there isn't a single major city in the world today not suffering from an affordable housing crisis. Why does this matter - and what can be done?

Drawing on his own history of housing insecurity and his professional career as a planning barrister, Hashi Mohamed examines the myriad aspects of housing - from Right-to-Buy to Grenfell, slums and evictions to the Bank of Mum and Dad. A Home of One's Own is a deeply personal study of the crisis confronting global metropoles - and an exploration of the ways we can remove barriers, improve equality and create cities where more people have a place to call their own.

Genres: Nonfiction, British Literature

160 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2022

Reviews

[Cal]

i do not like thatcher and i wish she was alive just so she could suffer more

[Claire McCormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Citing Virginia Woolf’s essay as a backdrop, Mohamed sociologically explores how we thrive in our own metaphorical (and physical) spaces but, equally, struggle to survive without them. He considers what we are collectively haemorrhaging while we fail to provide these basic resources to people through the exacerbation of poor relationships, ill health and emotional well-being.

For the size of this it’s absolutely packed with pertinent statistics which work really well, infused with his personal experience as a child refugee and journey to becoming a planning barrister and homeowner himself. He knows all too well the trauma of not having a permanent address and the strain this puts on the contract you have with the institutional world around you.

It’s a damning account on the revolving door of British housing policy at Westminster and local government level, but I felt at times could be repetitive or non-actionable for the reader, with recommendations feeling slightly scattered or rushed.

[Amy A.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

A good general book about the UK housing crisis written from the perspective of Hashi Mohamed, a Somali refugee whose family experienced housing insecurity first-hand.
Now a practising planning law barrister, Hashi Mohamed explains the historical development of the current market failures that threaten the fundamental right to safe and clean shelter.

The book was intended to be mostly informative and exhort us to be active participants in community and national decisions regarding housing matters. I would have preferred a more detailed description of what it meant to live in precarious conditions, but I understand that that was not the author's objective.

I would recommend A Home of One's Own: Why the Housing Crisis Matters What Needs to Change to anyone who wants an introductory and general understanding of why we talk of a housing crisis in the UK and the structural factors contributing to it.

[Paulisbored · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is at its best when talking about what the housing crisis really means - it’s real world impact on people and families.

When it comes to housing explaining the causes of the crisis, however, the book is poor. The focus is on populist factors like overseas ownership (which has a relatively modest impact) and house builder delivery rates (which has essentially no impact) and barely mentions some of the more fundamental causes like a lack of supply. British homes are only attractive to overseas buyers, after all, because our inadequate development levels support price rises.

In other places the book seems to be based on vibes rather than evidence. For example, we’re told the Germans have a healthier relationship with the goal of home ownership than the British, although we’re not told that Germany has a *higher* rate of homeownership than Britain. Similarly, there’s a big focus on little council housing we have but which ignores the fact that a higher proportion of our housing stock is social housing that any other county in Europe. The difference is that much of it is owned by Housing Associations rather than local councils - but their objective (and rent levels) are just the same as for council housing.

Perhaps as a result, the prescription is poor ignoring some key issues altogether and failing to explain how others will be delivered. I’m sure we would all like to see “better leadership” that looks to the long term and what is best for the majority - rather than short-termism and pandering to local interest groups. But how, exactly, can that be made to happen?

There are far better things to read about the housing crises that this.

[books4chess · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Too often, the house market feels like some giant Ponzi scheme in which we are all being forced to take part, and if we are not part of it, we face the consequences of a world of insecure lets and being at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords or languishing on decades-long council waiting lists".

A home of one's own reads like Hashi's love letter to what the UK housing system has the potential to become. He's upfront about the shortcomings, combining facts and his personal thoughts, whilst offering suggestions about the steps that could see a change in the current struggles faced in the social housing system.

"'We've essentially got a cartel of volume house-builders who operate in a particular way and there are all sorts of unhappy consequences.' This is quite punchy stuff from a cabinet minister"

I loved the stats and the clear breakdown of the housing crisis. We hear of 'the housing crisis' so often, the ominous phrase has become almost desensitised, used more commonly to refer to the ridiculous luxury block of flats in the middle of a run down town that no one will ever buy or the fact that my landlord refers to my flat as a 'one for the portfolio', suggesting that as an individual, he has acquired several properties. Whilst these are also valid concerns, I admit I've never given much thought to social housing and how it's changed over the past few decades.

And it clearly has.

Hashi combines his personal experiences of growing up in accommodation provided by the government and the challenges which came part and parcel with temporary housing that changed more often than the UK government in the past two years. It was a fascinating pairing of a memoir in ode to being effectively homeless whilst in housing, and a critique of housing policy, and those - both from the left and the right - who have contributed to the ever growing problem.

Overall I really enjoyed the thought-provoking premise and the surface level dive into why houses cost so damn much.

[Mark Leeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be useful to someone new to the housing crisis, wanting to understand more. To someone who works for a housing department, it offers little new in terms of ideas. Certainly, the authors own experiences are interesting, and help root the problem in deeply personal experiences. And there can be no doubt that the housing crisis, as it continues, will serve to destabilise the whole of society. Where I have doubts relates to the author’s offered solutions. I guess that I am very cynical of the idea that we shall ever have the benefit of living in a society where we have the quality of political leadership, the vision, and the public support that the author desires (and that we all so desperately need). Unfortunately, humans have a flaw - too many of us are selfish and are only concerned about our own needs and desires. And politicians are only concerned about their own survival at the next election. What we need is the sort of national consensus politics that we had between 1945 and the mid 1970s. We are a long way from that. And meanwhile, the housing crisis deepens. And divisions and inequalities increase. And the greedy count their £thousands in their bank accounts. And smile.

[Roger Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, passionate exposition on the terrible state of the housing system in the UK. One of the strengths of the book is that the author is able to draw on his own childhood experiences of living in poor, insecure and inadequate housing, and can point to the enormously damaging consequences of our broken system. He maps out the many ways that the political, legislative and planning systems sustain the status quo - for example, enabling a relatively privileged minority to constantly block housing development. He also shows how rapidly the situation is worsening, with a high proportion of young people trapped in an expensive and poorly regulated private rented sector, a depleted social housing sector, and only children of the well-off able to get into home ownership - which in turn exacerbates social inequality. This book should be required reading for all new local authority councillors (and housing ministers of course, if they are in office long enough to get through the book's 140 pages).

[Brian Gowthorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartfelt book from a very bright young barrister who has succeeded in his profession despite the dreadful time suffered by his family as refugees from Kenya. He knows at first hand the devastating effect of not having a safe and stable place to live. His anger and frustration that a wealthy country like Britain cannot provide affordable housing for its citizens is quite clear. It led him to pursue his profession. He explains the problems and how we got to where we are. Thatcher’s Right to Buy is squarely in the frame coupled with the withdrawal of councils’ role in house building. His solutions are aspirations and ideals, however, that seem to have little chance of being implemented.

[Tom Catton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good little summary of the current situation in the UK regarding our local housing stock and the importance of empowering local councils to actually be able to materially change the situation, when it's the worst it's ever been. I was surprised to find out that Mohamed is actually quite liberal in his general views when the book itself is relatively radical, or at least somewhat socialist-leaning. Still a little slight and I'm not as interested in Mohamed's own narrative, although I understand why he weaved it into his own diagnosis of the current housing outlook in the UK.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, personal and judiciously argued book that takes us through the housing crisis. Although at times a tad neoliberal in its approach, Hashi Mohamed, a barrister who in effect grew up homeless never shies away from the mammoth task ahead of legislators and the complete unwillingness to challenge this. It is a must read.

[Ani Beeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read! I would have rated it around 3.5 stars if that was an option. It has really important messages, but it sometimes felt like the prose overwhelmed the information being presented. However, his personal story grounded this book in reality, taking it from purely ideological and suppositional to suddenly very human, which I appreciated.

[Andrew Wyness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sharp, Mohamed gets straight to the point here - housing as a commodity is a malignant system that must be addressed.

It forces one to reflect on their own idea of what makes a home a home, and how merely sheltering those in need does not come close to the provision of safe, secure spaces to live your life well.

[Alexander Titcomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written polemic on the state of housing in the UK, and does a good job at the start detailing the indignity and stress of housing insecurity.
A bit light on solutions, and rather London-centric, but perhaps that is left for a much larger book.

[Stephen Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful book that does well to raise awareness of a major social and political issue. The analysis of the problem is more successful than the recommendations for what to do about (but he doesn’t claim to have the answers).

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting for sure but you can get the gist just by reading the last 30 pages or so. I hadn’t thought about the concept of treating homes as financial investments rather than places to live before so I liked that.

[Jonny Brick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from the irritant 'speaks to' littered across the essay, this is urgent, well-argued (he's a barrister) and readable, full of memoir and evidence.

[Martyna Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-opening and to the point. The only criticism is that it could have been a bit longer and expanded more on the historical aspects of things.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Emily Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed as well! Again read after seeing Hashi Mohamed speak. Stayed with me less than People Like Us but I enjoyed reading it a lot!!

[Nickatb · Rating 1 out of 5]

A deeply unserious book. Contains almost no thinking.