Tenants: The People on the Frontline of Britain's Housing Emergency

In her book "Tenants," housing journalist Vicky Spratt explores the history and politics of renting in 20th-century Britain, highlighting the stories of tenants facing eviction, homelessness, and the devastating impact of the housing system on their health, communities, and society. She argues that the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that radical action is possible to give everyone the chance of a good home and calls for compulsory reading for politicians and policymakers.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 19 May 2022
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd

One of the Best Books of 2022




Metro, Evening Standard, Refinery29, and Cosmopolitan have all praised Tenants as a must-read for politicians. This important, heartbreaking, and shocking book forces readers to step back, examine the entire wretched system, and ask: Why do we put up with this? Whether you are a tenant, landlord, or government minister, this is a vital read.




The Times calls it a major new book on the history and politics of renting. The Evening Standard hails it as a Waterstones Best Politics Book of 2022, while The Times dubs it a Times Best Business Book of 2022. Tony is facing eviction instead of enjoying retirement; Limarra isn't homeless enough to get help from the council; and for Kelly and her asthmatic son Morgan, another new rented house is a matter of life and death. This is twenty-first-century Britain, where millions are trying to build lives in privately rented accommodation, creating profit for landlords but not safe and stable homes for tenants.




This fierce and moving account tells their stories, and the story of how we built a housing system where homelessness is a constant threat. Award-winning housing journalist Vicky Spratt traces decades of bad decisions to show how and why the British dream of homeownership has withered and the safety net of social housing has unraveled. She has spent years talking with those on the frontline all around the country. Here, she illuminates the ways this national emergency cuts across generations, class, and education and is devastating our health, destroying communities, and transforming the social, economic, and political landscape beyond recognition.




However, it is not irreversible. The Covid-19 pandemic showed that radical action is possible, and there are real steps we can take to give everyone the chance of a good home. This urgent, ground-breaking book provides the roadmap for a new era of housing justice and equality. It is a call to action that cannot be ignored.

Weight: 566g
Dimension: 162 x 242 x 38 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781788161275
Edition number: Main