The past two decades have seen the gap between the poorest and wealthiest grow into a chasm. The stripping of social safety nets has paved the way for the stripping of public assets for profit. Nowhere has this been more evident than in Britain’s housing market. Today, the commodification and wholesale financialisation of housing has had a profound global impact on access to secure and truly affordable housing, an issue all too visible in the Netherlands as well. 

Vicky Spratt traces decades of bad decisions to show how and why the British dream of home ownership has withered and the safety net of social housing has unravelled. She has spent years talking with those on the frontline all around the country, illuminating the ways this national emergency cuts across generations, class and education. Going onto to explore how the crisis is devastating our health, destroying communities and transforming the social, economic and political landscape beyond recognition. In her book, Tenants: The People on the Frontline of Britiain’s Housing Emergency, Vicky also shows that radical action is possible, and that there are real steps we can take to give everyone the chance at having a good home. 

Part of an ongoing collaboration with Dutch platform DeDependance,  we invited Vicky Spratt to speak about her book Tenants: The People on the frontline of Britain’s Housing Emergency alongside Dutch housing activist Melissa Koutouzis.

For this event, I curated and moderated the discussion in collaboration with DeDependance.