Hannah Tomes Hannah Tomes

Is Margaret Thatcher ultimately to blame for the current social housing crisis?

Her 1980 ‘Right to Buy’ policy, though popular at the time, led to the serious erosion of social housing stock and today’s itinerant population, says Kieran Yates

Margaret Thatcher visits the Parker family in Northolt, who were among the first to buy their terrace council house from Ealing Borough Council. [Alamy]
  • Comments

  • All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In: Finding Home in a System That Fails Us

    Kieran Yates

    Simon & Schuster, pp. 304, £14

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe today to get 3 months' delivery of the magazine, as well as online and app access, for only £3.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

  • Weekly delivery of the magazine
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Mark Galeotti

Why Timur Ivanov was arrested

Mark Galeotti
The universal corruption of the Russian elite suits Vladimir Putin. When everyone has a skeleton in their closet, power rests with whoever decides which closets get searched. The arrest on corruption charges of Timur Ivanov, deputy minister of defence, is noteworthy not because he was infamously corrupt, but because it raises the question: why him,

Because you read about British social history

Also by Hannah Tomes

Latest

Comments

A blooming good offer

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting the next 3 months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in