Peter Apps: Home making and unmaking.

A is for Architecture Podcast

In this episode of the A is for Architecture Podcast the journalist, writer and Deputy Editor at Inside Housing, Peter Apps discusses his very recent book, Homesick: How Housing Broke London and How to Fix It, published by One World Publications in September this year.

Peter became something of a big noise when he won the Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2023 for his book, Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen, also published with Oneworld. In that, Peter’s account exposed the systemic failures, negligence and cost-cutting in construction and regulation that led to the preventable 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. In Homesick, and sort-of by extension, Peter examines London's housing crisis, details how skyrocketing costs, inequality, and policy failures have made homes unaffordable, and proposes solutions to address another systemic issues towards housing justice.

Listen to Peter, read his books and think on’t. It’s time.

Thanks to Peter for the time, effort and conversation. Thanks to Margot at One World for the PDF of the book and images. The book is linked above; Peter can be found on Substack, LinkedIn and X.

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Music credits: ⁠Bruno Gillick

Image credit: Trevor Patt (2015) Creative Commons Licence off Flickr: Robin Hood Gardens, London. Allison and Peter Smithson, 1972