Left to Rot: How Governments Have Betrayed Us and How We Fix It

By Daniel Hewitt

An investigation into the policy choices that led to the UK housing crisis.

What is the true cost of Britain's housing emergency?

This is the shocking story of Britain's appalling housing crisis as it has never been told before - through the people stuck in its grip, living in barely believable and totally unliveable conditions, including children brought up in hostels, bedsits and even shipping containers.

Delving into the investigative work that began in a council tower block in Croydon and ended in the Houses of Parliament with changes to the law, Left to Rot exposes who is heard and who is ignored, where money is spent, where it is cut and what it tells us about Britain today.

This book exposes the long-term damage of short-term political thinking at the heart of British government, and lays bare the human cost of the catastrophic and ultimately counterproductive policy of rolling back the state in crucial areas of public life that matter most to people.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1447378547
• ISBN13: 9781447378549
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Policy Press
• Length: 296 Pages