Readers might have previously seen Kwajo Tweneboa speaking about the UK housing crisis on TV, or presenting Channel 4 documentary Help! My Home Is Disgusting. Our Country In Crisis, his first book, is a wake-up call that every council leader and MP should read, digest and use as a template for long-overdue change.

Early on within Our Country In Crisis, we learn why Tweneboa set out on his mission. One June 2017 morning, in a damp, mouldy, ant-infested converted garage his family had been given for accommodation, he turned on the TV before going to college, to be faced with footage of the Grenfell Tower disaster. Shortly afterwards, the family would be moved to a housing association flat that turned out to be no less squalid: this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Tweneboa decided to name and shame the housing association. Pretty much overnight, he became a voice for many in Britain subjected to suboptimal housing, be that social or private rental, and he would duly be asked to advise ministers on policy. 

Tweneboa not only narrates his own challenges within the pages of Our Country In Crisis, but also gives the reader a history lesson. Britain’s postwar housing problem unfolds thanks to the Right To Buy scheme, the erosion of investment into the building and maintenance of social housing, and – especially in recent years – ludicrously high private rent charges.

Each chapter is short and punchy, with easily digestible and enlightening prose; shocking case studies are accompanied by suggested solutions, and the impression given of Kwajo Tweneboa is of a man to be listened to. Hopefully, the newly elected Labour government will take notice: they could start off by reading Our Country In Crisis.