How HMOs took over Britain

Something strange is happening to the St James Estate. At first glance, it’s an ordinary-looking Bermondsey housing development — 182 unshowy, yellow and red-brick street houses. Yet an unusual amount of building activity is underway here — years before the development reaches the end of its natural lifespan. Outside three of the largest homes squat three commercial-sized skips. They are filled with builders’ waste and discarded furniture. Insulation boards and other building materials are stacked up next to them. Workers move in and out of various rooms, the windows open against the stifling heat, the sounds of drilling and banging echoing around the estate. The homes are being gutted. I stop and chat to a group of residents. Most have lived on the estate for decades, first renting privat