0:00:02 > 0:00:04Us Brits have a passion for property, and, of course,
0:00:04 > 0:00:08our national obsession is house prices.
0:00:08 > 0:00:09How much to buy?
0:00:09 > 0:00:13You're looking at about 1.7 million, for an apartment like this.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17But housing is about so much more than bricks and mortar.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Look at the smile on my face!
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It's about who we are, and how we choose to live.
0:00:25 > 0:00:3075 years since the Beveridge Report vowed to rebuild Britain's housing...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Slums must go...
0:00:33 > 0:00:37..we're opening the doors to Britain's home truths.
0:00:38 > 0:00:39From council houses...
0:00:39 > 0:00:41To suburban semis...
0:00:41 > 0:00:42High-rises...
0:00:42 > 0:00:44To country pads...
0:00:44 > 0:00:46In fact, anywhere we call home.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50To find out if three quarters of a century later
0:00:50 > 0:00:53we really have built a better place to live.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03# We've got some half price cracked ice
0:01:03 > 0:01:04# And miles and miles of carpet tiles... #
0:01:04 > 0:01:07This is Peckham in south-east London, or as you might know it,
0:01:07 > 0:01:09Del Boy country.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13As we say in these parts, this is my old manor!
0:01:13 > 0:01:14Keep heading south.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17# No income tax, no VAT
0:01:17 > 0:01:20- # No money back... # - 'And today I'm returning in style,
0:01:20 > 0:01:25'courtesy of my very own Rodney - driver Martin Bridges.'
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Yeah, I was born round here.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29This is where I was born.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32This is a trip down memory lane for me.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34# Viva Hooky Street
0:01:34 > 0:01:37# Long live Hooky Street... #
0:01:37 > 0:01:40I used to get my car cleaned in this place here.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44'Peckham's changed a lot since I was born here in 1964.'
0:01:44 > 0:01:49Back then it was predominantly a white working class community.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58And while London may have gained a reputation for being the swinging capital of the world...
0:01:58 > 0:02:01'This, ladies and gentlemen, is London!
0:02:01 > 0:02:03'Swinging London, it's been called.'
0:02:03 > 0:02:06I don't think it reached as far south as my neighbourhood.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10'You can catch a number 35 tram,
0:02:10 > 0:02:12'which will take you over the River Thames,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16'across Westminster Bridge and into South London.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20'After about half an hour, through factories and crowded streets,
0:02:20 > 0:02:22'you come to Peckham.'
0:02:22 > 0:02:25'Today, Peckham's a vibrant, mixed, Metropolitan,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29'inner-city community that's full of, well, trendies.'
0:02:29 > 0:02:31You see those? Look, they're Victorian villas.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Look, they're the original...when this was countryside.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36'House prices, meanwhile, have gone through the roof.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39'The average price here is now over 500 grand,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43'that's over 100 times what it was when I lived round here.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46'But, for me, it's the memories that are priceless.'
0:02:46 > 0:02:50This is the top of Rye Lane. I used to come down Rye Lane shopping
0:02:50 > 0:02:52every Saturday with my nan and grandad.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57And Saturday was toy day. I'd always get a little toy.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03'I've changed quite a bit too, of course - on the outside at least.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08'On the inside, the values I learned on these streets have seen me through life.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10'Today, I'm returning to where it all began,
0:03:10 > 0:03:15'the street where I grew up, and joining me is a very special lady.'
0:03:15 > 0:03:18There's my mum! Oh, my God!
0:03:18 > 0:03:22What are you like? What have you turned up in now?
0:03:22 > 0:03:24- Hello, Mum.- Hello, darling.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Look, that's telly for you!
0:03:31 > 0:03:33NOVELTY CAR HORN
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Are you ready? Do you want to go and look at the old house?
0:03:36 > 0:03:38- Yeah, I do, I do, yeah. - How do you feel?
0:03:38 > 0:03:41A little bit apprehensive.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45It's such a long time ago, and it actually looks cleaner.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49- Cleaner?- Yes, and brighter and more cared for.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51- Really?- Yeah, and look, trees.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53There weren't trees here when I was here.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Well, how decrepit was it when we were here?
0:03:56 > 0:03:57Pretty bad.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03I have mixed memories of growing up in this two up, two down terrace.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Me, my brother and my mum and dad were crammed into the first floor.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09My grandparents lived upstairs.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16'Neither me or my mum have been inside the house since we moved out 40 years ago.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18'It's strangely nerve-racking.'
0:04:20 > 0:04:22- Go on.- The knob's gone, look.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26- The big knob...- Go on, bang on the door.- ..that you twiddled. Yeah.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30No, don't push it.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31SHE KNOCKS AGAIN
0:04:31 > 0:04:34- All right, that'll do, that'll do. - Hello?
0:04:34 > 0:04:37- Hello.- Hello.- I'm Gregg.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41'Aisha, who lives here today, has kindly agreed to show us around.'
0:04:41 > 0:04:43That's really kind of you, thank you.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Oh, yeah, it's fine, you can go in.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49'And right away we can see that the layout is quite a bit different.'
0:04:49 > 0:04:52This was your bedroom and a living room.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Yes, exactly, yeah.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56And I had a bed there.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59When you were born, I brought you home from hospital
0:04:59 > 0:05:00and we were in the bed, there.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05I can remember a Saturday night, watching Hammer House of Horror,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07that used to be on about ten, 10:30pm,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09and Dad was sitting there in the window.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12And I can remember one night the breeze blew watching a horror film
0:05:12 > 0:05:14and the curtain blew over his head.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16He nearly had a heart attack!
0:05:17 > 0:05:20This was basically, I don't know, our parlour?
0:05:20 > 0:05:22We had a television here.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Sometimes we did. In the winter, if it was really cold.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27And a fireplace there.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Because we had a fireplace there, yeah, a gas fire.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34So you'd keep together in one room.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39This is the room I remember the most. This is where we spent all our time.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- And we had mice everywhere. - Absolutely.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44One night I woke up, I must've been five, six years old,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47I had mice running across my face in the bedroom.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51One day my mum screamed, I came out, or I screamed,
0:05:51 > 0:05:56- and there was a dirty great brown rat in the hallway.- Yeah.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59'But it was out the back that the really scary business took place,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03'because, as with up to one in ten of British houses at the time,
0:06:03 > 0:06:04'this is where the bog was.'
0:06:05 > 0:06:07There we are, look.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08That was it, wasn't it?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12The little building there, yes, it definitely was.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Can you imagine that? Coming out here in the winter, cold and dark,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- and going to the toilet here? - With the gap under the door,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21just to make sure a nice draft got through.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23It was freezing cold out there.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27And this fence was very low and next-door's loo was facing,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30so you and Mr Dylan or Mrs Dylan or whatever,
0:06:30 > 0:06:35could all say good evening to each other as you knew what you'd been doing. It was lovely(!)
0:06:35 > 0:06:38We didn't come out here at night because it was cold and dark.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42We used to go to the toilet in a bucket and empty it out the next morning.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44It sounds disgusting!
0:06:46 > 0:06:48- We had no bathroom in there at all. - No.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50So where'd you bath?
0:06:50 > 0:06:54We didn't. We washed in the kitchen sink here, that was just inside there.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58- My grandad used to brush his teeth with salt on a rag.- Yeah, yeah.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Until he didn't have any left to worry about!
0:07:04 > 0:07:07It might all sound like something from a Dickensian novel,
0:07:07 > 0:07:08but there were good times.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13I remember a lot of love in this house, as well as hardship.
0:07:14 > 0:07:20That's a photograph of your nan, nana and grandad, and that was me,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22in the back garden, 1961.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26And that's the outside toilet that we stood in front of
0:07:26 > 0:07:28- to have our photographs taken. - Marvellous.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31"Let's all go outside and have our photograph taken next to the khazi!"
0:07:31 > 0:07:36And that's a picture of your grandad pulling his grandad funny face.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40- Yeah, he did that, didn't he? - Yeah, yeah.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45It was nice, you know, having Nan and Grandad upstairs and Mum downstairs when I was young.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48He was a very gentle man, wasn't he?
0:07:48 > 0:07:51And you were very fond of him, very fond of you.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Yeah, I used to, at the weekends, go to Millwall together,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57we'd go up the park together, we'd feed the ducks,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01and he would tell me stories of knights and castles and battles.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- I'm sure that's where my love of history comes from.- Probably.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07- Probably, yeah.- He was nice.
0:08:09 > 0:08:10Kindly.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16So, the home truth about where I grew up is mixed.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Yeah, there were lots of great memories and influences
0:08:19 > 0:08:21that made me the man I am today...
0:08:22 > 0:08:25..but for working-class inner-city families like mine,
0:08:25 > 0:08:26times were really tough.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36'Now, though, I want to hear about where my story fits into the wider story -
0:08:36 > 0:08:39'before and after I came along.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43'So I'm going to a place where I can get a wider perspective on things,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47'by travelling to the top of London's tallest skyscraper,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49'to The View from The Shard.'
0:08:53 > 0:08:58'Opened in 2002, the building stands almost 310 metres,
0:08:58 > 0:09:03'giving it a panoramic view of the whole capital.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06'I'm meeting someone who will help me make sense of it.'
0:09:06 > 0:09:08- Hi, Greg.- Hi. Amazing.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11'Dr Paul Watt studies cities for a living.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14'I just hope he's got a good head for heights!'
0:09:15 > 0:09:18I was born in Peckham in 1964,
0:09:18 > 0:09:22- and I reckon that's over there somewhere, don't you?- Yeah.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25So...
0:09:27 > 0:09:31..if I...if I follow the railway line here, London Bridge,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33I can see the Elephant and Castle, through Bermondsey,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35I can see Millwall Football Club there,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38so Peckham must be a mile or so just beyond it.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Yeah, just down there, yeah.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43What would that have looked like when I was born?
0:09:43 > 0:09:44Well, most of...
0:09:44 > 0:09:47You wouldn't have had lots of the tower blocks that you see now.
0:09:47 > 0:09:48Most of those were built in the '60s.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51So a lot flatter and a lot browner?
0:09:51 > 0:09:57- Browner! Yes!- So, it would have been row upon row of terraced housing.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Yes, in many ways it would have been, yes.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Still a Victorian streetscape, yeah.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07How would it have looked for my grandparents, before the Second World War?
0:10:07 > 0:10:09It would have been probably very tough, actually.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Probably they'd have been living in overcrowded circumstances.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Lots of Londoners were sharing, sharing with families.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22Lots of infestation - cockroaches, that sort of thing, and bedbugs,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25and it was really difficult for a lot of working-class Londoners.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32It wasn't just in London,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35poor living conditions like this were a big problem across the whole
0:10:35 > 0:10:38country at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40From Liverpool to Glasgow,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43whole generations were living in overcrowded squalor,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46causing a multitude of health and social problems.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48- Do you live here?- Live here?
0:10:48 > 0:10:51You don't call this living, I call this existing.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Who could live under these circumstances?
0:10:53 > 0:10:55This was the squalor of the slums,
0:10:55 > 0:11:01one of society's giant evils that the 1942 Beveridge Report wanted to rid the country of,
0:11:01 > 0:11:06as this film from the time, called The Great Crusade, illustrates.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09'In one of these streets, lives Molly, her mother,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11'two brothers and baby sister.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13'Five of them in two rooms.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16'The whole structure of the house is really falling to pieces.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19'Walls and ceiling are rotting with age.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23'The air is full of soot from 100 choked up chimneys.'
0:11:23 > 0:11:28In London alone at this time it was estimated that over 230,000 people
0:11:28 > 0:11:32were living in conditions unfit for human habitation.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Imagine what they would make of today's London -
0:11:38 > 0:11:42a place of shiny buildings and immense wealth.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43For people like my grandparents,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46this would look like something out of a science fiction movie.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50And you know what? I love it.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52That, to me, is a very beautiful city.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Yeah, it is. It's a fantastic city in many ways.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57I think the thing is, though, about it,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01is that really what you've got here is the way that you've got many of the new, modern towers.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04For example, you've got the Strata tower, you can see that there,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06which is a kind of lipstick-type building.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08That was erected in 2010.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11It's got 43 storeys, 408 flats.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15But the problem is that only about a quarter of those are affordable housing.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18One of the big issues that London's facing is the way that, yes,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21we've got lots of these spectacular new developments going up,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24but the problem is that many of these developments are actually just
0:12:24 > 0:12:26unaffordable for lots of local people.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Do you know how many people are living in London right now?
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Well, currently there is actually about 8.6 million people in London.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Wow, wow.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39Which is actually the largest since 1939.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42So the population peaked in 1939?
0:12:42 > 0:12:44The population peaked in 1939, yes.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48'Looking out on London today,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51'I want to know more about how we got from then to now.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55'I want to go inside the houses and lives of those who have experienced
0:12:55 > 0:13:00'this property revolution, to find out their home truths.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03'And first up, I'm going back to the terraces.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08'The Isle of Dogs has some of the few remaining old school terraced houses here in the capital.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12'They're pretty smart these days and worth over half a million a pop,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17'but, before the war, places like this would have housed the poorest members of our society,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21'and you could have picked one up for less than 200 quid -
0:13:21 > 0:13:23'not that many people bought back then, though.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26'My guide is local resident David Stackable.'
0:13:26 > 0:13:28I recognise old streets like this.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33'He grew up here just after the war and has seen some incredible changes.'
0:13:33 > 0:13:35On your left was the docks,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38that was all the Millwall Dock and this was all dockers' cottages,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41what they classed as two up, two downs.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Mellish Street was in the heart of London's historic docks,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47which were built back in the 18th century.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51By the 19th century, the Port of London was the biggest in the world.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54'A fifth of all shipping, using British ports,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56'passes through the Port of London.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00'And you sometimes see visiting warships too.'
0:14:01 > 0:14:03As the docks grew,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07so too did the rows of terraced cottages built to house the workers.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13But by the 20th century, many of them were falling apart and overcrowded.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16But that also made it a very close-knit neighbourhood.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Want a cup of tea, Mum?
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Not now, Eileen, later on.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23And sense of community, do you think?
0:14:23 > 0:14:24Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Well, I always thought my dad was a diesel fitter,
0:14:27 > 0:14:31cos he used to come out the docks and go, "Well, they'll fit her and that'll fit him".
0:14:31 > 0:14:33- GREGG LAUGHS - Do you like that one?
0:14:33 > 0:14:39- He was a fitter cos that will fit him, that will fit...- He was a fitter. Diesel fitter, yeah.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41- "Diesel fit him, diesel fit her." - Yeah.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43'It's easy walking down Mellish Street,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46'to picture what life here might have been like.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51'But on the Isle of Dogs, it's never long until you're jerked back to the 21st century.'
0:14:51 > 0:14:56- Hang on a minute, hang on a minute, that's a striking view, isn't it, at the end of the road?- It is.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58This used to be privately, originally,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01this belonged to this house and an old lady lived in here.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Right? And this was her garden.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08- It's like you've walked into a completely...- Another world.- A completely different world.- Yeah.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11'I wonder what the old dockers would have thought'
0:15:11 > 0:15:15if they could see the luxurious apartments that have sprung up in their streets.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Their houses didn't even have hot water,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26and bathing was often done in communal bathhouses like this.
0:15:28 > 0:15:29Can I have some more water, please?
0:15:30 > 0:15:33But it isn't just the buildings they wouldn't recognise,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36it's the way the households were run too.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40This was a world where men went to work and the women stayed at home,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43looking after the kids and doing the chores.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Not that it was any easier than grafting down the docks.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51There were no mod cons back then, remember...
0:15:51 > 0:15:55No, everything was done by hand, and usually by the wife.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Today, of course, it's all about equality,
0:16:02 > 0:16:03so I'm going to give it a go.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05'Mum, I hope you're watching!'
0:16:08 > 0:16:12'David's keeping an eye on proceedings from what I think you would call a safe distance.'
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Tub of water.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17And...washboard?
0:16:17 > 0:16:18- No.- Why not?
0:16:18 > 0:16:20It's got a scrubber on there already.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22- What, the ribs?- Yeah.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Lonnie Donegan plays with them.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29That's how your mother used to do it.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32'Yeah, but she'd be amazed to see me giving it a go.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35'Still, it will be a nice treat when I show her later.'
0:16:38 > 0:16:41'That's it washed, but getting it dried is an even bigger chore.'
0:16:41 > 0:16:44- Get that in there.- Mind your fingers.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46'Meet the mangle.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50'Oh, my poor, poor pink posh shirt.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53'I don't suppose that will be making an appearance on the telly again.'
0:16:53 > 0:16:54That is ludicrous.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58And women would have done this what, once a week?
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Yep, Monday was wash days.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08- On the collar...- 'Lovely jubbly.'
0:17:09 > 0:17:11..and peg it up.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22The process of removing Britain's inner-city slums began in earnest
0:17:22 > 0:17:24after the First World War.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Large numbers of our fellow citizens and their children
0:17:28 > 0:17:34are living amidst surroundings which are a disgrace to our civilisation.
0:17:34 > 0:17:40By 1939, 240,000 houses had been demolished,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42and their inhabitants rehoused.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47AIR-RAID SIREN
0:17:47 > 0:17:51But it was the effect of the Blitz that really accelerated the process...
0:17:52 > 0:17:58..as Hitler's Luftwaffe carried out their aerial bombardment of Britain's major cities.
0:17:58 > 0:17:59After the war was over,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03the need to address Britain's housing crisis became even more urgent.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12But building a better place to live would take time.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17'We had to find out everything about this great city we were planning to rebuild.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21'Everything about its history and its geography,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23'its people and the way they live.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27'We had to find out how much of it had been totally destroyed,
0:18:27 > 0:18:32'and how much of it was in such a bad state that it would have to be rebuilt anyway.'
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Luckily, Churchill came to the rescue with his Temporary Accommodation Act,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41a plan to build 500,000 new-technology, temporary emergency houses,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44or, prefabs to you and me.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51'Britain's first factory-made show house.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55'Prototype of the half million promised by Mr Churchill as emergency dwellings
0:18:55 > 0:18:58'for demobilised service men and their families.'
0:18:58 > 0:19:02Each unit cost around £375 to produce
0:19:02 > 0:19:05and were only meant to last 10-15 years.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Over 60 years later, some still survive as homes,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13and you'd be lucky to get change out of 100 grand for them.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18I've come well south of the river to look round one of the most
0:19:18 > 0:19:22well-preserved prefab housing projects in Britain.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27This is the Excalibur prefab estate in Catford in south-east London,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29and it's a lovely, quiet day.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34It's a nice street, but if you listen you can just hear the sound of diggers working in the distance.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38They're knocking down a load of these prefabs to make room for new houses,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41and a lot of the residents, well, they're not very happy.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Many of them are fighting to actually stay in the houses that they've grown to love.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51The Excalibur Estate was actually built by German and Italian prisoners of war.
0:19:51 > 0:19:57187 brand-new homes for homeless families, each with two bedrooms,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01a private garden and - wait for it - an indoor lavatory!
0:20:01 > 0:20:03- Oh, hello, Gregg.- Hello.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Welcome to my oasis and back in time.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08'I'm visiting Patricia Dixon.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11'She was brought up here from the age of five
0:20:11 > 0:20:13'and has lived on the estate most of her life.'
0:20:13 > 0:20:16It could be anywhere. It could be in the middle of the Cotswolds.
0:20:16 > 0:20:23It is very peaceful, and very much like a step back into the 1950s.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26'Time for a snoop around.'
0:20:29 > 0:20:31'This house of the future has no stairs,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35'no dust-collecting wainscoting and is intended to last about ten years.'
0:20:37 > 0:20:40It doesn't look like an original 1950s bathroom!
0:20:42 > 0:20:43'The kitchen is compact,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47'but the initial blueprint didn't provide sufficient facilities for washing clothes.'
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Compared to the slums, the prefabs were a step into a brave new world.
0:20:55 > 0:20:56There was a gas cooker, fridge,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59and even a boiler for hot water and central heating.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03It may have come off the back of a lorry and been erected in a few days,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07but for the men of the house, they were kings of their very own castle.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11This is a picture of my dad, outside his prefab,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14which is only over the road, where I grew up.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16He looks happy. He looks almost proud, doesn't he?
0:21:16 > 0:21:20He was very proud of the prefabs. He loved living in the prefabs.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24It was his first major home.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32For the women, it was the chance at last to build a real home for their families,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34with a fully-fitted kitchen,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37making cooking more of a pleasure than a chore.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41'I consider the kitchen, with a built-in refrigerator
0:21:41 > 0:21:43and such other useful equipments,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47a great advance in a working man's home and a step in the right direction.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52'As a tribute, I'm whipping up a bit of lunch
0:21:52 > 0:21:55'that was particularly common during this time.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58'Pre-boiled potatoes, onion and spam,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01'incredibly popular because of rationing, although, of course,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03'other luncheon meats are available!'
0:22:03 > 0:22:06I don't think you'd get very far on MasterChef with this!
0:22:08 > 0:22:11'Time for my grub to be judged. I wonder what that feels like?'
0:22:14 > 0:22:16We'll see what Tricia makes of this.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21- There you are.- Thank you, that looks very nice.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24- Really?- Yeah.- You don't have to eat it, you know.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26No, it's OK, I'll give it a whirl.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28You're a brave girl! SHE LAUGHS
0:22:31 > 0:22:33You know, actually it's not that bad.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38Yes, it reminds me very much of when I was very young.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44But while rationing ended, the prefabs would prove a lot harder to get rid of.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48The fact is that those who lived here, well, they just felt at home.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51'And I really get the sense from spending time with Patricia,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54'that that's how she wants it to stay.'
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Listening to you talk, it's obvious that you're very,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00very passionate about these prefabs.
0:23:00 > 0:23:01Why do you love them so much?
0:23:01 > 0:23:05They're very easy to live in and very nice to live in,
0:23:05 > 0:23:11because you've got the windows that are huge.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13They let in as much sunlight,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17and it's the sunlight that makes you feel happy, really.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22It's the design of the place, because they have a unique feel about them.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26They were positioned southeast so that you'd get the sun in the morning,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30and then you'd get the sun on the other side of the house in the evening.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33During the day you didn't, you got the light,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36but you didn't get the baking hot sun.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40They just feel part of me, because I've been here so long.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46I feel passionate to keep them on this planet,
0:23:46 > 0:23:53as an example of what can be done in so short a time,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57in building, and how long they can last.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12What if you don't win the fight? What if you have to move?
0:24:12 > 0:24:19- How will you feel?- It would be just an end of an era for me.
0:24:19 > 0:24:26It would be sort of like having to close down and start again from fresh.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31I don't see how it wouldn't destroy me.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44I enjoyed spending time with Tricia, and I like these houses as well.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46I think it's a shame if she loses her home, not just her,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48but many other people as well.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Some of them grew up here. That doesn't sound like progress to me.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59By the 1960s, another set of home truths were about to hit Britain.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01The baby boomers were coming of age.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Immigration had led to a new diverse influx of people.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15And with the NHS now firmly established, older folk were surviving longer.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18All these people needed a place to live.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Britain's inner cities simply had too many people and too little space.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28And so, the solution was to look up to the skies.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30'The answer is to build upwards.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36'To provide attractive, well-planned dwellings for a high level of living.'
0:25:37 > 0:25:39This was the birth of high-rise living,
0:25:39 > 0:25:44where escaping the ground was seen as an opportunity to escape its problems.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48It's like being in heaven, up here, because we've always been,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51we've always been poor people
0:25:51 > 0:25:53and we've had so many good friends up here,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57and these places are just lovely for us.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Now, entire streets could be built on top of each other.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03There's only one way to do it -
0:26:03 > 0:26:05you've got to build up, instead of out.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08What storey are you? 22nd storey, is it?
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Do you like living up here?
0:26:11 > 0:26:15In London, one of the first and most celebrated of these new housing schemes
0:26:15 > 0:26:20was the Alton East Estate in Roehampton, beside Richmond Park.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Building upwards meant more room down beneath for leafy surroundings,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27the exact opposite of the old terraces.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32'These buildings on London estates are set in open spaces,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35'where the light and air can get at them and where trees and flowers
0:26:35 > 0:26:37'provide a setting.'
0:26:37 > 0:26:41In 1960, the council charged up to £3 a week to live here.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Today, flats in the high-rises are around 120.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46I think they might be worth it.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48I kind of like these, you know, these buildings.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51They're like a little piece of 1960s history.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53I like the fact that there's people sitting on the grass
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and I really like the fact that the grass and the trees roll away from the buildings.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01I mean, whoever built these really thought, I think,
0:27:01 > 0:27:02they were doing some good.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08'To see if they really were the answer,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12'I'm off on a little tour of the estate, with resident Deenie Lyon,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14'and we're starting with a good look at the view.'
0:27:16 > 0:27:19- Well, that's quite a view from here. - It's beautiful.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20- It is lovely, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24'Deenie moved to Roehampton from Ladbroke Grove in 1954.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28'She was only a small girl. The estate wasn't even built.'
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Do you remember the tower block going up?
0:27:31 > 0:27:32I vaguely remember.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38I remember more of the conversations people had about it than actually
0:27:38 > 0:27:40seeing the buildings being built, to be honest.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44- Really?- Yes.- And what conversations were they?
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Well, people were worried about who was going to be moving in.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49We had some strange rumours.
0:27:50 > 0:27:56Were we going to have... Were they going to have proper dustbins?
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Yeah, of course, no-one had ever known anybody
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- who had lived up in the sky, had they?- No.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05I'd like to show you how much interest there was around the world for this,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07what was a very iconic building.
0:28:07 > 0:28:08Look at this.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11'In my opinion, Alton is the most beautiful and satisfactory
0:28:11 > 0:28:14'of any housing project I've seen anywhere in the world.'
0:28:17 > 0:28:18'Approaching the estate,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21'you can see the interesting mixture of housing types.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25'As a result, they achieve a very high density,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28'without it seeming to be very crowded.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30'It should be a good place for children to live,
0:28:30 > 0:28:31'and quite safe for play.'
0:28:34 > 0:28:37- Do you remember it like that? - Yeah, I can.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41The lady who was talking on there was saying it's a safe place for children to play.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43When you walk round the estate today,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47you realise there isn't a safe place here for children to play now.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49If you live on the seventh floor,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51you're not going to let your child come down and play,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54it's just too far, you wouldn't be safe.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58Children now have their computers and their boxes and things.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01They don't go out to play very often.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04The Alton Estates were completed in the late 1950s,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08and over the next decade British cities went high-rise crazy.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11'In the present housing shortage, time is the essence of the contract,
0:29:11 > 0:29:12'and so is money.'
0:29:12 > 0:29:14It was easy to see the attraction,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17reinforced concrete slabs, created off-site,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19sped up the construction process,
0:29:19 > 0:29:23which meant people in poor living conditions could be rehoused quickly.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25I think that industrialised production
0:29:25 > 0:29:27will bring quicker housing.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31We shall see in the future houses coming off the conveyor belt,
0:29:31 > 0:29:32like motorcars.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36But the dream was short lived.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39Many began to worry about the loneliness and isolation
0:29:39 > 0:29:43of those being moved from close-knit terraced streets to high-rise flats.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51- We can try the one right down at the end.- All right.
0:29:51 > 0:29:52'I wonder if this is still the case.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55'So I've decided to spread a bit of community spirit
0:29:55 > 0:29:58'and introduce Deenie to some of her neighbours.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02'I think our visit might be a bit of a surprise.'
0:30:02 > 0:30:06- Hello!- Hello.- How are you? - I'm fine, thank you.
0:30:06 > 0:30:07'Barbara Bagalo is a nurse.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10'She's lived on the estate for 37 years, but she's never met Deenie.'
0:30:10 > 0:30:14- Nice.- Wow. It's lovely. - Here you are.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16- I like the colour.- Thank you.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19- Can we sit down?- Do you want to sit down? Sit down.- Yeah.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22- You're on there?- Yeah.- I'll come and sit over here with you.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Do you want to sit down, are you all right?
0:30:24 > 0:30:27I didn't realise that you had an upstairs?
0:30:27 > 0:30:28I thought it would all be on one level.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33- It's nice. It's more like a house. - Like a little house. Stacked, yeah.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35What's it like, living here?
0:30:35 > 0:30:37It's nice, it's quiet.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40We have Richmond Park five minutes away.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45With the transport links, you can get into central London basically from anywhere.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48- Decent views?- Decent views.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50And your neighbours, do you get on with your neighbours?
0:30:50 > 0:30:52Seldom see the neighbours.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55Used to, years ago.
0:30:55 > 0:30:56You knew all your neighbours.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00But now, everyone seems to keep themselves to themselves.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02Why don't I make a cup of tea and you two have a chat?
0:31:02 > 0:31:04Oh, yes, please.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Two sugars, please!
0:31:07 > 0:31:09So, when did you move here?
0:31:09 > 0:31:13- In 1954.- 1954. Before I was born!
0:31:13 > 0:31:15- Before the estate was born, actually.- Yeah.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18- The estate wasn't even here then. - No.- I love it.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20I don't want ever to be anywhere else but Roehampton.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24- I do love Roehampton.- OK. So it's just home.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26They seem to be getting on really well,
0:31:26 > 0:31:28and I'm really pleased with myself.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30I feel like I've done something good.
0:31:30 > 0:31:31People have to talk to each other.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35If estates are going to work, they have to be communities.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38How many sugars?
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Although the Alton Estates of Roehampton
0:31:40 > 0:31:43have had their share of problems, they have survived.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46And today, they provide over 5,000 homes.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Other high-rise housing estates from the same era didn't fare so well.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57'In East London, three people are dead, seven are injured
0:31:57 > 0:32:03'and seven unaccounted for after the collapse of a 22-storey block of flats.'
0:32:03 > 0:32:06The collapse of Ronan Point tower block in 1968
0:32:06 > 0:32:09marked an abrupt end to our love affair with high-rise living.
0:32:09 > 0:32:14- You live in a very nice house!- Yeah! - You do not live in a tower block.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18Pressurise the council! We must stick together!
0:32:18 > 0:32:21You're living in bug-ridden places here!
0:32:23 > 0:32:27As the '60s gave way to the '70s, estates saw graffiti,
0:32:27 > 0:32:30drugs and even racial tension take root.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36It seemed the inner-city slums of the early 20th century had been
0:32:36 > 0:32:38replaced by slums in the sky.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45For many, it was time for the high rises to come down.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49Three, two, one...
0:32:49 > 0:32:51blast off!
0:33:06 > 0:33:08By the beginning of the '80s,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12the inner cities were about to embark on another big rebuild.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Luckily, I was in a prime spot to see what happened next.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21'I was working as a greengrocer and suddenly,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24'I was getting orders from new, posh restaurants,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27'all wanting to serve a new clientele.'
0:33:27 > 0:33:30Mizuna. Sounds really exotic, Japanese leaf,
0:33:30 > 0:33:32comes from a great exotic place called Surrey!
0:33:32 > 0:33:34Pissenlit. It's dandelion.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39Or dande-lyon. This has been used by the Italians and the French for years and years and years.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43These certainly weren't the working class customers I was used to.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45No, these guys had a bit of money to spend.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Some called them yuppies,
0:33:48 > 0:33:52and it wasn't just fresh fruit and vegetables they were looking to splash their dosh on.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54They also wanted places to live.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57A demand developers were only too willing to meet
0:33:57 > 0:33:59with even flashier apartments.
0:33:59 > 0:34:04And nowhere more so than back where I began my journey, on the Isle of Dogs.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09Once a dirty, busy working dock, throughout the next two decades,
0:34:09 > 0:34:13it became the symbolic centre for the resurrection of London's inner-city.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18'Needless to say, estate agents were onto a nice little earner.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21'I've come to meet one, Paul Kirby.'
0:34:21 > 0:34:24Can you tell me, when did this start?
0:34:24 > 0:34:27When did it all start building like this?
0:34:27 > 0:34:31Good question. '96? '96 I would say it really took off.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36Properties were been sold off-plan in Hong Kong, again, at an alarming rate.
0:34:36 > 0:34:37And people really took to the area.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40I think they knew how big Canary Wharf was going to be.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44- We're at the heart of it here, would you say?- 100%, yeah.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47- Shall we have a walk up and down the road and just have a look at it? - Yeah, let's do it.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51So, you reckon a whole population of Canary Wharf, or the Isle of Dogs,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54moved out between two and five years?
0:34:54 > 0:34:57Pretty much. And the people that moved in were your bankers,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59your solicitors, your stockbrokers.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06Now, it's one thing seeing these gaffes from the outside,
0:35:06 > 0:35:11but it's on the inside that you really see why the City's fat cats want to live here.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14'Paul is showing me one of the area's most exclusive apartment blocks,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18'a flat on the 17th floor that's just come onto the market.'
0:35:18 > 0:35:21I like it. Listen, I need to ask, I really do need to ask.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24How much to rent this?
0:35:24 > 0:35:26To rent this you're looking at £1,100 a week.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29- A week?- Yeah.- £5,000 a month?
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Correct. 5,000 a month.
0:35:32 > 0:35:33But look what you get. You know?
0:35:33 > 0:35:35- Two bedrooms?- Two...
0:35:35 > 0:35:38You could make it a three-bedroom if you needed to, but...
0:35:38 > 0:35:41- So, if that's to rent...- Yes? - How much is it to buy?
0:35:41 > 0:35:44Something of this size, with the views,
0:35:44 > 0:35:48anything up to 1.7 million, for an apartment like this.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51Do you have any idea how much rent was here before Canary Wharf got built up?
0:35:51 > 0:35:53I'd have to guess at...
0:35:55 > 0:35:57..£200-£250 a month.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59So, all the people that used to live here
0:35:59 > 0:36:01- were completely priced out of here.- Correct.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06- And there's absolutely no way they'd ever be able to buy their way back in again.- No way.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10Here we have the master bedroom.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12Balcony. En suite bathroom.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16It's all right. It's big enough, isn't it?
0:36:16 > 0:36:17- Yeah, yeah.- It's big enough.
0:36:19 > 0:36:20So what's this, an office?
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Games room, TV room, office, yeah.
0:36:24 > 0:36:25Look at that.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30I don't know how I feel about living in the middle
0:36:30 > 0:36:33- of a load of high-rises.- Yeah.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35It's just a different version of what was built before, right?
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Well.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42There's still a load of building going on.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46I mean, they're cramming a building into every single inch.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Literally. They will keep building until there's nothing left.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51I mean, honestly. Really, though.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55The gaps between the buildings are constantly... What is that?
0:36:56 > 0:36:58That is Baltimore Wharf.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03- Look at that!- One of the most exclusive properties in Canary Wharf.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05All-glass structure outside.
0:37:05 > 0:37:11They used 75 million panes of glass in that block itself.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14There's over 72 floors in the block.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16- Is it serving a purpose?- I think so.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18And what is that purpose?
0:37:18 > 0:37:22It's filled in a culture of what they feel that people want in this area,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25which is luxury, which is something that someone else hasn't got.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30Like a home, where their grandparents were brought up.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32Yeah, yeah.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36I'll be honest, I don't really know how I feel about places like this.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41I guess the home truth is that you can't really stop progress,
0:37:41 > 0:37:44'and let's face it, who wouldn't want to live in a pad like this?'
0:37:45 > 0:37:49But maybe, as a society, we've paid too high a price for it,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53with traditional working-class communities now forced out.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56Even worse, homelessness across Britain's inner cities
0:37:56 > 0:37:59is also on the rise, and yet,
0:37:59 > 0:38:03people are still finding ways to put an affordable roof over their heads.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05- Are these shipping containers?- Yeah.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09'After finding himself on the streets, with the help of the YMCA,
0:38:09 > 0:38:14'Scott McDonald now lives in an apartment block made of old shipping containers.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17- They look trendy to me.- Yeah, man, come have a look.- May I?
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Welcome to my container!
0:38:22 > 0:38:23Righto.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Yeah, go on, give me a tour.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29- Come through here.- Find the kitchen.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Little cooker. Tiny little cooker.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37A couple of hobs, a toaster, a microwave.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Fridge. And that's it.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43- And through there?- Is the shower room.
0:38:47 > 0:38:48Adequate.
0:38:49 > 0:38:55It's all right. Can I ask you, what is it like, living in it?
0:38:55 > 0:38:57- It's all right.- It's all right? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00- Better than being out on the street. - Yeah, sure.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05Much better. Cos if you've been homeless and then you come into this, it's a godsend.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08- Is it?- Yeah, it's a godsend. Honestly.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Can I ask you how much you pay for this?
0:39:11 > 0:39:13504 a month.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17- All right, it's not... - £79 a month council tax.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20That's more expensive than I thought it was going to be.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Yeah, but you pay that for rooms.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26- 150. You can pay that for a room in a house.- Yeah, OK.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29With this, you've got your own door, your own key, nobody.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32- Have you got your own kettle?- Yeah. Do you want a cup of tea?
0:39:32 > 0:39:36- Yeah, do you want one?- I'll make you a cup of tea. Go on, then.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Well, it's nice to have a cuppa made for me this time.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46And it's clear this sense of being in control of things is crucial to Paul, too.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49So what does this do for you personally?
0:39:50 > 0:39:52It gives me my independence.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54You come down into this and it's my pad.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56Only you come in the door.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01And nobody else. Nobody else can get near you.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04So, it's just a relief.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07It's quiet, it's like this all the time, day and night.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10- Never hear nothing.- It seems to me it's more than just a container,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13it's a step towards a normal life.
0:40:13 > 0:40:18It's all coming back, my life's coming back to what I call normal.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21And tomorrow, I'm going for my medical. I'm a coach driver.
0:40:21 > 0:40:26So that's what I do for a living. Well, that's what I DID for a living, up until 2015.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31So once I get my medical tomorrow my D4 done...
0:40:31 > 0:40:33I've got my life back.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35GREGG LAUGHS
0:40:36 > 0:40:41My time is nearly up, so what home truths have I learned in my journey
0:40:41 > 0:40:43into Britain's inner-city story?
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Well, the properties may have changed to become a lot more pricey,
0:40:47 > 0:40:51but for those working-class people who have lived here across the decades,
0:40:51 > 0:40:53'life has always been a struggle.'
0:40:53 > 0:40:55Tub of water.
0:40:55 > 0:40:56A struggle to stay clean...
0:40:58 > 0:41:00..to eat,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02to stay warm,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04just to keep sheltered in fact.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08'But I've also found out that no matter the era,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11'these same people are determined to live their lives
0:41:11 > 0:41:16'with a real sense of pride, dignity and humour.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20'And hopefully that's something I've taken from living in these streets too.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24'Because although I may have moved on, this place never leaves you,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27'and I'll always be a Peckham boy at heart.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30'So where better to wrap things up than back in Del Boy land?
0:41:30 > 0:41:37'Where Mum is joining me for a bit of grub in one of Peckham's trendier joints - well, why not?'
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Mum, it is possibly the poshest plate of food we've ever had in Peckham.
0:41:42 > 0:41:43Yeah, getting close, I think.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46- Can you remember anything fancy like this?- Certainly not.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48But this is actually delicious.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52I've been looking at housing, private housing and social housing,
0:41:52 > 0:41:53in the middle of London.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56I've met some fascinating people,
0:41:56 > 0:42:00but I'm a little bit worried that the social housing is going to -
0:42:00 > 0:42:03all of it - is going to be replaced by expensive private housing,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06because I walked down a terraced street of old Victorian houses,
0:42:06 > 0:42:08- very much like Kincaid Road.- Yes.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11There's a gap in the road, and you look through the gap
0:42:11 > 0:42:15and there's all these great big expensive million-pound flats and stuff.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20Absolutely incredible. I think the last big section of prefab housing...
0:42:20 > 0:42:23And one of the biggest concentrations of those is in Lewisham,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26and that's in danger of completely going.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28You've got about 140, 150 of those.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30Yes, and there were still some quite locally.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33- But the people don't want to go. - No, I can understand that.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34That's their home.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39I thought of you cos I was thinking of Nanny, your mum.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41- I had a go at a mangle.- Wow.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48- Wow.- In fact, I was wondering if you could wash and iron that for me?
0:42:50 > 0:42:53- And you've mangled this?- Mangled it? I murdered it!
0:42:53 > 0:42:55You certainly did.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58That's going to need some serious help. Would you like it back?
0:42:58 > 0:43:01- No, I want it...- No, all right, then.- You're my mum - look after it.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05Oh, I see, I see. I'll prop up a washing line while we're here, then.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07Peckham's changed a lot, but then London's changed a lot,
0:43:07 > 0:43:11but I don't think it matters where your home is - it should be loved,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13it should be cherished and respected.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16London is an incredible, vibrant, international city,
0:43:16 > 0:43:21but if it can't be a home for everybody, I think that's a terrible shame.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23MUSIC: Only Fools And Horses Theme