Liverpool was once praised for its tolerance, but housing shortages are driving fearful, unsettling behaviours – and people are blaming outsiders
H
ere is the dream, if you can afford it: gleaming apartments, close to Liverpool’s waterfront, complete with penthouse swimming pools with views of the north Wales mountains, and sumptuous rooftop gardens. They are mostly bought by investors who then rent them to local professionals: three years ago, a report on early sales of flats in one development said that 40% of early buyers were from Australia, China or Singapore.
Ten minutes’ walk away, you can witness a very different spectacle. Every Monday night, a charity called Liverpool In Arms hands out food in the city centre, to queues of people. Some are homeless; others have a house or flat to live in, but can’t afford to eat. While I was reporting on the city’s housing crisis for the Guardian’s video series Anywhere But Westminster, I watched its volunteers in action for the best part of an hour: they told me the need they try to meet has doubled since last year.
I spoke to a 50-something man who had failed to keep up with a £20 weekly surcharge and the rent on his flat, and then had his benefits withdrawn by the Department for Work and Pensions’ sanctioning regime: he suddenly had nowhere to live, and was clearly in a state of complete disorientation. The same was true of Jimmy, who was sleeping rough, and described being endlessly tortured by one of the city council’s cruellest policies: its insistence on summarily disposing of people’s tents, with everything they contain.
