‘A Place to Call Home: Poverty and Housing in London’ – exhibition at Senate House Library

Towards the end of the 19th century, industrialist and social reformer Charles Booth began an investigation into poverty in London, creating a unique series of maps which were vividly coloured to indicate levels of inequality.

A new exhibition at Senate House Library takes Booth’s maps as a starting point to explore the subject of housing and poverty that is all too relevant today.

A joint collaboration between University of London and The London School of Economics, it explores wartime and postwar redevelopment, the building of estates and changing housing policy, as well as eviction and squatting.

Assembled together in a single room, this small display highlights the huge changes that have taken place in the capital, and the many challenges that remain for its residents.

A Place to Call Home: Poverty and Housing in London, is on until Friday 5 March 2027. Admission free. See the exhibition page for how to visit the exhibition. NB: a visitor ticket is needed and available at the library reception.

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