“Everybody I grew up with has moved out. They can’t afford to live here,” says Sallie Clarke, as she readies the offices of Home-Start Lambeth to host a Christmas party for the families the south London charity supports. There are mince pies, festive music and a Santa’s grotto.
Born and raised in Vauxhall, on the Thames between Westminster and Battersea power station, Clarke has seen dramatic changes in her home borough. Growing up in the 1980s, she knew most of her neighbours in a working-class area full of children. Soaring property prices have made these an endangered species, pushing more families to the edges of the capital and beyond.
