Priced Out: Life on the Edge of Regeneration

Welcome to our exhibition 

 

In the exhibition, you will hear a selection of short audio stories. Whilst these stories are inspired by our research, real people and true events, we’ve taken the liberty of injecting a healthy dose of dramatisation and humour along with hard facts. The stories are voiced by our team of actors.

 

You are in charge of your listening experience: you don’t have to listen to all of the stories, you can press the button again to restart the story and you can step away at any time, even before a story is finished.

 

Our Project:

Housing insecurity is a difficult topic to tackle. Many people experience it but there are also many myths, misperceptions and stigma surrounding housing insecurity. In designing the project, we wanted to avoid stereotyped portrayals, that exploit or objectify so we made the decision to use elements of parody and humour to tell some of the stories. We hope our project has been a safe space to talk about, listen to and represent the lived experiences of our community.

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Find out more about the team that have worked on the project here

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You will have a chance to write down and express your own thoughts, feelings and ideas, and post them into our Priced Out Postbox.

 

Please look after yourself when listening to the stories as some of the stories do address details of housing trauma. If you need to take a moment out of the exhibition space, please do. There are some ideas for self care and further resources on the next page. You can access a written transcript of each story here

 

Content warnings:

Homelessness, housing trauma, poor housing conditions, health (mental, physical and emotional), eviction, anxiety, institutional abuses of power, discrimination, social cleansing, pests (insects). One of the stories is from a young mum in inadequate emergency accommodation, with specific discussions about the impacts on her and her child.

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If today’s exhibition brings up anything for you that feels challenging, please take a moment to step out of the space and care for yourself. If you need further support, there are some resources below.

 

Self Care:

Self care looks different for everyone, but here are some suggestions:

• Grounding techniques: try the 5-4-3-2-1 Method: Notice five things you see, four things you touch, three things you hear, two things you smell, and one thing you taste 

• Listen to some music

• Write: you can use our paper, pens and envelopes and you do not have to post the letter to us, you are free to keep it or even throw it away

• Move your body: There are spaces directly outside UCL where you can breathe fresh air, move, or sit outside

 

Further resources:

Take a look at some of the groups, organisations and information resources below. We are not affiliated with any of these, they’re resources that we have collected that we hope might be helpful. You would need to email them directly, or check their websites.

 

Shelter  www.shelter.org.uk

Provide free housing advice and resources are available on their website.

 

Community Links/Catch 22  www.community-links.org

Community Links is a hub tackling health and social inequality in east London and beyond.

Mind  www.mind.org.uk/information-support

Support with positive mental health.

 

East London Counselling Service   counselling@shp.org.uk

Run by SHP - a free community counselling service for people in Waltham Forest.

 

Well Newham  www.wellnewham.org.uk

A directory of resources, hubs and advice organisations for wellbeing and support in Newham

 

London Black Women’s Project  www.lbwp.co.uk

Provides services and safe spaces for Black, Asian and minoritised women and girls

 

The Magpie Project  themagpieproject.org

Support mums and under-fives in temporary accommodation in Newham

 

Single Homeless Project  www.shp.org.uk

A London-wide charity with a vision of a society where everyone has a place to call home.

 

Tower Hamlets Connect   www.towerhamletsconnect.org

Connecting Tower Hamlets residents with information and advice across the borough.

 

London Renters Union  londonrentersunion.org

A member-led, campaigning union taking action to transform the housing system

 

Cardboard Citizens   www.cardboardcitizens.org.uk

East London based theatre company working with and for people who experience homelessness, inequity, or poverty.

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Join the conversation

at our special event

Priced Out of East London

Tuesday 8th April 2025 6pm

Find out more and book your FREE ticket here

 

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