THE Covid-19 pandemic has been highlighting so many contemporary problems — not least how it is exacerbating inequalities already on the increase in Britain and internationally even before the first lockdown — and Jobs and Homes focuses on its impact on the law and people’s experiences of access to justice.

Its author is David Renton, a barrister specialising in housing and employment law, and his book is a highly readable journey through the civil justice system, illustrated by a series of cases where the author acted for clients in county courts and employment tribunals up and down the country.

Renton weaves the political and policy contexts into the narrative, including the current housing crisis, without being overtly didactic. He provides a critical understanding of the civil justice system’s shortcomings, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, which were made worse by the cuts to legal aid as a result of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders act (2012).