The 1980s were a time of great contrasts. There were wars and victories. Some people got much wealthier and moved to the suburbs, where they shopped in out-of-town malls and bought designer clothes. The poorer, and immigrants, were left in the older housing closer to the city centres, and here lack of money meant that everything often had a run-down look.
This was also the age when many people paying rents in council houses got the chance to buy their homes.
