At about the same time as I stumbled across Newbury House in Redbridge, a young local woman noticed it too. Immie was passing on the top deck of a bus. Aware that the building was an office, she was unsettled by the flimsy white curtains that were drawn across most of its 200 or so windows. Unsettled because, as she later explained, it took her back to her childhood.

I knew nothing about this until Miles Warde, a Radio 4 broadcaster, got in touch about a programme based around Immie’s background. We met at the end of last year, and she told her poignant story, “My name is Immie” on Radio 4 last week.

Now 22, Immie was very young when her parents separated. When their landlady sold the house that she had shared with her mum and three older sisters, they were priced out of the area and placed in temporary accommodation. Immie was quick to say that despite having the same “standard-issue” tell-tale white curtains that had caught her eye from the bus, their accommodation was quite nice.

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