community and housing

Who does this guide apply to?

Private Renters: Y

Social Housing Renters - sometimes 

Lodgers: N

Squatters: N

Introduction

We are so used to landlords - and the power they have - that they can seem unchallengeable. They make profit from our need for a home, and using the courts and the police, can make us homeless. While the situation for tenants in the UK is dire - and looks to get worse under COVID-19 - we still have rights under the law and community power to protect us.

This sheet deals with Landlord Harassment. If you are having trouble with a Section 21 eviction or Rent Arrears check out our other guides. For ways to fight back without going through the courts, check our Stuff Your Landlord guide.

Who does this guide apply to?

Private Renters: Y

Social Housing Renters: Y

Lodgers: N

Squatters: N

Introduction

We are so used to landlords - and the power they have - that they can seem unchallengeable. They make profit from our need for a home, and using the courts and the police, can make us homeless. While the situation for tenants in the UK is dire - and looks to get worse under COVID-19 - we still have rights under the law and community power to protect us.

This sheet deals with Rent Arrears. If you are having trouble with Landlord Harassment or have been served a Section 21 notice check out our other guides. For ways to fight back without going through the courts, check our Stuff Your Landlord guide.

Who does this guide apply to?

The law on Rent Arrears applies to two types of tenancies.

Who does this guide apply to?

Private Renters: Y

Social Housing Renters: N* 

Lodgers: N

Squatters: N

*Some Housing Associations use Assured Shorthold Tenancies as an introductory tenancy for the first year, so it’s good to check.

Introduction

We are so used to landlords - and the power they have - that they can seem unchallengeable. They make profit from our need for a home, and using the courts and the police, can make us homeless. While the situation for tenants in the UK is dire - and looks to get worse under COVID-19 - we still have rights under the law and community power to protect us.

This guide deals with Section 21 notices. If you are having trouble with Landlord Harassment or Rent Arrears check out our other guides. For ways to fight back without going through the courts, check our Stuff Your Landlord guide.

Our dispute against YPP Lettings has been closed after the tenant accepted an improved offer, a reduction in rent of 22% (or £660). The letting agency made an offer before any direct action was needed, although we had declared our intent to undertake such action.

Liverpool Solidarity Federation was contacted by a tenant of Gravity Residence. Due to the pandemic she had to move back to her family home, leaving behind all her belongings in the apartment. Since then, she had tried to reach a sensible agreement with YPP to finish her tenancy earlier. The YPP position was unreasonable, they offered a shameful 5% deduction from her total amount if she paid all the amount by the beginning of April.

This summer, over a dozen G4Lets tenants successfully withheld their final month’s rent payment to claim back their tenancy deposit. G4Lets are notorious deposit thieves, usually taking most or all of a deposit for dubious and inflated charges that take months to challenge through their chosen deposit protection scheme, MyDeposits.

Two years into the Brighton Solidarity Federation Housing Union, we've had another busy year of working collectively to push back against the city's continuing housing crisis. In this article, we look back on actions and initiatives from the last 12 months and consider our attempts to maintain the momentum of 2017-18 by adopting different strategies and taking on different cases.

The Housing Union in 2018-19

Brighton SolFed started a housing campaign in June 2017, a little over two years ago, in the hope of developing a group of people keen to challenge the poor conditions and high cost of rental property in the city, as well as the dodgy practices of landlords and letting agencies. The problems with rental property have continued to mount up; rental prices have increased 30 per cent since 2011, and the exploitation of renters continues to be a profitable practice for agencies and the property owners that hide behind them.

Some of you may remember Patrick, who has been organising with us for the past 18 months to try and improve his living conditions. Patrick's dispute started when his letting agency, Youngs, refused to do basic repair works on his seriously dilapidated flat. In January 2018, shortly after requesting these works, Patrick was served with an eviction notice by his landlord, Stephen Mitchell.

Patrick successfully fought this eviction in court. In the meantime, we also pursued the council to serve an improvement notice on Mitchell, in order to legally compel him to carry out these works. Undeterred by the first failed eviction attempt, Mitchell tried again, this time with the help of a solicitor. Under much pressure, the council served an improvement notice on Mitchell, which should have invalidated the second eviction notice.

On Saturday 19th January Manchester SolFed organised our fourth picket in support of six Brighton tenants. We picketed the Skipton Building society branch on Market Street in the centre of Manchester. Brighton SolFed’s public campaign against Fox & Sons has now been extended to their parent company, Skipton Building Society. With Fox & Sons still refusing to compensate the six tenants whose tenancy they cancelled five days after it was supposed to start, leaving them with nowhere to live, Brighton SF contacted David Cutter, the chief executive of Skipton, and Gary Morton of their lettings branch Connells, to demand that they resolve the issue. Both Mr Cutter and Mr Morton refused to do so, meaning that Brighton SF on  Saturday 19th January extended the campaign to pickets of Skipton branches across the country. 

On Saturday 12th Jan Manchester SolFed picketed Skipton Building Society in support of 6 Brighton tenants. The tenants have been organising with Brighton SolFed after being treated appallingly by the Brighton letting agency, Fox and Sons. The company,  Fox and Sons, is owned by the Connells group,  one of the largest estate agency and property services providers in the UK, which last year made £104.2m in profits. In turn, the Connells group is owned by the ever so friendly - we do not have shareholders - Skipton Building Society. Saturday's picket was part of an escalation of the dispute with pickets taking place in Bristol, Manchester and Brighton in support of the 6 tenants
For more information on the dispute see our previous post or go to http://www.brightonsolfed.org.uk/

Last weekend, Manchester and Liverpool Solidarity Federation organised pickets in support of  6 Brighton student tenants. The tenants have been organising with Brighton SolFed after being treated appallingly by the Brighton letting agency, Fox and Sons. Treatment which led to the 6 students being made temporarily homeless. 

Manchester SF picketed Gascoigne Halmon estate agents, while Liverpool picket Jones & Chapman, both are sister companies of Fox and sons. All three companies are owned by  Connells group,  one of the largest estate agency and property services providers in the UK, which last year made £104.2m in profits. In turn, the Connells group is owned by the ever so friendly - we do not have shareholders - Skipton Building Society.