housing

MIPIM, the world’s biggest property fair, is coming to London this week for the first time in its 25 year history.

Billed as ‘the first UK property trade show gathering all professionals looking to close deals in the UK property market’, MIPIM will attract huge numbers of financiers, developers & local authorities, all looking to profiteer from UK land and property. This profiteering is creating unaffordable, insecure housing and contributing to the corporate takeover of our community spaces and public services.

South London SolFed stands in solidarity with the Radical Housing Network in opposing MIPIM and demanding a city for people, not for profit.

Flyer for this week's actions is here. For more information, visit radicalhousingnetwork.org.

As part of co-ordinated action by the International Workers' Association across several countries, Indymedia and Bristol Solidarity Federation are hosting an evening of film and discussion on housing matters. Using film footage from the 1930s and 1970s, the struggles of ordinary people to live in a decent, affordable and secure home will be remembered. The talks and discussions will focus on the present day, providing: an overview of current national and local housing issues; an analysis of the expanding private rented sector; an insight into the tenants movement in Bristol; and a first hand account of DIY housing in the form of a local co-operative.

8pm sharp, Monday 13th May 2013, The Cube Cinema, Dove St South, Kingsdown, Bristol, BS2 8JD.

£3/£4 (but nobody turned away for lack of funds)

A solfed member visited Corrala Utopia, a block of flats in Seville squatted by evicted families who have lost their jobs due to the crisis.

Between 80 and 100 people attended a meeting organised by the Liverpool Claimants Network to discuss and plan local resistance to the government’s proposed Bedroom Tax. The initial presentation by a member of the network gave a good overview of what the Bedroom Tax is, the implications it has for housing association tenants, and the need to organise direct action against what is a callous attack on the working-class.

As of April 1st this year, housing association tenants who have a spare room will be faced with a reduction in their housing benefit of between £40 and £80 a month (a reduction of up to 25%) as part of the government’s welfare reform plans. In Liverpool alone, 12,000 tenants will be affected. Nationally, the figure is around 660,000. Meanwhile, the Empty Homes Agency says there are 725,000 homes lying empty across the country, enough to house 1.8 million people.

The North London local of the Solidarity Federation would like to offer our sincerest congratulations and solidarity to the Counihan family who recently had their housing benefit reinstated by Brent Council.  The fight you've led has been inspirational and militant.  It serves as an example for the sort of struggles that are going to be needed if we're to win the to fight against the onslaught of cuts facing the working class.

We will be advertising your upcoming march and public meeting to our members and contacts. Congratulations again and please keep us informed of upcoming actions and campaign developments on northlondonsf (at) riseup.net

Reports circulating on Twitter suggest Tory MP for Hove and architect of the recently passed anti-squatting law, Mike Weatherley, has been chased from campus by angry students. Weatherley had been due to address the university Conservative Society. Weatherley's anti-squatting law, pushed through amidst a barrage of lies and disinformation about squatting, abolished the centuries-old right to squat in abandoned residential buildings. With rising fees and living costs, squatting has been a way of saving money for many poorer Sussex students - empty residential properties in Brighton and Hove outnumbered homeless families 10:1

As the Spanish government announced a two year halt on evictions in “the most urgent cases” today, following two suicides by people evicted from their homes, more than a hundred people have demonstrated this evening outside the headquarters of the PP.  Rejecting a “whitewash” and calling for a stop on all evictions they occupied various banks, including the Banco de España. Inside the banks people shouted “how many more will you kill?” and “these are not suicides, they are murders”. The government made the announcement following mass anger when a woman in Barakaldo threw herself from her window just before eviction, and a man in Granada was found hanged in his flat when the police came to evict him.  Evictions are running at 500 a day in Spain. 

A woman committed suicide today in Spain when she was about to be evicted by La Caixa bank. The woman, in Barakaldo, near Bilbao, threw herself from the window just before the eviction. There were protests in many places including Barakaldo and Madrid, and banks across the country are tonight wearing slogans such as "murderers" and "guilty". This is the forth suicide linked to evictions in two weeks. 

There are more than 500 evictions a day in Spain and there is a growing anti eviction movement, which mobilises people to blockade houses and physically prevent the evictions from taking place. 

Ruth, Jess and Charlotte recently took up a rented property in Bethnal Green through the Shoreditch branch of Victorstone Property Consultants, paying £3,451 as rent and deposit. After they had only just moved into the house, Victorstone fell out with the landlords over the fees they would take, the landlords decided they wanted to get out of the letting, and changed the locks.

Ruth, Jess and Charlotte managed to get some money back from the landlady, but the landlady had never been transferred the full amount, because Victorstone had subtracted their fee. Victorstone initially tried to mislead Ruth, Jess and Charlotte, implying that all the money had been transferred to the landlady. In fact they intended to keep c.£1200 of their money for a completely failed deal.