The Commons: grassroots housing organizations are taking back control
Gonzalo Facello
If one looks up in West London, there is a high chance that you will see a tower block covered in tarpaulin with green writing on it. As you get closer, you will be able to make out a green heart and the words “Grenfell, forever in our hearts.” It serves as a stark reminder of the 2017 disaster which killed 72 people. A fire tore through the 24-story block of apartments causing widespread outrage across Britain and disbelief that this could happen in one of the most developed cities in the world.
Grenfell Tower is situated in the brough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of the most unequal boroughs in London. The tragedy woke people up to the housing inequality that exists in the UK, how people living in a tower block with cladding that accelerated a fire could live in the same borough as The Boltons, where houses routinely fetch over £20 million. The government confirmed in February that the tower would be knocked down, some parts going towards a memorial but leaving a blank space in the skyline, and taking away the reminder of the UK’s worst fire since 1887.
Since Grenfell and the covid-19 pandemic, grassroots housing organizations have sprung up over the country, fighting councils and housing associations, not just over cladding, but also over issues such as rent controls, increased service charges, damp and mold. Kwejo Tweneboa has become one of the most prominent voices in housing activism. Since nursing his dying father in a pest infested flat, he started a social media campaign gaining traction all over the world and has become an example for others on how grassroots campaigning can affect real difference.
Through social media campaigning, Tweneboa forced Clarion Housing Group, the largest housing association in Europe, to commit to repairs on his flat after 18 months. The story is sadly reminiscent of Grenfell when numerous warnings were raised about the external cladding before it happened.
Morag Gillie is chair of Homes For All. According to the campaign groups website they aim to change policy conversation and create a well-functioning housing system that delivers affordable, secure and quality homes for everyone.
Gillie said: “We believe the only real solution to the housing crisis is a mass program of council house provision.”
Homes For All emerged initially after the 2016 Housing and Planning Act which required social housing tenants with a combined income of higher than £31,000 to start to pay rent. Gillie said that since the 2007 financial crisis there had been a “real fragmentation of housing.” She pointed to councils selling off prison flats and social housing being replaced by private developments.
Gillie said: “The most important thing is to start building groups in the local area, finding out what the issues are.” She noted an increase in mold and damp where she lives in Islington and created online documents to track the housing issues of those in the local area.
Homes For All hosts monthly meetings for all the different campaign groups to work together. The SHAPE (Southwark Housing and Planning Emergency coalition demonstration) campaign in Southwark now has over 20 campaigns working together. They claim that over 80% of new housing in Southwark is too expensive and is demanding that new developments Southwark Councils aims of 35%. Criticisms have come in after the Heygate regeneration failed to meet the standards implemented by Southwark council.
A Southwark Council spokesperson said: “The council has a policy of 35% affordable housing, subject to viability. It rarely makes an exception and often it exceeds this target. Some schemes are even 100% affordable housing.
“In the case of the former Heygate Estate, 25% of the housing is affordable. The project forms part of the wider E & C regeneration programme - across the area, 35% is being delivered.
“Southwark’s track record on delivering affordable and appropriate housing stands strong and we continue to aim higher - last year, more homes for social rent – including new genuinely affordable housing association homes – were completed in Southwark than in any other borough in London.”
Gillie said: “I live in a block of six. I literally went around the block with a piece of paper and said I’m really concerned about massive increases in our service charges, and I put together an objection.” Gillie enforced the fact that this was a national problem and that tenants who club together had a better chance of enacting change.
Acorn is a community union which organizes tenants together to fight more effectively in the battle over housing. Recent wins for them include successfully campaigning for alternative accommodation for a disabled tenant and lobbying parliament for a ban on ‘rent in advance.’ A practice used by Landlords in order to secure money up front, often to great cost of the tenant. Acorn along with many other organizations, exemplifies how housing and tenancy organizations are taking a stand against government and local authority housing policies.
The graph above shows how housebuilding has stagnated in the UK, The Labour Party have pledged to build 1.5 million extra homes over their premiership and to reintroduce local housing targets. They have also started to restrict the right to buy scheme which has seen housing owned by councils go to the hands of private owners. Housing minister, Matthew Pennycock confirmed on July 4 that the government will restrict newly built social housing to the rent to buy scheme for 35 years. The rent to buy scheme is a program which allows people to rent property at a reduced rate in order to save for the deposit which they are then able to buy back from the local authority. But housing organizations have given up on relying on the government for legislation that protects them and now prefer direct action.
Right to buy being restricted will mean that less social housing will go to the private market and theoretically stay available for longer before being bought by private developers. However, opposition to the move are worried that it stifles ambition by renters.
It is estimated that 1 in 20 children in London live in temporary accommodation that cost local authorities £4 million a day. The Labour party were elected on a mandate of building more houses as gen Z struggle to move out, millennials find themselves trapped in rented accommodation and boomers hold 43% of the housing wealth in the UK. Major cities in the UK are experiencing gentrification at a fast rate with local people forced to relocate and worries continue to build regarding city identity and provision for those less well off in society. Groups such as Homes For All and SHAPE campaign through media organization, protests and social media to affect real change for their members.