The "Day for Housing" meeting started with an introduction by the chair.
The main point of the day was to connect up the different campaigns around housing in London.
The first half of the day was short speeches from different campaigns and also an academic on the historical context.
The Barnet Housing Action Group set up with help of Unite Union heard about Sweets Way eviction. This estate was being cleared of residents for demolition and “regeneration”. When BHAG went there they were “gobsmacked”. Peoples belongings strewn around, houses being boarded up. BHAG helped the remaining residents resist the evictions and fight for better rehousing. The Sweets Way campaign is resident led.
The speaker said that Barnet are a Tory flagship Council. What they do with housing is what will happen to others next. Barnet want to bring in the new (not) affordable up to 80% rents for its housing for example.
Barnets attitude to the community on Sweets Way estate was to offer them unsuitable rehousing on day of eviction. The Sweets Way estate houses were liked by the residents and they did not want to leave them.
BHAG helped the residents resist eviction and take the issue through the courts. They also occupied some of the houses as a protest.
They would like more people to come and visit the occupation.
Beteil spoke well about the Guinness Trust. This is an issue we know about so I will be brief.
From evicting the ASTs GT have now said they will rehouse ASTs. But not in Brixton. So 37 are holding out to be rehoused in Brixton. They have lived in Brixton for years now as insecure ASTs. They have children at school here and are well established as part of the local community. Now Brixton is becoming popular area they are being told to go.
- Paul Watts housing academic.
Paul gave the historical context.
At beginning of 20C most Londoners rented privately. For the less well off of London this meant poor housing conditions.
Paul Watts continued
At the beginning of the 20C the first Council Housing estate was built. The Boundary estate in East London ( still there btw)
During the 20C there was a process of the De- commodification of housing. That is housing increasingly became not a commodity to be bought and sold but a right. This was part of the post war Welfare State. It was State intervention that de-commodified housing. Housing became a right.
Council housing was not perfect. It was paternalistic and bureaucratic. And later Council housing did not build in enough community services.
Also by 1960s housing policies were racist. Newer Asian and Afro Caribbean immigrants could not easily get housing.
Despite this Council Housing was an important victory for the working class. Paul said he had done research interviewing old people who had moved from poor condition private housing to new Council Housing. For them it was a great improvement.
The high point of Council Housing was 1981 when in London there were 777 000 Council houses , 31% of the total housing. Now 419 000 are left.
How did happen?
1 RTB- brought in by Thatcher government. The re- commodification of housing. This helped to facilitate the land owning “democracy”
2. The collapse of new build of Council housing. In 1970 30 000 Council houses were built. In mid 2000s (under New Labour) 2 were built.
3. Stock transfers.
4. “Regeneration” of estates. All the regeneration schemes that Paul has looked at have led to loss of social housing.
5. The unpicking of the Welfare State. The ideology of the free market from 80s.
So his view is that activists need to demand that the State intervene in the housing market to build new Council housing. That housing should be a social right.
Speaker said that they had been involved in this for last 15 years. That now it clear that the Labour Council in Southwark were “hidden Tories”. That the occupation on the estate had been going on for 5 weeks now. She asked people to visit the occupation. That people need to support each other.
- Speaker from Spain ( Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) )
She was from a group who started off in Barcelona with a few people now have groups all across Spain.
In Spain the main issue for evictions was mortgage default. They decided on a list of demands aimed at the State that could gather widespread support.
These are:
- Stop evictions
- Accept houses as collateral for debt ( in Spain if you lose your house you still owe the mortgage)
- Increase in social housing
These are non negotiable demands. The idea is to make this a common fight. To make it everyones issue.
The stop evictions by standing in front of houses. The also “shame” politicians who do not take an interest in the housing situation.
PAH also are into “liberation of buildings” . There are lots of empty buildings in Spain. They house homeless people in liberated buildings. They prefer this term to squatting.
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After this the Chair asked for people from the floor who wanted to speak.
I will try to summarise the various points rather than verbatim report.
That the different campaigns should put up their own candidate for Mayor
Private tenant said that all types of tenant should stand together. That private tenants are being squeezed out with rapid rent rises.
Do not get drawn into debate about economics by politicians. Cannot win on this. Argue on basis that housing is something we need. Do not back away from demands to get caught up in arguments about economics.
Against this view is that economics is important. That the Welfare State when it was first set up after the war was not strong enough. For example in 1959 RTB was in a Labour party manifesto.
Issue of burnout of people in campaigns. People want to be able to live a normal life.
Social cleansing in London on a massive scale (Aylesbury). There are big forces against us who profit from housing. So mass united action is necessary that unites squatters, tenants and leaseholders.
The Labour party is now the “main social cleansing party in London” (Piers)
So one broad movement for “accountable Council Housing”
Person campaigning for social housing on West Ham football club ground. The publicity for the buildings is for “vibrant new Borough Market style” and being sold in Hong Kong/ Singapore.
Simon Hardy - Left Unity candidate said that there should be right to community and housing is to important for market.
Speakers from Cressingham Gardens and Knights walk.
Speaker from Lambeth Friends of the Earth who are starting a sustainable housing campaign.
A few people are “mapping” all the different campaigns. (Someone from “Feminist Fightback)
Also architects have set up a “Concrete Action” website.
Bill from Lambeth Housing Activists outlined recent campaigns. Said that the Spanish PAH idea of a list of non negotiable demands should be done here.
That economics argument can be used against the commodification of housing. “Fight on the money”.
Homeless people are under represented in housing activism.
