ElizabethofYork
Old Crone
I know of a few people from my childhood who still live in Clerkenwell. They've lived in the same social housing for years and years.
The squatters who managed to live for free in £1 million London house for more than 31 years
- Thread starter pbsmooth
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marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
Central London social housing is mainly Westminster/Camden Council with a few Housing Associations - there still is significant Social Housing there , mainly because they are very difficult to buy via RTB as the discount of £120k-ish off market value puts them out of the reach of most people. And they will be re-let when current tenants die or move.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
I used to manage Social Housing in Bayswater/Notting Hill - in the 60s PCHA/Notting Hill Housing Trust bought loads of run down housing and did them up - which attracted others to the area and basically gentrified it - it was around the time of Cathy Come Home and Rachman type landlords . I remember one street (Hereford Road - which is basically in Bayswater) was full of HA housing with tenants who had lived there for years. Eventually these properties will get used by new tenants - but given the locations, tenants are reluctant to move elsewhere.
Interesting. That is a basic thing I did not know - so that's a good way of keeping social housing I guess at least.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
yep, although it also means that buying a home in London is beyond most people nowadays
Fozzie Bear
Well-Known Member
Ah there is a good book about that:
Tales From The Embassy - Strange Attractor
Communiqués From The Guild of Transcultural Studies 1976 - 1991More →
strangeattractor.co.uk
I don’t think they ended up owning it, but they lasted ages and put lots of world music gigs on there.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
When I managed social housing close to there , I was very jealous of the folk who had flats there . Closest to Notting Hill was Talbot Rd , I think Notting Hill/PCHA had an agreement on who managed Notting Hill (Notting Hill HT won Notting Hill)
Ironically they are now part of a mega HA , Notting Hill/Genesis.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Longest running squat I know of must be on year 12 by now. Sadly all the nice people there were driven out by a couple of nasty speed addicts long ago. Tale as old as time 
Ah yeah good spot. Were you ever in Trelick Tower?
JimW
支那暗杀团
I lived there for a bit when I came up to London to be a student. Mate of a mates sister had a flat and rented me a room. She was a bit crackers, used to sit up all hours watching that cable feed that mosaics loads of channels at once and rarely went out, though had loads of dodgy mates round so I moved out ASAP.
JimW
支那暗杀团
We were on a higher floor so view was excellent. You could also see the water in the bog swaying slightly in a high wind.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
No , used to see it all the time when I was walking around there.
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
An ex-partner was born-and-bred Clerkenwell, she had a flat in a Guinness or Peabody block where many of the tenants were locals like her - when the HA said they all had to move out 'temporarily' while the inflammable cladding was removed (post-Grenfell), there was a lot of suspicion that it wouldn't be temporary. People were being offered flats in Stamford Hill and further away, but many wanted to stay nearby - cos of family ties, friends, and cos their children were going to local schools.
I still wonder if they ever were allowed to move back to Clerkenwell, or if the HA sold off the block after the cladding removal. Those flats must be worth a lot of £££
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
Interesting article.
I recently came across some leaflets produced by a Somers Town local history group with accounts of the 1960 rent strike (not just Somers Town but parts of Kentish Town too) also involving WW2 veterans:
"...that pitted hundreds of police and bailiffs against thousands of council tenants in a one-day battle [that] had erupted from a rent strike following a Conservative government-imposed rent increase followed by a stringent – often harrowing – means-tested scheme. At the time most of Camden Town, Kentish Town and Somers Town was governed by a Conservative-controlled St Pancras council prepared to face down a strike by their tenants.
But they had underestimated the military-style operation of their opponents, led – in the main – by war veterans who created a disciplined network of tenants spearheaded by two men, one of whom had been a tough commando, Don Cook. The “magnificent” two barricaded themselves in their flats – and dared the police to evict them from their flats in Kennistoun House, Kentish Town, and Silverdale..."
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
story
Changing the facts
… which isn’t a problem if rents are affordable, housing stock is in good order and repairs and upgrades are done properly. Theoretically, the richer boroughs are capable of this, so long as corruption isn’t a factor ( see Grenfell).
I do know some people in good quality affordable LA homes in rich areas. It‘s impossible for them to buy anything anywhere ever, but their rent is affordable and they’d never find anything comparable elsewhere at the same rent. They’re the lucky few though for sure.
story
Changing the facts
I’ve also seen (as in walk past) some really good looking LA places in back streets of affluent areas. They do exist and judging by the exteriors they’re in good order and the tenants are long term.
We need more of this and for those that do exist to be better protected.
Renting isn’t the issue per se. One of the reasons owning is such a fetish here is because renting is so fucking awful for so many reasons. Renting is far more normal in other countries.
We need more of this and for those that do exist to be better protected.
Renting isn’t the issue per se. One of the reasons owning is such a fetish here is because renting is so fucking awful for so many reasons. Renting is far more normal in other countries.
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
I don’t know how true it is, but I’ve heard that LB Hammersmith & Fulham don’t now re-let their council properties once the tenants die or move away - but instead sell them, as they’re now worth so much £££ - in order to bolster the council’s budget which has starved by successive central governments.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
Quite Possible, some Local Authorities are selling off council homes - mine has a buy back scheme - so if a flat becomes empty in a street property, and we aren't the freeholder (the leaseholders have bought the freehold off the council) then we sell them - in order to finance buy back of former Council homes on estates (which are cheaper than street properties).
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
I think some of the large housing associations do this - do not re-let empty flats in expensive areas, sell them and reinvest the money into cheaper areas. I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, using a very simplistic made-up example, a HA can theoretically build or buy more or larger homes in Barking and Dagenham or Newham by selling homes in Kensington, and therefore house more people in need. On the other, this contributes to areas like Kensington increasingly becoming multi-millionaires' playgrounds with essential workers needing to commute in from a long way.
Interesting thread - I think I only read half of it originally! On the subject of ordinary people living in what are now exclusive areas, when I moved to London in the mid-80s I had friends living in Kensington, Earls Court, Notting Hill and so-on - one even lived above Goodge Street station. Apart from London being far less subject to gentrification then (though it was definitely happening, and had been for years) another factor was that if you privately rented, as most of my friends did, housing benefit would pay your rent.
PTK
Paul Kegan
I am not sure if Clerkenwell counts as "central London".
Silas Loom
Hated by both sides
PTK
Paul Kegan
Well, actually, I looked at Wikipedia, and I am wrong and you are right.
"For strategic planning, since 2011 there has been a Central London sub-region comprising the boroughs of Camden, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Westminster and the City of London"
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