Agenda for HfA Meeting 1. Update on CAEH 2. Report backs from: 3. LP Conference 4. Cladding Day of Action 5. Grenfell 6. AOB Agenda for CAEH 1. Planning local actions and Broadcasts 2. Distribution of the leaflet and final poster 3. Using social media to generate support for the day 4. Final sponsors for the Day of Action 5. Rally speakers and timings. 5.AOB
October 9th 2021, 11am Day of Action – We are in a climate, health and housing emergency!
We have decided to bring together all the organisations that took part in our first successful Day of Action in April 2021 and draw more local and national organisations into a national coalition called ‘Campaign Against Empty Homes’. Whether it is a local community group or a national organisation, we want everyone on board for 9 October, who wants empty homes to be brought back into use.
Unite have kindly donated some money so we can produce publicity and get the message out. We have lots of leaflets you can use to promote the day of action., and you can give out the same leaflets on the day of action itself. Scroll down to see a pdf of the leaflet. Our main partners, Action on Empty Homes are working hard with us to plan for the day. We will be doing a press launch very soon.
We will be having an online rally on YouTube and Facebook on 9th October, just like we did on 17th April, and we are inviting you to live stream your local protest into the rally.
We are calling the 9th October Day of Action for four reasons:
1) Over 100,000 families are living in Temporary Accommodation while over half a million homes have no permanent resident.
2) The wrong kind of housing is being built across the country – they are unaffordable to anyone on an average income to either rent or buy. These new builds are also being sold off-plan and ending up as Airbnb short lets, second homes or buy to leave empty wealth investments with no permanent residents.
3) Communities are being broken up as council estates that could be refurbished are being left to decline, to be replaced by yet more unaffordable new build.
4) The Climate emergency demands refurbishment, not demolition. Retrofitting 270,000 long term empty homes and council estates can help solve the climate crisis.
We will hold street actions highlighting all of these issues and hold a national rally calling for empty homes to be used by those living in temporary and overcrowded accommodation and to meet the climate emergency.
The Day of Action is also to raise public awareness of the rising number of long-term empty homes and homes without a permanent resident in England. Government and market data show there are around:
*270,000 long-term empty homes *260,000 second-homes with no permanent resident *120,000 Airbnb type short-lets (London Councils estimate there are over 70,000 short-lets in London alone) We also want a national register of landlords and beneficial owners and much tighter regulation of Airbnb.
If you want to call a street protest to be part of the day of action on 9th October, please let us know. We can live stream your protest into an online rally.
Local street protests will be POSTED HERE
Southwark: Campaign Against Empty Homes: Repopulate the Aylesbury Estate! Fill Empty Council Homes, 10:45am, Saturday 9th October, Outside Thurlow Lodge, 1 Thurlow Street, SE17 2US Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/405314640978545/
2. Empty Homes Day of Action at Pentonville Prison. Islington Homes for All – Saturday 9th October Meet at the Breakout Café on Caledonian Road at 10:45 to go to Pentonville Prison Empty Flats on Roman Way for 11am. Twitter: https://twitter.com/home
3.
Everything you need to plan a street protest and live stream it is here
Nine Ems protest 21 August 2021. Photo (and fantastic speech!) by Reece Lipman
The Nine Elms protest made the BBC News website and served to highlight the building safety crisis and and the wider housing crisis. Insurmountable cladding bills, estate managers ignoring broken fire alarms, construction defects, “affordable” housing residents being denied access to basic facilities – All of the companies present in one way or another in Nine Elms have been notorious for this. Protesters were joined by Wandsworth Housing Action and local Wandsworth Labour Councillor Maurice McLeod as well as Tony O’Brien from Hazards. Great to see you there! Action on Fire Safety Justice is a force to be reckoned with!
Newsnight covered the fire safety issue in full, it took up the WHOLE programme, and gave a platform to leaseholders facing life changing bills.
