Homes for All joins leaseholders and tenants outside Downing Street to say “Developers must pay”

Demonstrators in Wales, Leeds and Chelmsford keep up the pressure for government to end the cladding scandal

A wave of protests across the country greeted the first reading of the Building Safety Bill, which does next to nothing to help leaseholders facing life-changing bills for fire safety remediation. The Action for Fire Safety Justice group helped to coordinate the protests and pledged to continue them until their demands are met.

Pictures from the London protest by photojournalist Mark Kerrison.

ITV Report from Leeds protest, with interview with Hilary Benn MP, Saturday 17 June.

The Protest in Wales on Saturday was joined by two Cardiff politicians

Meanwhile a flashmob descended on the Novello sales centre in Chelmsford, including Chelmsford TUC, where protesters were able to speak to six potential buyers and let them know that Bellway was still building homes with flammable cladding. Given that the protest was not advertised beforehand, the turnout was pretty impressive!

Chelmsford showroom protest, 17 July 2021

Steve Day from Polluter Pays Bill joined our Homes for All meeting the same day and we agreed to publicise the campaign here. Steve wrote to us:

“The Building Safety Bill is the Government’s last chance to remedy this grave injustice of the Building Safety Crisis by implementing a solution that places the burden of dealing with the crisis on the shoulders of those who caused it. Only legislation can make those developers that built unsafe buildings pay for the cost of their failures. They took the profits and now must be made to compensate their innocent victims. If no action is taken, the slow drumroll of forfeitures, evictions, bankruptcies, mounting mental health problems, and even suicides will be placed at the Government’s door.

Campaigners with the help of experts and counsel have devised and pushed forward a Polluter Pays Bill which the government are actively considering to include in the Building Safety Bill. The proposal, is based on existing environmental legislation, where a wide pool of those responsible for causing the problem in the first place bear the responsibility to cover the costs of putting it right – in this case, placing the responsibility with developers, subcontractors, materials suppliers and architects, as opposed to innocent leaseholders or the taxpayer.

The proposal has already won the backing of 14 cross party back benchers and 4 peers and has been tabled twice in Parliament, but not yet debated on. Campaigners are urging Government to add these clauses to the Building Safety Bill, as it will bring in much needed consumer protection for buildings common to many other kinds of purchases. It takes the burden away from innocent leaseholders for pursuing litigation, doesn’t require tax payer funds and doesn’t make other innocent parties pay to bail out the construction industry’s failures. It will also free up existing funding for non-defective buildings and where no responsible party can be found.

In the end, it has to be right for all those that breach building regulations be made to pay in full for fixing their mistakes. This bill will achieve that, the government have a moral duty to include it.
How you can help!

1) Write and get everyone you know to write to their MPs to urge the government to include Polluter Pays In the Building Safety Bill.

2) Get pressure groups onboard with the bill. This is the fight of a generation for future building as well as clearing up the mess of the last 20 years.

3) Share our website and raise awareness : https://buildingsafetycrisis.org/

Background information on the building safety campaign:

Campaign group Action for Fire Safety Justice FBhttps://www.facebook.com/FireSafetyJustice/ Twitterhttps://twitter.com/ActionFSJ?s=20

Building Safety Crisis map of buildings https://buildingsafetymap.co.uk/

Protests are going on all across the country – find out where https://buildingsafetycrisis.org/events/

Action: Cladding campaigners to take the fight to Downing Street 15 July

We are calling everyone who can make it down to support this important protest.

The Building Safety Bill is getting a hearing this week, but it doesn’t protect leaseholders, it protects developers. We must demand that developers pay, not innocent leaseholders, and that tenants and leaseholders have the right to safe, secure housing NOW. Action for Fire Safety Justice is the group that organised the developer showroom protests on 5th June. Now we are supporting them as they take the fight to 10 Downing Street.

Action for Fire Safety JusticeFire Safety Crisis Protest

12 pm, Thursday 15 July

10 Downing Street, SW1A 2AA

15th July Fire Safety Crisis Protest Facebook event with details https://fb.me/e/PgHPjLpJ

Background information

Building Safety Crisis map of buildings https://buildingsafetymap.co.uk/

Protests are going on all across the country – find out where https://buildingsafetycrisis.org/events/

http://www.axethehousingact.org.uk/uncategorized/endourcladdingscandal-time-to-fight-for-fire-safety/

Homes for All stands in solidarity with Grenfell on 14th June

Four Years and still no justice or change

Grenfell United called a silent march on the day and in an incredibly moving display of solidarity and anger, people across the country came together for vigils and protests to stand with the bereaved and survivors and to remember the 72 lost lives.

A common theme of the protests was that the real perpetrators of social murder are getting away with it, but innocent people remain trapped in unsafe homes and in some cases forced to pay thousands to make their own buildings safe. There is no reason to suppose that another Grenfell tragedy will be avoided. It is only a matter of time.

At Homes for All we are proud to be part of the continuing fight for justice for Grenfell and the struggle to make all housing safe, without the huge financial costs being passed on to the leaseholders, and in some cases, the tenants. The Grenfell fire was the result of a thoroughly corrupt system of housing in this country, where the profits of construction firms, manufacturers, developers and landlords are the main priority, safety comes a poor second and the government ensures they keep getting away with it through a totally inadequate regulatory regime.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the Grenfell community for fighting to get these facts into the open. We will fight on.

Media coverage

BBC News on End Our Cladding Scandal YouTube – with Ed Daffarn and New Providence Wharf

BBC London News with Nabil Choucair, bereaved and Moyra Samuels (Homes for All / Grenfell Campaigner)

Firefighters honour guard, Grenfell

Local vigils and protests

Manchester
Haringey, North London
Liverpool
Barking, London
Milton Keynes
Southwark, London
Tower Hamlets, London

Join us to mark the 4th anniversary of the Grenfell fire

Local actions. If you know of any others taking place, please email or tweet @Homes4AllUK

Southwark Grenfell 4 Years Anniversary Vigil 6:30pm – 7pm Elephant Park marketing suite (Lendlease) https://fb.me/e/gbI6M0KT7

Haringey Grenfell Solidarity Vigil 18.30 at Haringey Civic Centre https://twitter.com/partridgebirdie/status/1404208676739719172?s=20 https://www.facebook.com/HDCHpage/

Manchester 12:30 – 13:00 St Peter’s Sq / Manchester Central Libraryhttps://twitter.com/McrClad…/status/1403673350451478534…

Liverpool Supporting Grenfell vigil St Lukes Bombed Out Church 6pm https://twitter.com/CllrAnn…/status/1403094500583542786…

Barking Grenfell Vigil 6:30pm – 7pm Samuel Garside House (grassy patch outside)Barking Riverside https://twitter.com/Doge977…/status/1403106456136830982…

Tower Hamlets Remember the Grenfell 72 5.30pm St John’s Church, 200 Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PA https://www.facebook.com/events/168398331966069?ref=newsfeed

Milton Keynes, 6pm, Council Offices near the Library https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10225957248901474&id=1342452975

On Monday 14th June, Homes for All is calling for supporters to remember the 72 lives lost and to stand in solidarity with the survivors and bereaved of the Grenfell fire. This must never happen again.

We are asking people to join their friends, workmates, family and neighbours. Make a placard using the slogans below and bring a candle.

Where? Your protest or vigil could be at work, after college, at a developers’ showroom or town hall. It’s up to you.

The important thing is to come together, discuss how we can achieve our demands for justice and have a visible show of solidarity. Take photos and post them on social media.

#JusticeForGrenfell #DecentAndSafeHomesForAll #PeopleBeforeProfit

If you live near North Kensington please join the silent walk organised by Grenfell United.

Grenfell Silent Walk
Notting Hill Methodist Church

240 Lancaster Road, London W11 4AH
6.40pm, 14th June 2021

#EndOurCladdingScandal wave of protests gains national coverage

Demonstrating in Manchester

The leaseholders’ protests at develeopers showrooms and in town centres demanded an end to the building fire safety crisis. Homes for All hosted an online rally including rolling coverage from 10 of the protests and a panel of speakers. There were inspiring contributions from Matt Wrack, General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union, Karim Mussilhy, Grenfell United Jenni Garrett, End our Cladding Scandal and Sarah Rennie, Cladding Leaseholder Disability Action Group (CLADDAG). Protesters in Manchester, West Ham, Chipping Barnet and Brighton demanded that developers should pay to make buildings safe, whilst MP John McDonnell and other MPs and Councillors joined in to support the protests in their areas.

The protests caught the attention of the national press alongside BBC and ITV regional news.

Mirror article Flat owners demand urgent action from Government to end cladding scandal

BBC London clip Protests have been held across the capital

The Facebook and YouTube videos of the online rally have been viewed over 2,000 times.

Watch the Cladding scandal rally on Facebook https://fb.watch/5YpCQNv4E2/

Watch the Cladding scandal rally on YouTube

More photos and videos from the wave of protests https://buildingsafetycrisis.org/send-us-your-images-and-video-of-todays-protest/

More details about how to join the fight for safe homes http://www.axethehousingact.org.uk/uncategorized/endourcladdingscandal-time-to-fight-for-fire-safety/

#EndOurCladdingScandal – Time to fight for fire safety

Homes for All is supporting the protests at developers showrooms on 5th June. The protests are aimed at forcing developers and the government to take responsibility for fire safety measures following the Grenfell disaster.

There are an estimated 11 million people living in unsafe homes but the government, landlords and developers response has been totally inadequate. In many cases leaseholders are being forced to pay thousands of pounds for remediation – they can’t afford to pay! Meanwhile people are suffering a mental health crises whilst developers profits boom.

Image from https://endourcladdingscandal.org/

Join the Developer Showroom Protests on Saturday 5th June

Now residents are coming together to hit the developers where it hurts by targeting their future sales.
On 5th June there will be a national wave of protests outside new home sales offices, as we demand that developers cover the costs to fix the #BuildingSafetyCrisis.

Further details here: New Homes Showroom Protest – National Day of Local Action Facebook event page

https://www.facebook.com/events/1617993971730522

Where are protests happening? Check out this map!

https://claddingscandalmap.co.uk/

Can’t get to a protest? Watch and interact with the ONLINE RALLY!

Online Rally FB Event Page https://www.facebook.com/events/523904762123912?ref=newsfeed

#EndOurCladdingScandal

Showroom Protests online rally
12pm -1pm
Saturday 5th June

*Matt Wrack, General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union
*Karim Mussilhy, Grenfell United
*Jenni Garrett, End Our Cladding Scandal
*Sarah Rennie, Cladding Leaseholder Disability Action Group (CLADDAG)
*Chair: Tanya Murat, Homes for All

Live streams from protests in…

  • Southend (Weston Homes)
  • Manchester (Bellway)
  • Canary Wharf (Ballymore)
  • Birmingham (City Centre)
  • Chipping Barnet (Countryside)
  • West Ham (Barratt Homes)
  • Brighton (Barratt Homes)
  • Clapton (Countryside)
  • Manchester (Town Hall – Lendlease)

Join the Developer Protest Action Group to find out where protests are happening and chat to other campaigners

https://www.facebook.com/groups/developeractionuk/

SEE WHERE THE PROTESTS ARE HAPPENING ON 5TH JUNE BY CLICKING ON THIS CLADDING SCANDAL MAP

https://claddingscandalmap.co.uk/

Fill in this google form if you want to help with the protests on 5th June

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSceRf50ePyvRhhzHh00GCX5iGqwKYoNVdyoftOzeLRtJEL6ew/viewform

Rent arrears put thousands at risk as end of eviction ban in England looms

MPs and charities fear a wave of homelessness when landlords can once again legally force out tenants in debt

Aerial photograph of terraced housing, Southville, Bristol
Half a million private sector renters were behind with payments in January 2021, according to research from Citizens Advice. Photograph: David Goddard/Getty Images

Clare Austin* and family live in a privately rented house in Hertfordshire. She and her husband could afford the monthly rent of £1,700 when they were both working but when he lost his job a couple of years ago, they fell behind with their payments. He got another job and things were almost back on track when Covid hit and both were furloughed.

“We can’t claim anything as we’re furloughed, but my husband is a salesman and only getting 80% of his basic pay,” said Austin, who works for a travel company. “My biggest concern is the rent arrears.”

The couple owe their landlord more than £3,000. Despite the ban on evictions until the end of May, he has been threatening to ask them to leave. “We’re robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Austin said. “The gas and electric company agreed to reduce our payments, and we’ve cut back on food … luckily all the other companies were willing to reduce things, so we can make a little top-up to our rent.”

The family’s situation is far from unusual. Thousands of tenants are behind with rent – many struggling for the first time – and charities and other organisations have warned of a timebomb that will go off when the eviction ban ends.

A recent report by the House of Commons housing, communities and local government committee said the issue had been “a looming cliff edge for the duration of the pandemic”. The MPs said: “We are very concerned that the government is waiting until there is a clear crisis before intervening, rather than … taking proactive action to protect people.”

Citizens Advice found that in January, half a million private-sector renters were behind with rent, with an average debt of £730, and that 58% of them had no previous rent arrears.

Debt charity StepChange reports a similar number of struggling tenants, and estimates that 150,000 are at risk of eviction. It says £370m of arrears has been built up as a result of Covid, with some tenants managing to keep up by borrowing or cutting back elsewhere, as Austin’s family has done.

For those on the frontline of debt advice, rent arrears is the biggest problem faced by those seeking help. They are typically in insecure jobs, often on zero-hours contracts, and in industries that have suffered disproportionately over the past year.

The ban on evictions has been extended several times since it was introduced in the early days of the pandemic, but the latest extension is due to end on 31 May. The ban stops landlords in England from sending in bailiffs to evict tenants, and obliges them to give six months’ notice of court action.

However, between October and December last year, more than 2,000 possession orders were made, and could be acted on after the deadline. There are also exceptions to the six-months’ notice rule: for tenants who are more than six months behind with their rent and for those being evicted because of antisocial behaviour.

Jerry During, co-founder of Money A+E, in Newham, East London.
Jerry During, co-founder of Money A+E, in Newham, east London. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer

Jerry During, co-founder of Money A+E, which gives advice in the London borough of Newham, says more than half of his clients have housing issues: “We’re seeing lots of people on furlough, [or] who have lost their jobs, with huge rent arrears. They were in the hundreds of pounds; now they’re in the thousands. As soon as the pause is lifted, we’re going to see a homelessness issue, and we’re going to see people taken to court.”

Those seeking advice include social tenants as well as private. A person in a shared ownership property recently sought help with arrears of £3,500 each to their housing association and their mortgage lender. Another client owes £10,500 in rent to a housing association.

Social housing tenant Georgina Samuels* is a music teacher who works across several east London schools and has struggled in the past with irregular and late payments. Cash has not always arrived in time to pay her housing association rent.

When the first lockdown hit last year and schools closed, she suddenly found herself without work.

During the pandemic, not all parents have been happy to have visiting teachers, even when permitted. After-school clubs she ran were also cancelled, so her income is down. Her rent arrears had grown to £4,709 before she was referred to Money A+E.

“After court, I was told that if I didn’t make the agreed payments they were looking to evict me. At the moment, because of the pandemic, they have been a bit more lenient,” Samuels said. As well as the rent, she is behind on other bills, and is considering trying to find another job. Her teenage children share a room, and she wants to move to a bigger home, but says the housing association has indicated that this is not possible until her arrears are down to £1,000. She has not told her children why they are stuck in a home that is so small. “I don’t want them to know that I’m in arrears – I don’t want them to think that this is normal, that this is how things are.”

StepChange is waiting for the government to announce how it plans to taper protection for renters as the suspension of evictions comes to an end, but said this would not be enough to plug the arrears that had already built up.

Richard Lane of StepChange said: “Last year, the housing secretary said no one should lose their home because of the pandemic, but this is a real prospect for hundreds of thousands of people, more than half of whom were never in arrears before. With the expiry of the eviction suspension just weeks away, now is the time to find decisive solutions, or face a crisis of housing insecurity, problem debt, homelessness and eviction.”

The housing committee report recommended extra funding for local authorities to make discretionary payments to those in arrears, in a package that will cost between £200m and £300m. “Given the number of potential evictions this would prevent,” it said, “it would probably save the exchequer a substantial amount in homelessness assistance.”

The figure also pales in comparison with the cost of other measures taken to support housing – Treasury figures suggest that extending the stamp duty holiday in England to the end of September will cost £1.3bn.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: “If the government doesn’t act, the system will collapse under the weight of a growing evictions crisis after the final bailiff ban lifts. The government’s ambition to end homelessness will be totally undermined if more people lose their homes in the year ahead. It must step in to help renters clear their Covid rent debts – before it’s too late.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry ofHousing, Communities and Local Government said measures to help renters include £140m for councils to distribute in 2021-22 and an increase in local housing allowance last year.

“We’ve put people at the heart of our decision making, with an unprecedented £352bn package keeping millions in work and temporarily bolstering the welfare safety net for those most in need,” they said. “Robust protections are still in place for renters, including longer notice periods and banning bailiff enforcement of evictions for all but the most serious cases until 31 May. Councils can also provide support through the discretionary housing scheme.

“We are considering the best way to move on from these emergency measures and will set out further details in due course.”

Austin said if she were given a grant, it “would go straight towards my arrears, and give us a breakthrough”.

Letter to the Guardian gathers support – ban evictions, write off rent arrears

Have you or your organisation signed this letter? Please ask your MP, Councillors, organisation and any famous people you know to sign this letter. It’s really easy – just go to the google doc and add a name here.

Letter to the Guardian

You will be aware that the government has again extended the eviction ban on private and social renter evictions until May 2021. However, government loopholes are allowing evictions to go ahead, such as if the landlord has proven tenants’ anti-social behaviour or at least 6 months’ rent arrears. This is despite the housing secretary Robert Jenrick’s promise that “no renter who has lost income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home”.

This is impacting over 750,000 households throughout England who are in arrears and in a state of constant fear of becoming homeless due to the government’s short-term approach and shifting regulations in dealing with what is a national housing crisis. 

  • The pandemic has had the greatest impact on the lives of working-class people, including key workers, disabled people, BAME households and those in precarious employment, who have suffered disproportionately in terms of poor health, poor housing, and extreme hardship. Even landlords’ groups such as the National Residential Landlords Association are calling on the government to offer greater support to both landlords and tenants.

Numerous renters’ and housing groups are calling for no evictions during the pandemic and for financial support to help renters pay off arrears. We are therefore calling on Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to implement the following recommendations:

·   Extend a full moratorium (ban) on evictions until March 2022.

·   Write off arrears accrued during the pandemic until March 2022.

·   Central government to develop an emergency financial package for tenants and landlords to stop evictions.

As Shelter points out, “Massive rent debt will make it impossible for many to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the pandemic”. We call on the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to step in now and support legislation to ensure no-one loses their home or incurs rent debt due to the Coronavirus crisis.

Yours sincerely, 

John McDonnell MP, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington and former Shadow Chancellor

Diane Abbott MP, Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987

Ken Loach, Film Director

Homes for All Manifesto for London Mayoral and GLA elections

Homes for All Manifesto for London Mayoral and GLA elections  

  1. Gentrification is the biggest problem facing Londoners. The Mayor and GLA must lead the fight against gentrification and social cleansing.  
  2. The Mayor and GLA must lead the fight for the eviction ban to be maintained until march 2022, with write-off of arrears accrued during the pandemic until March 2022; and Central government to develop an emergency financial package for tenants and landlords to stop evictions.  
  3. No more funding of estate demolitions. Invest in improvements instead.  
  4. The Mayor to demand adequate fire safety funding from government including cladding replacement and leaseholder protections.  
  5. The Mayor’s housing programme should be 100% council rent with no rent-rigging and no so-called affordable rent homes.  
  6. All private developments to include a minimum of 50% council rent housing or equivalent  
  7. Conversion of all Mayor-funded affordable rent and Mayor’s rent homes back to Social rent.  
  8. The Mayor to lead and support community campaigns to demand adequate council rent housing funding from government, at grant rates that avoid sales of public land, or building unaffordable homes on public land.   
  9. The Mayor to speak out and oppose the government’s Planning White Paper proposals  
  10. The Mayor should revisit the London Plan to ensure that developers build adequate numbers of family sized homes.  
  11. The Mayor must identify and bring back into use all long term empty homes in Greater London.   
  12. All mixed tenure housing schemes to be pepper-potted. No more GLA funding for tenure-segregated schemes.