Grenfell United bereaved families and survivors have responded to the closing statements at the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry.
The survivors say that the government was warned countless times of the danger to human life through deregulation, but they turned a blind eye and let corporates game the system.
Not a single recommendation from the phase 1 report has been implemented.
The survivors say, ‘The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea treated us like second class citizens. They refused to invest in Grenfell Tower for 30 years, and when they did they wrapped it in petrol.’
‘This phase might be over, but the battle for justice is not, and we will continue until those culpable are prosecuted.’
Homes for All sends our solidarity to the survivors and bereaved and we remain committed to the continuing fight for justice.
Alongside an estimated 15,000 protesters, Homes for All, Action for Fire Safety Justice and other housing campaigners joined the Peoples Assembly demonstration on Saturday. We were there to demand:
*Secure & Safe housing for all *Rent & Service Charge freeze now *Requisition Empty Homes *Justice for Grenfell
Meet at 12 noon Saturday 5 November Cleopatra’s Needle at the Embankment London WC2N 6PB
Join Homes for All, Action for Fire Safety Justice and other housing campaigners on the Peoples Assembly demonstration. We are forming a bloc at the start of the demo and will be marching together.
Bring banners and signs!
Our demands are
Secure & Safe housing for all Rent & Service Charge freeze now Requisition Empty Homes Justice for Grenfell
The Campaign Against Empty Homes highlighted the half a million empty and underused homes in an online rally with live streams from community campaigns across the London.
Speakers in the studio included Paula Peters from DPAC, Rachel Maskell MP and Jeremy Corbyn MP who appeared a second time at Pentonville Prison empty flats in support of Islington Homes for All. Support also came from John Bird of The Big Issue, The Green Party, Phoebe Watkins from UNISON and the North Devon and Torridge Housing Crisis group.
Campaigners, including in Southwark, Waltham Forest and Lambeth staged protests outside empty homes.
On Saturday 22 October we have a national online rally with national and international speakers from 12 noon to 1 pm taking place on Youtube and Facebook and we will also be live streaming from local campaigners into the rally with local protests about empty and underused homes
What you can do to help make the day a success:
Promote the day / Join an Action * Take action in your area * Join the online national rally.
1. Promote the day of action on your social media – please share details about the day of action on your Facebook page, Twitter and other social media. Action on Empty Homes or Homes for All Twitter feed and Facebook page is one place to start.
2. Join one of the local actions that are taking place – you will be able to find details of where, when and how here https://www.campaignagainstemptyhomes.org/ early next week. Local action is expected to take place in Southampton, Westminster, Southwark, Seaford, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Waltham Forest, Lambeth, Haringey, Newham, Brighton, Horsham, Wandsworth.
3. It is not too late to plan an action in your area – you do not need large numbers of people to make the point – we can supply you with posters and leaflets if you need them (or you can make your own) but you must get your order in next week. You can see the materials here: https://www.campaignagainstemptyhomes.org/campaign-materials. They are an A3 poster, A4 leaflet and a double-sided A5 leaflet.
Taking a photo outside an empty block of flats or building that people could live in, or sharing a short video of how your community has been hit by short lets or second homes is good enough. Let us have them so we can put them on the website. Email us at caehcaeh1@gmail.com.
4. Live stream your local action – we can bring you right into the studio to show everyone watching your protest taking place – it is not difficult to do – we can let you have details of how to live stream your action.
5. Join the online rally at noon. We will have national speakers from The Big Issue, The Green Party, Peace & Justice, People Before Profit (Dublin) the labour movement, DPAC, and others, plus international speakers who all have things to say about why we need to bring empty homes back into use and stop housing from being used as investment vehicles rather than homes to live in at a time of mass homelessness. It will be broadcast on Action for Empty Homes Youtube and Homes For all Facebook.
The protest, on 6th October at the Department of Leveling Up was part of a campaign to protect tenants from rent rises and evictions, and for all service charges to be frozen. It comes at a time when people’s rents and mortgages are set to soar following the chaotic mini budget announcement. Campaigners will be heartened to hear that the Tories have also descended into chaos and their planned cuts to benefits, wages and public services are also under threat. Will a bigger revolt by workers and campaigners help to finish off the Truss government?
It’s time to freeze council and housing association rents for four million tenant households – but government is set to increase our rents by 5% or 10%. We say it’s time to freeze all rents and service charges. Let’s organise to stop these huge rent rises from ever taking place. Government must provide funding so that service standards are not reduced.
No rent or service charge rises in a cost of living crisis!
Department of Levelling Up, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF
Eileen Short from Defend Council Housing and Suz Muna from Social Housing Action Campaign present letter to Simon Clarke MP Secretary of State for Levelling Up
The housing crisis has not been paused. Housing activists and tenants protested outside the Department of Levelling Up on 14 September demanding a rent & service charge freeze and a moratorium on evictions for rent arrears. Crucially, we also demanded government funding to ensure there is no impact on housing quality and services.
We went to the Housing Ministry (Dept of ‘Levelling Up’) to say rents must be frozen. Tenants are facing an 11 % rent rise next April. We started to campaign, and the wobbly government was driven to consult on capping rents. Help us step up the campaign, and we can win this! We will be back on 6 October at 12 noon, when inflation figures are announced. Come and join us.
The Government is consulting on three possible rent rises and is leaning towards 5%. Defend Council Housing suggests something like the following comments. The consultation is really aimed at landlords, not tenants, so we should respond as the people most affected by these rises! It will be easier to respond by email to Socialhousingrents@levellingup.gov.uk
Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) is campaigning to prevent social rent rises of around 10.4% next April. Service charges are uncapped and could rise by any amount. There should be no rent or service charge rises in a cost-of-living crisis.
Please Sign the SHAC Pledge for non-payment of rent or service charge increases. You can view the Pledge here.
Rents for council and housing association tenants are set to rise by 11% or more in April 2023. This would be an intolerable further burden for four million tenant households already facing massive bills for food, energy and other necessities.
Wednesday, 14 SEPTEMBER 2022 AT 12:00
Cost of living crisis: Time to freeze council and housing association rents for four million
Department of Levelling Up, 2 Marsham St, London SW1P 4DF
Defend Council Housing demands: 1. Government action to freeze rents and service charges, and compensate Council Housing Revenue Accounts for this essential freeze in the pending rent rise. 2. Council landlords agree now to freeze rents for April 2023, pause all eviction proceedings for rent arrears, and join us to press for Government action. 3. All Councils to contact housing associations operating locally, urging them to likewise freeze rents and halt evictions for rent arrears. We recognise that these issues will also affect private renters and leaseholders. We will work with tenant groups and campaigners of all tenures to win a rent freeze, stop evictions, protect tenants from profiteering private landlords and leaseholders from increasing service charges.
There should be no rent or service charge rises in a cost-of-living crisis. Please sign the SHAC Pledge for non-payment of rent or service charge increases. You can view the Pledgehere. And find out more information on the Website https://shaction.org/