Homes for All backs Southwark Housing and Planning Emergency (SHAPE coalition)

Homes for All heard from the SHAPE Coalition on Saturday. They are planning a demonstration on 1 March and are seeking support from housing campaigners in the capital and further afield. SHAPE say the developments approved and planned in Southwark, and Peckham in particular, have major implications for the housing crisis elsewhere.

Berkeley Homes is proposing just 12% so-called affordable housing on the Aylesham Centre Peckham development – a proposal that includes 16 massive buildings, up to 20 storeys high in the centre of Peckham’s shopping street and beyond. There will be 877 new homes but only 77 will be “affordable”. If this development is approved, either by the Council or on appeal, this will send a message to developers everywhere – ‘Build whatever you like, your profits come first‘ This is a national issue and it requires a radical challenge to this government.

SHAPE Linktree

URGENT!!! Aylesham Community Action are calling a demo to oppose the Aylesham Centre development – 3pm, Saturday 8 February, Peckham Square.

We regard this offer as a deep insult to the people of Peckham and Southwark…we… seek to defeat this proposal and others, like Borough Triangle, which aim to increase the number of luxury flats and displace the local traders, much like the already approved development at Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre… We do not believe developer profits should be prioritised. That’s why our slogan is “Stop overdevelopment, homes for people, not for profit”.

From SHAPE Open Letter to Rye Lane Councillors, 13 January 2025

This is a call-out to all housing groups, trade unionists and people who are affected by the lack of genuinely affordable housing. We have to fight for council housing. It is the only answer to the housing emergency, and we expect our political leaders to back us and get out of bed with the developers.

SHAPE’s demands

1. No to overdevelopment – Is it too high or too dense? NO!
2. 50% council housing on private land. 100% council housing on council land
3. No more fake consultations. We want genuine tenant, resident and local peoples’ involvement in the plans
4. Stop unsafe and poorly built development
5. Stop the demolition and sell-off of council housing – Refurbishment not demolition
6. Requisition or acquire empty homes
7. Protect and improve our estates, community facilities and town centres
8. Employ direct labour – give workers the power to challenge unsafe building work
9. Act on the Climate Emergency now. No unsustainable building, no loss of green space
10. Stop displacement of traders for unaffordable housing

If you agree, come to the demos, promote and support – and think about setting up a Housing and Planning Coalition in your own area.

Siobhan McCarthy, Aylesham Community Action said:

Private developers have come to Southwark and destroyed communities in order to make profit, without providing anywhere near enough social housing.  We are fighting this battle right now in Peckham.  

Tanya Murat, Southwark Defend Council Housing said

Emergency action is required. Instead of letting developers continue to get away with destroying council housing and building more and more luxury flats, Southwark Council should refuse unsustainable luxury developments, fight for council housing and protect our local communities.

SHAPE Linktree

Want to get involved? Contact Shape Coalition on shapesouthwark@gmail.com

Join the movement for council housing – Action charter for the housing crisis

Defend Council Housing (DCH) and Homes for All (H4A) welcome the launch by The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Council Housing of an MPs inquiry into the need for council housing. This initiative has the potential to be spell out the facts about the present state of housing, and detail how to fix the housing crisis.

We are seeing the return to the slum, overcrowded, insecure living conditions of the 19th century that drove the mass council housing movement in the first place.

Whether you are in housing need yourself, horrified that millions are, or deeply concerned for future generations, join the movement for urgent action to address the housing crisis.

DCH and H4A is a broad coalition of tenants and residents – uniting over issues such as: Refurbish don’t demolish; Campaign against empty homes; Fire safety justice; Justice for Grenfell; End ‘no fault evictions’.

Support our 5 Point Plan which aims to provide concrete proposals to help solve the housing crisis.

1. Government investment in a mass council housing building programme, including requisitioning of empty homes and abolition of ‘right to buy’
2. Rent controls and secure tenancies in the private rental sector. Robust regulation of housing associations
3. New funding to repair and refurbish existing council housing – do not demolish
4. Adequate funding for accessibility, fire safety, and for retrofitting and thermal insulation
5. Planning for the people and the planet, and not for developers’ profits

More information on the APPG Inquiry

Read the report of the launch of the Inquiry and the interim report by academics. Read the Interim Report with contributions from: Prof Danny Dorling, Oxford; Dr Richard Goulding, Univ of Sheffield; Dr Neil Gray, Glasgow; Dr Stuart Hodkinson, Univ of Leeds, Dr Joe Penny, Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCL; Dr Glyn Robbins, London; Prof Stewart Smyth, University College Cork; Prof Paul Watt, LSE

Article in Morning Star about the Inquiry:

The future of council housing: it’s time to speak up
EILEEN SHORT, of Defend Council Housing, and Dr GLYN ROBBINS report on a crucial all-party parliamentary group inquiry into council housing that’s currently seeking members of the public to have their say

Five Point Plan resources

Sign the online petition