National Housing Demonstration – Assemble 1pm, Saturday 18 April, Soho Square Gardens, London W1D 3QP
Homes for All is backing the protest in Central London on Saturday 18 April.
Over 60 trade unions, tenants’ groups and politicians have backed the demo demanding urgent rent controls and a new generation of accessible council homes. We are also fighting for a planning system that delivers for local communities and the environment not developer profit, and safe, secure homes so the Grenfell disaster can never happen again.
Asking rents for private tenants have risen by 44 per cent since the pandemic, while social rents and service charges continue to climb. About one in three renters now struggles to afford essentials like food and heating, and 330,000 households are currently facing homelessness.
“Politicians have forgotten the housing crisis, but people haven’t. Housing is right at the heart of the real struggles faced by so many communities around the UK. Join this demo to remind them that we need genuine answers – not just more measures to boost private profits or scapegoating immigrants.” Peter Apps, Author and Journalist
Martin Wicks of Defend Council Housing said: “The government’s strategy of planning liberalisation and reliance on the large volume private builders is doomed to fail. Social rent council housing is the key to resolving the housing crisis.”
Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, who is supporting the action, said: “We must continue to campaign for a mass social housing programme and for private rent controls. More than 250,000 people are homeless in the UK, which is a national scandal. Housing should be a right for everyone – let’s reclaim housing as a public good for everyone.”
PDF leaflet
Morning Start article: https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-and-campaigners-unite-national-housing-demonstration-over-soaring-costs
Keep up to date with preparations!
National Housing Demonstration website: https://www.housingdemo.org/
Homes 4 All Insta https://www.instagram.com/homes4alluk/
Homes 4 All Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Homes4AllUK
Homes 4 All X https://x.com/homes4alluk
To join the Planning Bloc on the demonstration, contact SHAPE
SHAPE Coalition Insta: https://www.instagram.com/shapecoalition/
Our main demands:
- Planning for people, not for profit
- Stop letting developers write the plan
- People and planet first
- Stop overdevelopment
- Homes for the many, not the few
Government should use genuine ‘brownfield’ sites and empty homes for new housing not green spaces or green belt.
Communities must be central to local decision-making in planning.
We have to stop unaffordable housing in unsustainable developments, ruining established neighbourhoods, communities, heritage, local businesses and green spaces.
