Real estate wars

A group of 29 single, homeless mums have succeeded where political parties and campaign groups have lost and created a real campaign with a real solution to Newham’s housing crisis.

During this past weekend’s (September 27) Open House event in London, which gives the public the chance to go inside buildings across the capital that are usually closed to the public, the group of young mothers decided to join in and removed the boards from one of the houses on the Carpenters Estate.

They invited people inside and what greeted them was a house in perfectly liveable condition with running water, a power shower, working electricity and an oven.

The Carpenters Estate is a housing estate in Newham, consisting of about 600 properties that all lay empty and have boards across the windows. The estate was cleared out and families evicted after the Olympics when the council thought they could cash in on the value of the land.

But the houses still lay empty, while 24,000 households in the borough are waiting for somewhere to live.Last winter the shopping centre was full of people sleeping rough.

The 29 mothers met while living in the nearby E15 Focus hostel. Then its funding was cut and unable to find any social housing in the area or to afford private rents, the mum’s and their children were told they would have to be rehoused in Birmingham, Manchester or Hastings cutting them off from their friends and family, who support them and help out with childcare.

“When we met Newham’s Labour mayor, Sir Robin Wales, he told us “if you can’t afford to live in Newham, you can’t afford to live in Newham”,” said Jasmin Stone, one of the E15 mothers.

“We grew up in Newham. We find this attitude disgusting. No one on low wages or benefits, or even an average income, can afford to live here.”

The root of the housing crisis, not just in Newham but the rest of London and the UK, comes from Maggie Thatcher’s ‘right-to-buy-scheme’ introduced by the Tories in 1979 which enabled council tenants to buy their homes and sell them on. It changed the demographics. According to housing charity Shelter, 42 per cent of the population lived in council houses in 1979 but by 2000 it had shrunk to 12 per cent.

Working class prisoners

“We’re now beginning to realise that they have made prisoners out of the working class. In the hostel, my dad couldn’t visit me because every visitor needed a photo ID. He didn’t have one,” said Jasmin.

“My mum could come and visit me three times a week, and if she wanted to stay beyond that she couldn’t because my visiting hours were used up.

“If we complained about anything they’d say we were about to make ourselves ‘intentionally homeless’. They said they wanted to shift us where they wanted, like prisoners. It’s London, Birmingham, Manchester, wherever there’s space.”

The only contact the mothers have had from the council was a visit from crime reduction manager David Johnson along with a plumber and an electrician who he ordered to turn off the buildings water and electricity. On Friday a judge ruled in their favour at a hearing over a last minute eviction order placed by the council. The judge ruled the council’s procedures were “unlawful and unjust” and postponed the hearing to benefit the mums.

Social housing and not social cleansing

“There’s no doubt that these young mothers are an inspiration,” believes Pilgrim Tucker, a community coordinator for Unite.

“In the face of adversity they have come together and formed a tight knit campaign group working for the benefit of every low income family in Newham with a proper solution to the housing crisis in their area.

“Sadly their case is not a one-off and these conditions spread right across the capital, where lower income families are being forced from the areas they have called home for generations as house prices rocket and private landlords cash in.

“Unite’s community team are working with these families. What this country needs is more social housing, not so-called affordable housing. As the Focus E15 mothers would say; ‘social housing and not social cleansing’.”

Join the E15 mothers’ Facebook campaign and show your support.