Tenants force eviction u-turn

Campaigning tenants have forced a housing trust threatening to make 44 families homeless on the same day to offer alternative housing. The Guinness Partnership plans to remove all tenants and demolish the 390 flat Loughborough estate in Brixton.

While many tenants had rights to alternative housing provided by Guinness, the trust refused to re-house tenants in 44 flats which had “assured tenancies”, giving fewer legal rights. Lambeth council had given planning permission knowing that a project aimed at improving housing would actually result in 44 families being made homeless.

But tenants and housing campaigners have forced a partial u-turn with the trust deferring one eviction and agreeing the remaining tenants can apply for other properties it owns. The tenants will continue to press for stronger guarantees of housing in or close to Brixton.

London has suffered the loss of 8,000 social housing units in the last ten years. And Boris Johnson’s housing policies are making matters worse and producing what some critics are saying is “social cleansing” – driving people on low incomes out of London.

Unite Community fully backed the campaign. Unite Community co-ordinator Pilgrim Tucker spoke to Unite Live about the loss of social housing in London while the cost of buying a home soars along with private rents. “It’s being made worse by welfare and housing benefit cuts,” said Pilgrim.

“When people are rehoused they can be pushed out of central London to places like Enfield, one of the few places in Greater London where rents are less expensive.

“But people are being rehoused much further away, such as Birmingham. Families are being uprooted and moved to places where they have no connections of any kind.

“That’s one reason why Guinness tenants in Brixton are fighting to stay local. All they want is to stay in secure local accommodation and I believe the Guinness Partnership needs to act in a socially responsible way and re-house these tenants locally.”