{"id":2465,"date":"2014-12-11T16:45:49","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T16:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2465"},"modified":"2014-12-11T16:46:29","modified_gmt":"2014-12-11T16:46:29","slug":"families-assets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2465","title":{"rendered":"Families not assets"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

As New Era estate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s residents continue their widely supported campaign to save their homes from the hands of profit-hungry private developers, shadow minister for London, Sadiq Khan MP,\u00c2\u00a0 held a meeting today (December 12) with the estate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s campaigners.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commenting after the meeting, Khan condemned a system that enables property developers to run roughshod over working families in the capital.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese 93 families who will be forced out of their homes are not assets,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re families.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe struggles New Era\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s residents are facing now are a perfect illustration of the struggles of families in London everywhere,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As UNITElive has reported<\/a>, the New Era estate, which was built in 1930 to provide affordable housing to local workers in Hoxton, will be transformed into a money-making machine for new owners, the US-based property speculators Westbrook Partners.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After Westbrook potentially refurbishes homes on the estate, tenants will be threatened by potential eviction as current \u00c2\u0141600 monthly rent prices may\u00c2\u00a0 next year sky-rocket to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmarket rate\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 rents of \u00c2\u01412,400 a month.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Khan said that, beyond supporting campaigns like New Era\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, housing provision in London requires more fundamental, structural change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to change the way housing works for Londoners, because at the moment, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not working,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kahn argued, promising that an incoming Labour government would commit to various measures to alleviate the housing crisis, including building more council homes and enforcing tighter regulations on letting agencies and landlords.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Residents react<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Single mum and New Era resident, Lindsay Garrett, a Unite member, was optimistic after the meeting with Khan, but said that words must be followed by action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe appreciate them coming out to support us, and we appreciate their words of support,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to see more being done regarding the current housing crisis.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSocial housing needs to be built on a major scale, and it needs to happen now,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need long-term security, for social tenants particularly, and we need to look at the possibility of rent caps in London.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Garrett described the anxiety that she and so many of her friends and family living in London suffer, worrying about their future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt has a massive psychological effect,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou wake every day with the constant threat of eviction. You wake up not knowing how you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to secure your children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future in London. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a constant worry. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a weight on your chest all the time.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Danielle Molinari, another New Era resident and leading campaigner, explained how the campaign to save the estate has galvanised the residents into collective action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is the first time many people have ever been involved in a campaign like this, and the support and has been massive,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said, adding that the collective spirit had spread to inspire other housing campaigns across the nation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur campaign has given other people the encouragement to fight their own campaigns,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Molinari said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey think, ‘Actually, if three women can do this, so can we’.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about sticking together and becoming united as one,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you have this conquer-and-divide attitude, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when everything begins to crumble. You have to keep everyone on side, otherwise your campaign will fail.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo one is safe\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both Molinari and Garrett, although hopeful that their campaign can turn the tide and save New Era tenants from eviction, insisted that only legislation can protect them and their families in the long-term from being priced out of affordable housing in the capital.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an estate across the road,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Molinari explained.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYes, at the moment, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s council housing. But if the council wants to sell that off, they have at the moment every right to do it. So no one is safe, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the message we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying to get across.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou need to have legislation in place to secure people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tenancies,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Garrett. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t offer you a long-term tenancy anymore. My gran and granddad got their council flat years ago in Hackney, and they lived there fifty odd years before they died. That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen anymore.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Garrett added that the effects of Margaret Thatcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s housing policies, which depleted social housing stock, benefited the few on the backs of the many.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAll the council housing was used for investment, and at the time people thought it was brilliant, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u201dworking people\u00e2\u20ac\u201dare now having to live with the effects of these policies,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Garret said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt will be even worse for our children. If we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re struggling now, they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a chance of affordable housing if things don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Molinari agreed.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis campaign is as much about securing a good future for our children as it is about saving our homes,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Molinari added that protecting their homes was part of a wider struggle to reclaim the capital for working people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe thing is, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want the likes of us, working-class people, living in London,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want people like us who work a normal job, who work our socks off to provide for our families.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want people who speak up for themselves,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165\u00c2\u00a0 she added.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey want yes-sir, no-sir people, and that ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t us.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As New Era estate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s residents continue their widely supported campaign to save their homes from the hands of profit-hungry private developers, shadow minister for London, Sadiq Khan MP,\u00c2\u00a0 held a meeting today (December 12) with the estate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s campaigners.   Commenting after the meeting, Khan condemned a system that enables property developers to run roughshod over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[109,175],"wps_subtitle":"MP Sadiq Khan shocked by families\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plight ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2465"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2467,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465\/revisions\/2467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}