{"id":5345,"date":"2015-08-25T17:08:31","date_gmt":"2015-08-25T16:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5345"},"modified":"2015-08-25T17:08:31","modified_gmt":"2015-08-25T16:08:31","slug":"displaced-and-dispossessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5345","title":{"rendered":"Displaced and dispossessed"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Imagine you have lived on a large estate as part of a community for almost 10 years. You raise your two daughters there alone but you have the support of friends you have made close by.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One by one your neighbours and friends start to get possession orders through the door.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You wait for yours to arrive but it never comes. Then your neighbours are all gradually offered alternative accommodation and start to leave.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You contact the housing office to see why you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been offered any alternative accommodation only to be told that you were and that you turned it down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t received any letter and panic starts to set in. What is going to happen to you and your children?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The housing office tell you they phoned you and that they told you they would see what they could do with your case \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this phone call was classified as an offer by the housing office.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You try to clear up the situation and the phone call is reclassified as a misunderstanding. Then a letter finally arrives stating that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re next to be rehoused. You feel relief.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But then just two weeks later a possession order arrives. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re informed that the housing association cannot rehouse you as you have \u00e2\u20ac\u0098no recourse to public funds\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and you are referred to Lambeth Council.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then comes a phone call from the Lambeth \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Moving on Team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. You are offered help with finding private accommodation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But private landlords tell you that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t meet their eligibility criteria because of your low salary. The best they can do is help you find private accommodation outside London.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despair<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your job is in London. Your children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s school is in London and your support network is in London. Despair sets in. What do you do now?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your attempts to contact the housing association are now all unsuccessful. They are constantly in meetings and no one returns your calls.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is what has happened to Marian. She arrived in London in 2004 from Nigeria. She is a single mother to her two young children aged eight and four.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marian works as a healthcare assistant at St George\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hospital and lives on the Guinness owned Kenwood House estate in Loughborough Park, Lambeth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The estate, like many in Lambeth and all over London, is set to be demolished and regenerated. High-rise blocks will replace the estate with the majority of the apartments open to part-buy-part-rent at full market value or \u00e2\u20ac\u0098affordable rent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098affordable rent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is up to 80 per cent of market rents. Totally unaffordable to any of the current tenants or anyone else on an average or low wage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pilgrim Tucker, Community coordinator for London has seen far too many cases like Marian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWorking in London with our community members the biggest issue I am faced with day in day out is housing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bProperty developers treating our capital like a monopoly game has very real consequences and it is people like Marian and her children who are paying the real price,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 added Pilgrim.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marian says that during past consultations about the regeneration with Guinness Housing Association the tenants were given verbal agreement about rehousing but Guinness did not honour this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFollowing a campaign and protest occupation by the tenants Guinness decided to keep their word. But not to everyone,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Marian.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hugely conscious that \u00e2\u20ac\u0098the clock is ticking\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 without Guinness\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 reminder,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marian is now faced with two choices \u00e2\u20ac\u201c homelessness or the loss of her present life, which she had to overcome many problems to achieve. Unless Guinness fulfils their promise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis has to stop before it is too late,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Pilgrim<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNot only are people being forced out of London, away from friends, family and their jobs but we are losing housing and estates that make London special,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Help stop the eviction \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Protest for Marian<\/p>\n

Friday August 28 at 13.30<\/p>\n

Lambeth County Court, Cleaver Street, Kennington, London, SE11 4DZ<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can also sign up and share the protest on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo copyright Christopher Hilton<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine you have lived on a large estate as part of a community for almost 10 years. You raise your two daughters there alone but you have the support of friends you have made close by.   One by one your neighbours and friends start to get possession orders through the door.   You wait […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[109,378,175],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5345"}],"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=5345"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5350,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5345\/revisions\/5350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}