E15 mums lead housing battle

Submitted by Matthew on 1 October, 2014 - 9:09 Author: Michael Johnson

Activists from the Focus E15 campaign have occupied an empty property on the Carpenters Estate to highlight the mismatch between the empty homes there and Newham's growing waiting list for social housing.

The campaign started after last year's funding cuts by Labour-run Newham Council, with a group of young mothers fighting eviction from their homes at a hostel.

Their collective fightback against being moved away from their community in east London, to cities as far as Manchester, has been an inspiring battle against social cleaning, privatisation and attacks on working-class women.

Now the mothers have been found temporary private-rental accommodation in London, though the campaign continues to demand decent social housing.

On 21 September, the campaign held a community event on the Carpenters Estate on Stratford. The Estate has been largely cleared of its residents, as the council seeks to flog it off to investors.

The last deal, with University College London (UCL), fell through, after residents linked up with UCL students' union to resist plans to clear the estate to make way for a flashy new campus for the prestigious Russell Group institution.

During the community event, Jasmin Stone, one of the Focus E15 mums, spoke to Solidarity: “We've taken over this empty flat. It's to raise awareness of how many homes are empty when so many people are homeless and on the street. These homes are in perfectly good condition; people could just move in immediately and live in them straight away. It's really upsetting to think that so many people are homeless or are being sent out of London, to Birmingham and Manchester, when there are perfectly good houses here.

“The community have been wonderful. People have been coming over and donating so many things. We've opened a 'free shop' and a foodbank, and people having been writing letters and emails. The community has just been amazing. You can really feel a sense of community here. It's such a lovely place to socialise with people and hear each other's stories, and get a bit of support when you're feeling down.

“From residents we've spoken to before, people said that the Carpenters Estate was a lovely community anyway and we've really felt that. People just want to have a neighbour to say hello to in the morning or somebody to turn to. It's nice. You need to have people around you. It must feel so isolated to wake up to a boarded-up flat next door to you.

“We want to repopulate and rebuild social housing. Social housing was a system that actually worked. The councils were still profiting from it because people were paying their rent. It's not like they were losing out. Now they're getting too greedy; they're putting profit before the actual people. They'd much rather demolish things that everybody can afford to live in and people can feel secure in, and build luxury apartments that will be left empty to for foreign investors or bankers to buy them as investment.”

Since the interview (23 September), Newham Council have issued a possession order and cut off amenities to the occupied flat. The campaign is going to court on Thursday 2 October.

Comments

Submitted by AWL on Fri, 03/10/2014 - 15:24

The following text is based on the motion passed by Lambeth Unison. Please put a version in your branch!

FOCUS E15 CAMPAIGN: "SOCIAL HOUSING, NOT SOCIAL CLEANSING"

This branch notes

1. The Focus E15 campaign by young mothers and mother-to-be in Newham, in east London, which began to oppose the closure of a council mother and baby unit and has developed into a wider struggle about social housing, privatisation and 'social cleansing'.
2. That the campaign has occupied Newham council's Bridge House, held a party in the East Thames housing association show flat, taken an open air bus to central London to petition Boris Johnson, held a march through the borough and repeatedly challenged Newham mayor Robin Wales. At the time of writing, it has occupied empty, closed up houses on the Carpenters Estate to highlight the scandal of what is happening to public housing.

This branch believes

1. That this is a vibrant, exciting campaign by working-class women which has inspired people across Newham and far beyond, challenging fear and apathy through collective organising and taking bold, creative action.
2. That the labour movement should do everything it can to support this struggle.
3. That we should oppose all cuts, fight for the reversal of those already made, and addressing the housing crisis by demanding an end to the sell off of public land, repopulation of empty homes and estates, and a program of building new council housing.

This branch resolves

1. To support the campaign and circulate information about it to our members.
2. To invite a Focus E15 speaker to our next meeting.
3. To contact local union branches and community campaigns to fundraise for the campaign.
4. To oppose against cuts and to solve the housing crisis on the basis set out above.
5. To make a donation of £__ to the campaign.

Submitted by AWL on Fri, 03/10/2014 - 15:49

This is the full statement read out by Jasmine Stone and Sam Middleton after Newham Council dropped their legal action against their two week political occupation of boarded up house on the Carpenter’s Estate.

We are overwhelmed and grateful for the support and solidarity from both the local and the wider community. Also thank you to Anthony Gold, ITN solicitors and our barrister Lyndsey Johnson. We have decided to leave 80-86 Doran Walk on our own terms by 7th October, as planned. Newham have agreed to this, with no other conditions and have dropped their Interim Possession Order. We have celebrated a year of the E15 campaign, during which we have tried to engage with Newham Council on a number of occasions and they have refused to listen. As a result, our political occupation was the only option to escalate our demands for social housing, not social cleansing. We have reached our goal of highlighting the issue of decent homes left empty on the state and we have built lasing link with the residents and the community. This has be broadcast to millions of people. Ultimately this occupation was never about staying indefinitely, but about our demands to Newham Council. These demands remain and they include:
- Repopulating the Carpenter’s Estate with secure council tenancies now
- An immediate end to decanting and evictions of existing residents
- No demolition of the estate
- The management of Carpenters estate by residents and for residents, with no third party or private management involvement
We will continue fighting to save council housing and to ensure decent housing for all. This is the beginning of the end of the housing crisis.

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