Back to Newham now, where the young homeless mothers who’ve been fighting a real battle for secure local social housing have been given an ultimatum by Newham council: they must take 12-month lets in the private rental sector, or they’ll will get no more “help” from the council. The women think if they turn the private-sector lets down, they’ll be considered to have made themselves intentionally homeless. “We have to take them,” the women said on Saturday. “The council says if we don’t, they won’t give us any more help to get housed.” I’d ask the council for a comment on this, except that the press office threw a tantrum a few weeks ago and said it wouldn’t talk to me again. It seems that my earlier stories about the women’s battle for secure social housing and the rotten standards at the hostel they’re living touched some kind of nerve.
Presenting the women with this “short-term private lets” ultimatum is a sneaky move by the council. It breaks the campaign group up by housing the young mothers in far-flung parts of London, away from each other. It also leaves the women and their children very vulnerable to further house moves. In 12 months’ time, when the lets are up, the council can say that the private rents exceed the benefit cap and send the women out of London to live in boroughs where they are not wanted and where there is no work, or family members around to provide childcare. It seems very unlikely that the women will be in private lets in London for the longer term – especially as rents increase and as the benefit cap is lowered even further, as it inevitably will be. If the women have to move again, their kids will have to be moved to new nurseries and schools again. And again and again and again.
This is the problem and future that all renters face – short-term tenancies, skyrocketing rents and no sure place for families to live for more than a few months at a time. That is why the Focus E15 campaign for secure social housing is so important to us all. The Newham quick-fire, private rental solution does not solve a single problem for anyone who must rely on the private rental sector for housing. It does not force the council to build more social housing for all, or to commit to opening up the many boarded-up homes on places like the Carpenters Estate which you can see in the video below. This short-term solution simply breaks up a campaign and shuts down a debate, which is surely the council’s aim.
Anyway. In the video below, you can see some of the many boarded-up flats on Newham’s Carpenters estate and hear the Focus E15 mothers’ views on this:
Residents put up an almighty fight recently to save their flats from council plans to create a UCL campus on the site. Flats on the estate have been boarded up for a very long time though. I asked the council about its plans for those flats and for the estate in general, but as I say, the council refuses point-blank to talk to me about anything. So we’ll have to leave that one hanging and simply look at the video of the boarded-up flats. And make the point again that the real problem here is an absolute lack of will – across the political spectrum – to truly commit to the notion of secure and plentiful social housing for all. Shoving a few campaigners into private lets for a bit won’t change that.
Keeping all those flats on the carpenter estate boarded up like that is disgraceful. These young mothers, some of whom I met just last Saturday are looking for th best option for themselves and their children Moving young children around needlessly is inevitably contary to their best interest and the one year contract option currently on the table is not a realistic or humane alternative-in a years time it is very likely (to put it mildly) that rents will go up and benefits will go down. What the council are trying on in Newham is social cleansing at ts most short sighted and abjectly contemptible
Agree George absolute disgrace if I was these young women I would hang together bombard the council and ask the question what’s needed to make them useable nobody could deny them if they put in to decorate etc case of beat em at there own game and if they won’t play ball go to central government and shout you hang the label we are prepared to do our bit now you answer us
Yep have said about this I’m sure unemployed would be happy to do some work on these homes so these young mums and more importantly their children future generation can have a future this country is going under a dictatorship wonder what these loons will say when kids grown why they will be bitter resentful at being denied a proper home yes really ranting after watching the IMF leader the other night power to the lady she was spot on so I know these elitist are getting it wrong as for councils especially mine biggest corrupt idiots I’ve ever had pleasure to know bloody clueless they all need to go they have brought this country to its knees only the rich will survive as for gagging law fuck off as stated by my mp to my carer I’m in charge I say what goes
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NEWHAM HOUSING ONE BIG CON – The council have been using the new allocation policy to get people off the housing list, there are many homeless people some who have been sitting on the housing register for over 10 years. Just when they have reached the point where they might have a chance of being high enough to view a property they have be sided steps and their allocation criteria lowered to homeseekers or worst still removed from the list because they were encouraged to go on the BOND SCHEME. Those people on the BOND SCHEME were then deemed as being adequately housed. Problem is they are now struck in an overpriced property where they have to remain on HB, (even if they work) as they have little chance of finding a job which will fully support their housing cost. So what do they do to get out of the rut, so much for helping people into employment, people being better off employed blah blah blah. The council, government etc are conning people, and creating hardship. They are being very short sighted because eventually the muck will hit the fan and then they will have a great deal of homeless people to deal with so this new tackle of theirs is not solving anything. Newham wants working people occupying their social housing properties, even though those properties are for those people most in need. It’s is very wrong to have people sitting on a housing list for so long and then to move the goal post. The new allocation policy should have only affected those people applying from the date the policy was introduced. Opps, another con, each year when they write to you to ask if you still want to be on the list, you now have to complete an application, why is that!!!.. Social Cleansing – there is more than that going on, it’s all ONE BIG CON..
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