Hundreds of members of the London Renters Union took to the streets of the capital today to protest at soaring rents while landlords, and their agents, continue to record often obscene profits.
Time for action: London Renters Union members have been protesting for rent controls and an end to S21 evictions
The protest is part of a Global Day of Housing Action, joining tens of thousands of people across the world to demand homes for people, not for profit.
Outside the Shoreditch offices of estate agent giant Foxtons, Londoners rallied against ever-rising rents, corporate greed and a housing system that’s pushing families to the brink.
In Croydon, we have heard of a case of someone working as a porter at an NHS hospital forced to spend 90% of their modest wage on rent – leaving precious little for food, heating, transport or just… life.
The London Renters Union said today: “While Foxtons celebrates soaring profits, our neighbours are choosing between rent and food. This is the human cost of the housing crisis.”
“The global housing crisis isn’t an accident. It is the result of political choices that favour billion-pound property portfolios over basic human dignity.”
According to the LRU, rents in this country have increased by nearly 8% in just one year – almost three times the rate of inflation.
“Families are crammed into temporary accommodation. Young people are locked out of a secure future. The communities that built this city are torn apart and displaced,” the LRU says.
“Meanwhile, companies like Foxtons double their profits off the backs of struggling tenants. Foxtons is responsible for driving up rents and plays an important role in the booming and extortionate Build-to-Rent market, which is a major source of profiteering for international private equity.”
Market movers: estate agents are blamed for driving up private rents in London
The LRU says it wants rent controls introduced urgently and a massive reinvestment in public housing.
They quote the example of one of their members who was served a no-fault eviction notice – a Section 21 notice – by Labour-controlled Lambeth Council, one of dozens of households similarly affected. “It’s really hard finding somewhere else because everywhere is totally unaffordable,” said the evicted tenant. They say that 40% of the flats in their building are boarded up: “So there are empty homes all around, yet there’s nowhere for us to live.”
The London Renters Union’s Jae Vail said: “Labour was elected on a platform of fixing the housing crisis, but under its leadership, the crisis has only deepened.
“The government has allowed massive corporations from across the world to tighten their stranglehold on our communities, turning our homes into assets for their balance sheets, and destroying the soul of our city in the process.
“Across the world, tenants are taking mass action and winning lower rents. We must continue to come together in our communities to demand an end to the profiteering and a housing system that works for everybody.”
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Not to mention soaring service charges producing the same squeeze for those of us in shared ownership.