Eccles Shelter residents reveal the flaw in homeless provision

By Greater Manchester Law Centre (@gmlawcentre)   Dear Greater Manchester Housing Campaigners, I know many of you will have been following the case of The Eccles Shelter residents fighting eviction from the NHS. We write to you today with an update on their case, with the petition they set up, and with more information on why …

Greater Manchester plan for jobs, homes…and the environment?

By Mark H Burton (Steady State Manchester)   After several delays the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has published the new draft of its Spatial Framework.  The previous version, published in late 2016 met considerable criticism, especially from groups campaigning on green space but also from other quarters, including our own critique of its assumptions of …

Manchester demands a Winter Homelessness Plan

By Persons Unknown, MCR During December 2018, there were four deaths on the streets of Manchester, and Persons Unknown MCR believe that more deaths go undocumented each month. In response, they occupied an empty building on Market Street to demand the Council be proactive with a Winter Homelessness Plan (WHP). Whilst homelessness isn’t winter specific, …

We want our lives back, we want this nightmare to end

By Green Quarter residents (@GqrMcr) For 18 months residents living in the Green Quarter, Manchester, have been living with the knowledge that two of our blocks have the type of cladding that is “more flammable than petrol”; the same cladding that facilitated the Grenfell Tower fire to take hold so rapidly and with such devastating …

ACORN Manchester – 2018 in review

By ACORN Manchester (@AcornManchester)   As we enter 2019, it’s good to take stock - to stop and reflect on the 12 previous months. Evaluate how it all went. And how did it go for ACORN this year? We absolutely smashed it. Tripling our membership since we launched in January, winning countless cases for our …

Towards community-led housing futures in Greater Manchester

By Housing Futures   What can community-led housing do for cities such as Greater Manchester, and what steps can activists, practitioners and policymakers take to support this? Richard Goulding discusses the findings and recommendations of the Housing Futures project. Housing activists and media exposés have increasingly shone a spotlight onto Greater Manchester’s housing crisis. From …

Temporary accommodation scandal lays bare the effects of no social housing

By Charlie Winstanley    The recent article by Jen Williams investigating the conditions faced by homeless children in Manchester was truly shocking. It threw a light on the appalling conditions faced by families in temporary accommodation - rat infested properties shared with people that are putting children in danger. While the piece focused on Manchester, …

Manchester City Council and the Abu Dhabi United Group partnership

By Jon Silver (@InvisibleMapper)     The partnership between Manchester City Council and the Abu Dhabi United Group through their joint venture, Manchester Life, highlights the connections being made by a growing number of people between the housing crisis in British cities, flows of big capital seeking investment and worrying new international relations involving our …

What does ‘affordable housing’ mean and what’s going on in Manchester?

By Jennifer Devans-Tamakloe, an aspiring barrister called to the Middle Temple and qualified mediator, currently working as a self-employed advocate on the northern circuit in general civil litigation matters. As a volunteer for GMLC, Jennifer aims to draw attention to GMLC’s causes and assist readers with gaining knowledge and understanding. Below, Jennifer responds to the …