“To stay home, you have to have a home” – extend the evictions ban!

By GMLC staff (@gmlawcentre)   On 11th January 2021, the government’s “winter truce” on residential evictions is due to end, leaving more tenants vulnerable to eviction this winter in the middle of the COVID second wave. The business evictions ban has already been extended to March 2021, but tenants still await news on the situation …

An end to landlordism

By Beth Stratford (@beth_stratford)   Buy To Let landlords have played such a big role in inflating the current housing bubble, that serious attempts to rein in landlord extractivism would likely trigger a house price crash. The vast majority of voters are home owners. So how can we persuade governments to end the exploitation and …

The Berlin Rent Cap: can it be applied to the UK?

By Siobhan Donnachie (@Siobhan_e_d)     To most people, receiving a letter from your Landlord stating you are entitled to a significant rent reduction would seem like a cruel and sadistic joke. Last month my housemates and I received a letter from the real estate company managing our apartment saying our rent would be cut …

Block the block!

By Hulme residents (@BlocktheBlock1)   We are a group of residents living in Cooper House and Hopton Court in Hulme. Many of us have lived in Hulme for most or all of our lives. We have watched the pubs that we used to socialise in gradually disappear to redevelopment. We now have some shared gardens …

GMHA Pamphlet — the Myth of the Good Landlord

By Greater Manchester Housing Action (@gmhousingaction)     Earlier this year we published a piece on our site, ‘The Good Landlord is a Myth’ by ACORN Liverpool member Tom Lavin. The piece sought to take to task the oft-heard distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ landlords — sometimes used even by housing NGOs — in order …

“We need scale and structure to really have a positive effect on the region”

By Greater Manchester Labour for a Green New Deal (@mcrLabGND)   Recently, a group of climate activists from Manchester Labour for a Green New Deal have made headlines across local and national outlets for their ingenious plans to retrain out of work theatre workers to retrofit homes to address the climate crisis. GMHA has long been in favour …

The political background to housing and community action in Ireland

By Aaron Downey   This is adapted from a talk given by Aaron to our recent event 'Is There Power in a Tenants Union?'. You can re-watch the whole event on our Facebook page, here. The piece was first published on the CATU Ireland blog here.   CATU Ireland was properly launched around a year ago, …