Thousands of protesters in London to Kill the Housing Bill

Protesters gather at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London. Picture: Federica Tedeschi

Thousands of demonstrators gathered at Lincoln’s Inn Fields today and marched through central London against the Tory Housing Bill.

The magnitude of this protest indicates how severe the housing crisis in Britain is and this is particularly true in London.

According to the Government, the bill is meant to turn “generation rent into generation buy”, but both the protest organisers and the demonstrators believe the Housing Bill will make the current housing crisis worse for council, housing association and private tenants.

Decent homes at reasonable prices should not be considered a luxury, but a human right and council houses should be synonymous of security, rather than a temporary solution. In fact, forcing ordinary Londoners out of their council places sounds quite destabilising, especially for families with young children.

“The Housing Bill affects us directly because our rent is going to possibly increase,  forcing  some of us to move. This is also a way to destroy our communities; we live in a block of six and we all know each other, but there is a chance we will be leaving if the Bill comes into force”, said Richard Cowley, an Islington resident who joined the protest with his partner and kids.

Demonstrators today descended to Parliament Square holding placards and banners that read: ‘People before profits’, ‘Kill the Housing Bill’ and ’Resist evictions’, not only to stop the Bill, but to ask for more council houses and regulation of private tenants, as well.

Suzanne Muna, branch secretary of the Unite Housing workers and one of the  organisers of today’s demonstration, said:

“What we need is a proper solution for working class people. We are getting poorer as our wages are dropping compared to the cost of living and particularly compared to the rising cost of housing. So, we want to make our protest visible.

“I know that it probably won’t stop the Bill going through on its own, but it is one way of expressing the anger and we need to follow that up with other things, like the Union branch taking industrial actions and adding the cost of housing to the pay claim that we make, for example”.

Ms Muna explained different strategies to deal with the current housing problem, but the scenario will not change until we have much more generalised strike actions: “Then we will have a real chance of winning our demands,” she added.

It will most likely take a year before the Housing Bill is implemented and this is probably a long enough time to build a strong movement capable of stopping the bill, even if it is passed into law.

The ‘Kill the Housing Bill’ campaign is an alliance of tenants of all tenures, housing workers, MPs, traveller groups, Councillors and trade unions concerned at the threat posed by the Housing and Planning Bill.