Stop Tenant Evictions – Reduce Private Sector Rents – Protest 3rd August 2012

Haringey Housing Action Group protested today prior to a meeting with the Housing Advice & Options Team to demand more support for private tenants faced with eviction following cuts to Housing Benefit/Local Housing Allowance.

Here are some shots from the protest, report to follow.

LEAFLET TEXT or download at HAG Apex Hse Protest 3rd Aug
OR DOWNLOAD THE QUESTIONS we put to Haringey Council Housing Advice & Options Team in our meeting with them following the protest.

Private tenants all over London are being hit by government Housing Benefit cuts, high rents and insecure tenancies. With over 20,000 privately renting households in Haringey, this a key issue. Tenants affected by cuts to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) are facing eviction now. If landlords want to increase rents above LHA rates, tenants need support. With solidarity actions, we can all try and stop individual evictions.

But what is the Council doing to support private tenants? Haringey Council has funding to support people facing housing benefit cuts, including help with ‘renegotiating rents, finding affordable property and ensuring they get the support they are entitled to’.

However, we have seen little evidence of support so far. Instead, private tenants have been told they will get no help negotiating with landlords, because ‘landlords have a mortgage to pay’. They are told to look for properties in the local papers, but most local letting agents are now refusing to deal with people claiming housing benefits. They also face high rents and extortionate letting agent ‘fees’.

WE WANT:

  • Private sector rents to be reduced to LHA levels or below Birmingham council has negotiated reduced rates with letting agents and landlords covering 500+ properties. Haringey must do this too.
  • No evictions for tenants who cannot cover rent increases The council aims for ‘early intervention and the prevention of homelessness’, and so should do everything they can to support tenants threatened with eviction. The council should cover court costs for tenants facing eviction, and for those in ‘priority need’, re-house them before their eviction date.
  • Decent, genuinely affordable, secure housing for everyone The council must ensure landlords provide long term tenancies for all. Read the rest of this post »

August 2, 2012  Tags: , ,   Posted in: HHAG ACTIONS  Comments Closed

Private Tenants Expose Letting Agents’ Scams

Haringey Private Tenants Action Group

On Saturday 14th July, Private Tenants protested outside Letting Agent Drivers & Norris in Islington’s Holloway Road, condemning them for taking £300 from tenants seeking a flat, providing nothing in return but refusing to return the payment.

The action was organised by the new group Haringey Private Tenants Action Group (HPTAG) in support of a few of their members who had been asked to pay the £300 upfront to secure a new flat. Drivers & Norris had failed to provide any service or offer of accommodation but they refused to return this fee. No tenancy agreement had been signed and no service had been provided.

HPTAG were joined by supporters who together stood outside the office with banners, megaphone and leaflets. 800 leaflets were handed out to passers-by outlining the situation and explaining D & N’s rip off fees and and calling at the same time for letting agents and landlords to remove all ‘fees’ and end to other exploitative practices. Read the rest of this post »

July 16, 2012  Tags:   Posted in: LOCAL CAMPAIGNS  Comments Closed

Haringey housing company accused of “profiting from poverty”

PRESS RELEASE

12th June 2012

Haringey residents today gathered outside the offices of Smart Housing Group on Tottenham Lane to protest against the company’s attempts to encourage London councils to move homeless residents out of the city, calling on passers-by to contact the company and demand that they withdraw their plans. Read the rest of this post »

June 12, 2012  Tags: ,   Posted in: HHAG ACTIONS, NEWS  Comments Closed

Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance Info Booklet – Includes details of changes

This leaflet has been put together to let you know what you are entitled to, and to make the process of claiming it less intimidating. Those of us who have put this leaflet together are either on Housing Benefit or Local Housing Allowance or give advice about these benefits. It’s not always easy getting what you are entitled to, and often people give up as they can’t take the hassle or don’t know what else to do. Sometimes housing benefit workers don’t know their own rules, and at other times
it can seem like they are actually stopping us getting what we are entitled to. Read the rest of this post »

June 7, 2012  Tags: , ,   Posted in: INFORMATION  Comments Closed

Affordable Housing for All/Private tenants – meeting report

Bring Rents Down / Affordable Housing for All
Private tenants event: Follow-up meeting
Saturday 9th June – 11am
North London Community House, 22 Moorefield Road, N17
All welcome

Views of participants of the What Can Be Done discussions on May 26th – as reported (including the contributions to the discussion which then followed)

KEY FACT
– About 50,000 people in Haringey live in 20,000 private rented homes. Read the rest of this post »

June 7, 2012  Tags:   Posted in: LOCAL CAMPAIGNS, NEWS  Comments Closed

Localism Act 2011 – How it affects Haringey residents

There are 6 main parts to the housing provisions under the Localism Act 2011 for local authorities. These are:

  • housing allocations;
  • homelessness duty;
  • flexible tenancies;
  • how local authorities can use finances from their housing stock;
  • how social housing is regulated; and finally
  • how complaints are dealt with. Read the rest of this post »

May 3, 2012  Tags:   Posted in: INFORMATION  Comments Closed

Cuts to Housing Benefit – The Facts.

New claims or when current claims are reviewed
Average rents in an area are calculated. Housing Benefit will now be capped at the 30% mark. It used to be 50%. Now, only 3 out of 10 rented properties are available to claimants Read the rest of this post »

May 2, 2012  Tags: ,   Posted in: INFORMATION  Comments Closed

Universal Credit (UC) – The Facts.

The one thing throughout the legislation, is the use of words like “regulations may make provision to” and “Regulations may make provision for…”. Basically, this means the government can change many parts of this legislation by “regulations” – ie. doesn’t have to be agreed in parliament first. Read the rest of this post »

May 1, 2012  Tags:   Posted in: INFORMATION  Comments Closed

26th May – Public event for all local private tenants

In oppostition to Government cuts to housing  benefits, we demand…

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR ALL – BRING RENTS DOWN!

Saturday 26th May, 2pm-4pm
Wood Green Library
Wood Green High Road, N22
Information stalls * Know-your-rights sessions * Discussions about what can be done
Includes refreshments & a small toddlers play area

Read the rest of this post »

April 29, 2012  Tags:   Posted in: NEWS  Comments Closed

Non-Payment of Rent: Your Rights.

The consequences and time scales.
The first thing is to work out what kind of tenant you are, as there are different rules for different groups. Are you: a secure tenant, an assured tenant, an assured shorthold tenant, licencee, unlawful occupier etc. Read the rest of this post »

March 29, 2012  Tags: , ,   Posted in: INFORMATION  Comments Closed