15 private tenants from 7 local tenant action groups across London
held a ‘housewarming party’ at a development of newly built private rented flats in Stratford, east London, in protest at soaring private rents and the government’s failure to tackle the problem. London rents have been rising at around 7 per cent per year. [1] 10 others held a solidarity protest outside the Genesis tower block (see photo below).
The flats are built and let by Genesis [2], which has been shortlisted to receive funding through a government subsidy scheme [3] for private rented housing in three developments in London [4].
Rents in the occupied development, marketed as ‘Stratford Halo’, start from £1,700pcm for a two bedroom flat, the minimum size needed for a family with children – of which there are now more than 1.3 million renting from private landlords in England [5]. Based on figures published by Shelter…
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DIY Democracy / Community Democracy 