Young mothers spearhead struggle for affordable London housing

By Agence France-Presse in London | China Daily | Updated: 2014-12-08 07:40

Balancing baby buggies with protest banners, a group of young London mothers is at the front line of a struggle for homes in a city gripped by the problem of rising rents for lower-income households.

The Focus E15 Mothers, all aged under 25, have waged a campaign of occupations and anti-eviction protests that has shaken up the debate as housing becomes a major issue ahead of Britain's May general election.

The group formed when it was given notice to leave the Focus E15 hostel for homeless people, close to the Olympic Stadium in Newham, east London, one of the city's poorest boroughs, which has been transformed by recent development.

"I was actually pregnant and my due date was a day before the eviction," said 21-year-old Sam Middleton.

Living in the hostel since leaving a violent partner, she said she was offered alternative housing in other cities but nothing in London, where she grew up.

"They're going to move poor people out into the slums. It's social cleansing," Middleton said at a protest demanding secure, affordable homes, which was dominated by mothers and toddlers.

She and her 1-year-old son were eventually moved into private rented accommodation that cost 249 pounds ($390) a week, met by state welfare payments.

But their contract ends in March, meaning they face an uncertain future.

In September, the group temporarily occupied empty apartments on a council-owned housing estate, draping banners from the windows reading "Social housing not cleansing" and "These people need homes".

Britain won the right to host the 2012 Olympics partly on a promise to redevelop swaths of east London. but campaigners and local residents say that is being done without taking into account the needs of the less well-off in the local community.

Housing shortage

Newham Council said it is doing its best despite deep spending cuts imposed by Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led government.

"We have to make difficult decisions. The Focus E15 Mothers are not the only families in the borough to face these issues," said Robin Wales, the mayor of Newham, from the main opposition Labour Party.

The council said the government's support for the "Right to Buy" policy, which sells social housing to tenants at a discount, has depleted stock, when 16,000 applications are on the waiting list for homes in the area.

Between 35 and 45 percent of homes sold to tenants under Right to Buy are sold on to private landlords, who give short-term contracts and continually raise rents, it said.

Average rents in Newham rose 5.6 times faster than the average salary last year, according to the council. Across London, average rents rose 2.8 times faster than wages.

Sky full of cranes

A popular investment for the world's wealthy, the average cost of a London house is now more than 500,000 pounds, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Meanwhile, average wages in Britain have struggled to keep up with inflation and are still below what they were before the financial crisis, causing a squeeze on living standards.

Some analysts say runaway London house-price increases may not continue as there are simply not enough people living in the city who can afford them, and banks may be reluctant to lend the sums required.

A study by the National Housing Federation found that the yearly rise in house prices in some parts of the city is now larger than Cameron's annual salary of 142,000 pounds.

"The real solution is obvious - to build hundreds of thousands more homes," London Mayor Boris Johnson told a recent property trade show that was targeted by protesters.