New Era estate: Russell Brand joins residents' protest against eviction
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Version 0 of 1. 3.39pm GMT15:39 End-of-day summary I’m wrapping up this liveblog now. Thanks for reading and for all the comments. 3.35pm GMT15:35 My colleague Oliver Laughland, of Guardian US, has been talking to Brandon Kielbasa, lead organiser at the Cooper Square committee in the lower east side of Manhattan. The committee campaigned for tenants in properties owned by Westbrook Partners in New York. “We saw the same kind of things happening ,” Kielbasa says, citing working-class tenants being moved out of their apartments, and the landlords’ penchant for “transitioning underperforming properties … into luxury rentals”. Public protest against such action is, he says, “essential for tenants … It’s no longer [just] an option but absolutely essential.” And he had words of encouragement for those on the New Era estate protests in London today: Keep up the fight. Keep raising awareness … You deserve fair and affordable housing. Updated at 3.36pm GMT 2.58pm GMT14:58 Protesters are making their way away from Downing Street now. Aisha Gani caught up with some of the residents to ask them how they thought the demonstration had gone: Janet Bradley has lived at New Era for 20 yrs. "I thought it went really well. Came here with my kids and grandkids" pic.twitter.com/tMiLNB0sZX Katy Bradley says "there were two coaches full of people. Got to fight for what we believe in" #NewEraEstate pic.twitter.com/RXVMZrnPNq 2.43pm GMT14:43 My colleague Robert Booth reports from the protest: The residents have handed in the petition to Downing Street, wrapping up the protest which passed off peacefully. Outside No 10, New Era resident Lindsey Garrett said: ‘David Cameron talks a lot about family and community and people getting back into work, but this is destroying all that.’ The residents hope the prime minister will put pressure on Westbrook to sell up. 2.27pm GMT14:27 Here is Lindsey Garratt, after handing in the petition to Downing Street: 2.21pm GMT14:21 What will it mean for the New Era residents if they are evicted? The Guardian’s Aditya Chakrabortty spent time with some of those on today’s protest to find out what the proposed hike in rents would mean for them: Lindsey Garrett was previously paying about £640 a month for the two-bed she shares with her daughter; when her contract expires in July 2016 residents expect they will be charged around £2,400 a month. For Garratt, a care co-ordinator at the local NHS trust, that is way more than her entire take-home pay. Council officers have already told her what that means. As a single mother, she and eight-year-old Daisy will be moved into a homeless shelter, for anything up to four years; then it’s temporary accommodation, which could be in Manchester or Birmingham. Since the buyout, Garratt’s rent has already shot up by £160 a month, while the latest NHS reorganisation has cut her pay by £300 a month. “I’m getting stretched at both ends,” she says. You can read the full article here. Updated at 2.27pm GMT 2.16pm GMT14:16 And here are the residents’ campaign leaders – and Russell Brand – in front of No 10: #neweraestate petition arrives at David Cameron's front door pic.twitter.com/MOdo6zpEn8 2.12pm GMT14:12 The New Era residents have now been waved through the Downing Street gates to take their petition to No 10: Petition now being handed in. Russell Brand went through. My colleague @Robert_Booth is there #NewEraEstate pic.twitter.com/VzANcPs4Bj 2.11pm GMT14:11 For background on what is fuelling the change in the property market in London, you could do a lot worse than start with this analysis by the Guardian’s architecture and design critic, Oliver Wainwright. In a wide-ranging examination of which companies are doing what to the capital’s homes, he notes: Left unchecked, the banks went off the rails in spectacular fashion, as they sprayed money into the great mortgage mirage. And now property developers have been allowed to follow suit. Fuelled by the dazzling wealth of investors from Russia, China and the Middle East, who they turned to when the banks stopped lending, their steroidal schemes are causing irreparable harm to our cities. Across the country – and especially in superheated London, where stratospheric land values beget accordingly bloated developments – authorities are allowing planning policies to be continually flouted, affordable housing quotas to be waived, height limits breached, the interests of residents endlessly trampled. Places are becoming ever meaner and more divided, as public assets are relentlessly sold off, entire council estates flattened to make room for silos of luxury safe-deposit boxes in the sky. We are replacing homes with investment units, to be sold overseas and never inhabited, substituting community for vacancy. The more we build, the more our cities are emptied, producing dead swathes of zombie town where the lights might never even be switched on. Read the full article here. 1.58pm GMT13:58 Residents are set to hand in their nearly 300,000-strong petition to No 10: #newera demonstration arrives at Downing Street ready to hand in 300000 signature petition pic.twitter.com/SdBZkC70Dk 1.57pm GMT13:57 The protest has reached the gates of Downing Street: 1.56pm GMT13:56 Robert Booth has caught up with Jules Pipe on the march. The Hackney mayor told him: This puts pressure on them to think very seriously about transferring this estate to another form of ownership and we are talking privately with Westbrook to encourage them to go down that route. 1.51pm GMT13:51 Aisha Gani reports that organisers believe there are around 400 people on the march. 1.47pm GMT13:47 Back with the march to Downing Street, and the protesters have reached Pall Mall: Danielle is here with her niece. She's lived on New Era for 5 years and has a neighbour who's lived there 70yrs pic.twitter.com/tfYdQ2LDdG "Housing is a human right, not a privilege" New Era residents chant while marching down Pall Mall pic.twitter.com/yhhXMdOqKx 1.45pm GMT13:45 Boris Johnson on affordable housing As I noted below, London mayor Boris Johnson is not in the capital today – he and his deputy mayor for housing, Richard Blakeway, are on a trade mission to the far east. But he’s been quizzed there over the issue of affordable housing, reports the Press Association: Boris Johnson has defended the levels of affordable housing in the Malaysian-backed Battersea Power Station redevelopment. Speaking at a lunch promoting the London-Kuala Lumpur links behind the major project, Johnson rejected complaints too many of the homes would go to foreign buyers. And he said the “affordable” element of the project, 15% of the 3,000-plus properties, represented a gain of 600 discounted homes for Londoners. Combined with an investment in a tube extension by the Malaysian investors, the mayor said the deal was a good one for the UK. Johnson’s remarks came ahead of an event where, together with the Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, he unveiled ambitious plans for Malaysia Square, a public space at the heart of the £8bn development. Johnson said: “It’s with that spearhead of Malaysian money coming in and redeveloping Battersea Power Station that we are able to get on and build 25,000 homes, the majority of which will be for people in the UK and loads of which will be affordable. “Plus we are able to get the extension of the northern line … don’t forget that out of this development we have got to fund the first extension of the tube we have seen in 25 years, it’s not a cheap thing to do. “We have to build two new stations and it will produce as I say overall in the area 25,000 new homes. I think 600 affordable homes is better than no affordable homes. “If you didn’t do a deal of this kind you couldn’t get either the transport or the affordable homes so that’s the reality.” The affordable units will be made available for rent at 60% of the market rate – with indicative estimates putting this at £975 per month for a three-bed flat. It’s unclear exactly why, but here is Johnson helping students at a college in Kuala Lumpur dissect a cow’s lung earlier today. Updated at 1.46pm GMT 1.32pm GMT13:32 The protesters are still on their way to Downing Street. Russell Brand is helping to lug some of the 293,000-strong petition print-outs: .@rustyrockets with a box of @lologarrett35 300k @UKChange signers pic.twitter.com/x7PcUjc1DU 1.31pm GMT13:31 Westbrook letter to residents Westbrook Partners, the owners of the estate, delivered letters to all residents last night, Robert Booth reports: On Sunday, the new owners wrote to all residents stating: ‘There will be no changes to the tenancy agreements and no increase in rents during the first half of 2015.’ The letters were hand-delivered on Sunday night and said: ‘To help us work with you more closely we will also be appointing a dedicated tenant liaison officer … We understand the accusations about us and our plans have caused concern and distress amongst tenants, so we hope that these commitments provide some further reassurance.’ Lindsey Garrett, chairwoman of the New Era residents’ association, said the letter only deferred the eviction plans. ‘Westbrook are hoping this will die down and we are going to go away but we won’t because we haven’t got anywhere else to go,’ she said. In a statement issued last week Westbrook said: ‘We take our responsibility as a landlord very seriously and are committed to working closely with our tenants throughout this period … We are committed to engaging in constructive dialogue with tenants, their representatives and interested local parties.’ 1.29pm GMT13:29 Lunchtime summary Robert Booth has filed this update on the morning’s action: Residents of the New Era estate in London have travelled to the offices of the US investment company that has bought their homes to protest against its eviction plans. Parents, children and grandparents travelled across the capital on buses to the Westbrook Partners HQ in Mayfair, amid growing political support for their cause. Russell Brand, Diane Abbott MP and the leaders of the tenants’ group are set to lead the protest and then march to Downing Street to present a 293,000-signature petition to the prime minister. Westbrook Partners bought the Hoxton estate in March and transferred its ownership to an offshore company in the Channel Islands tax haven of Jersey. The firm is understood to be planning to evict the tenants, refurbish the estate and re-let the flats at full market value – which in some cases could be three times higher than current rents. Westbrook has only made assurances that rents will not go up before the turn of the year. The protest comes amid continuing negotiations between senior London politicians and Westbrook’s managing principal, Mark Donnor. Over the last 10 days, the firm has held meetings with Richard Blakeway, the deputy mayor for housing; Meg Hillier, the tenants’ Labour MP; Jules Pipe, the elected mayor of Hackney; and Philip Glanville, the cabinet member for housing at Hackney. Pressure is now growing on the London mayor, Boris Johnson, to act. Hackney is proposing that Westbrook sells the homes to a social housing organisation, but in the absence of clear powers to force the private company to act, the negotiations are understood to be delicate. As we pass the Ritz resident says "oh look shall we have afternoon tea?" #NewEraEstate pic.twitter.com/8Wg4ZpMP2j You can read the full report here. Updated at 1.33pm GMT 1.23pm GMT13:23 Protesters are now marching from Westbrook’s Berkeley Square offices to Downing Street, where they will hand over the petition: 1.17pm GMT13:17 Russell Brand is speaking now. He says 300,000 people have signed the petition that will be handed to Downing Street today (it’s actually just shy of 294,000, but that’s quibbling). @lologarrett35 lindsay garrett and @rustyrockets Russell Brand at Westbrook demo pic.twitter.com/gq0SRY0YZ1 Updated at 1.17pm GMT 1.16pm GMT13:16 Lindsey Garrett, one of the New Era residents and campaigners, is speaking to the crowd: We’re asking you to do the humanitarian and right thing. Leave our homes alone! We want our children to grow up this beautiful city – the people of Hackney. Let’s keep London for true Londoners – all of us. 1.11pm GMT13:11 "I feel like Bobby Moore in 1966 getting off the team bus" says a resident #NewEraEstate pic.twitter.com/Rpt2SSBAlP 1.08pm GMT13:08 The residents’ coaches have arrived at the Westbrook offices: Huge cheers as the residents arrive #NewEra pic.twitter.com/ECycvhiDho It’s expected that Russell Brand will speak, along with some of the residents themselves. 1.01pm GMT13:01 John Coventry, of the Change.org petition site, has spotted Hackney mayor Jules Pipe in the crowd of protesters outside the Westbrook offices. 12.56pm GMT12:56 Aisha Gani has been speaking to New Era residents about their reasons for joining today’s protest: Naziha, 37, social worker Naziha has lived on the New Era estate for seven years. “I’m here to support my neighbours first and to deliver the message that we will not lose our homes, and to show commitment. “I have no clue what will happen to me. I’m under a lot of stress right now. The thought of being homeless really distresses me. Everything happened really quick.” Patricia Palmer, 70 Patricia has lived on the estate for 11 years. “Last night I got a text asking me if I could leaflet. So I went up at 6pm and had to walk up a few floors – there’s no lifts. I’ve also got Facebook. “I’ve had two deaths in this estate. My husband recently died and if it wasn’t for these people on the estate I’d be dead by now. It’s a proper community here. “They may pretend London is this hipster internet Silicon Valley roundabout, but that doesn’t mean a thing to me. They just don’t get it. We’re human beings. I feel really safe here; that’s my priority – to feel safe. Not my fault I live around here and now we’ve got to suffer for it.” Updated at 1.03pm GMT 12.50pm GMT12:50 The two coaches carrying New Era residents are close to Mayfair now, and the protest organisers have shared this message: Great stuff guys not long we are on out way two coaches full of new era friends and family remember it's peaceful our children are with us 12.45pm GMT12:45 The numbers of protesters outside Westbrook’s offices are swelling. Some on the scene say there are a couple of police riot vans, along with 10-15 officers, but the situation is calm and friendly. Protest in london by residents facing eviction unless they pay triple their existing rent. @bbc5live pic.twitter.com/SEORK0RCKF 12.40pm GMT12:40 Aisha Gani has these updates from the coach carrying New Era residents – and Russell Brand – to the Mayfair protest site: Russell Brand is checking social media. According to reports, police and riot vans are already in Mayfair #NewEra pic.twitter.com/mQU6L3nfOv Residents say, "riot vans? It's supposed to be a peaceful protest." Another says "this is a proper Eastend day out. We got sausage rolls." Another resident says, "where's the flask? We're supposed to be Londoners. We don't go nowhere without tea!" #NewEraEstate 12.35pm GMT12:35 My colleague, London-watcher Dave Hill has weighed up the options for Westbrook and the future of New Era. The estate – built in the 1930s with philanthropic goals, and with ownership passed down the family line until this year – had become an oddity in a part of east London overtaken by gentrification, he says: The campaign … is righteous and brave, but has its work cut out. The early departure from the scene of the Benyon Estate, a family firm which owns 300 properties in De Beauvoir and has a Conservative MP as a director, was hailed as a Russell Brand-inspired triumph at the time but, if anything, may have made things worse. Benyon had a stake in the Westbrook enterprise and was to manage the estate. There are worse landlords in London, and at least Benyon provided a human point of contact close to home. Rents were initially raised by 10% and there were fears they would soon go much higher. Hackney mayor Jules Pipe was critical. But an informal agreement that there would be no further increase for two years has been withdrawn since Benyon cut its ties. How can a happy ending to this distressing story be arranged? Hackney council has been doing what it can to moderate, but is unlikely to take up the suggestion of making a compulsory purchase, a complex and costly option at the best of times (and, for local government, the present ones don’t qualify). Social housing campaigner Colin Wiles has challenged London’s biggest housing associations, not short of a few bob, to buy the property from Westbrook. That would be a good result, but if it happened there would probably still be changes that not all would applaud. It’s hard to imagine New Era rents not going up more or more affluent residents not being sought … But might it be in Westbrook’s interest to look at ways of making its investment pay that don’t involve cold-eyed evictions and all the shaming publicity they would attract? Standard procedure would entail pricing or less subtly shifting the tenants out, not by Christmas – it seems that’s never really been on the cards – but perhaps from the middle of next year. The dozen households protected by the 1977 Rent Act would be the hardest to move, but in such cases a blend of pressure and inducements is often brought to bear. Once that job was done a major refit or redevelopment would go ahead and much wealthier people would move in. An alternative approach would be to treat the existing tenants sympathetically, draw on their local knowledge, make money by letting or selling homes that become empty of their own accord at higher rates to people who can afford it. Humane rent rises could still occur – it’s worth bearing in mind that the current ones could be almost doubled and still fall below the area’s private housing sector benefit cap – and some tenants might not mind if it meant their homes and the estate were improved as a result. Ideally, new tenants’ contracts could take up Shelter’s stable rental idea, an attempt to reconcile the goals of affordability, quality, security and financial return. 12.26pm GMT12:26 As the coach from the New Era estate makes its way to Mayfair, some protesters are already assembling at the offices of Westbrook: Rallying the troops #NewEraEstate pic.twitter.com/mUpgjfZEFh 12.13pm GMT12:13 The protest starts The residents are leaving the New Era estate on their way to Mayfair, central London. Hundreds of people are expected to attend the protest in Berkeley Square, where Russell Brand is expected to speak alongside resident leaders including Lindsey Garrett. Residents and their backers will then march from Westbrook’s offices to Downing Street where they will hand in a 293,000-signature petition to the prime minister’s office, calling for the owners to keep rents at an affordable level so existing tenants can afford to stay. Updated at 12.14pm GMT 12.09pm GMT12:09 New Era residents are getting ready to board the buses taking them to Mayfair, site of Westbrook Partners’ offices. But first, they’re practising their protest slogans, reports Aisha Gani: 12.04pm GMT12:04 Protesters are on the move, reports Aisha Gani: Jo has put on her sandwich board and is getting ready for the New Era demo pic.twitter.com/STSq4aKSIW 12.01pm GMT12:01 Guy Grandjean and Robert Booth are with residents and Russell Brand as they prepare for the protest. Updated at 12.02pm GMT 11.47am GMT11:47 Protesters are assembling at the east London estate, Robert Booth reports from the scene: Over at New Era, the residents are gathering and preparing to board buses over to Berkeley Square. Families with three generations are preparing to protest, some for the first time in their lives. There is excitement growing. Russell Brand is rallying the troops in the flat of one of the campaigners, Lynsay Spiteri, who has laid on a big lunch spread. @rustyrockets rallying supporters on the New Era estate before Westbrook protest pic.twitter.com/SHP8JTiQGC Updated at 11.48am GMT 11.45am GMT11:45 Here are those 293,000 signatures from the Change.org petition, ready to be presented at Downing Street later today: Petition boxes ready with almost 300k signatures for #NewEraEstate delivery to Downing Street http://t.co/OYPMJOIlJl pic.twitter.com/1f4NbmNcKp 11.41am GMT11:41 The New Era battle is a tricky one for politicians, as pointed out below, as they have limited powers over homes in the private sector. Labour shadow minister for London Sadiq Khan has tweeted in support of residents this morning: The treatment of the #NewEra community is shameful. Should now be sold to a social landlord to keep rents affordable http://t.co/33CtKiwvyG London mayor Boris Johnson is not in the capital today – he and his deputy mayor for housing, Richard Blakeway, are on a trade mission to the far east. Robert Booth reports: City Hall said the purpose is to boost Asian investment in London, which has been controversial in the housing sector because of the large numbers of far east buyers snapping up apartments as ‘buy-to-leave’ investments. The Malaysian government is a key investor in Battersea Power Station, while Singaporeans snapped up 21 flats in the Bezier apartment building north of the City. Johnson has taken with him Tony Pidgley, boss of Berkeley Homes, one of the biggest house builders in the capital. The agenda included trips to Singapore, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur and meetings with Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong. 11.30am GMT11:30 GuardianWitness is keen to hear readers’ experiences of renting in the UK. What are your experiences of renting? Are you living in London and experiencing rent rises in your area? Is it better being a tenant in other cities around Britain? What’s the situation like in rural areas? Do let us know via the GuardianWitness assignment. 11.25am GMT11:25 What do the New Era residents want and how likely are they to get it? Robert Booth has been picking over the possible outcomes: Westbrook Partners bought the New Era Estate from a private company and the 93 homes are in the private sector, which means the politicians trying to solve the problem have very limited powers. So today’s march is part of the residents’ strategy to continue to make a loud noise about their predicament in the hope that Westbrook will conclude the investment is too controversial for them to continue with. One hope is that Westbrook may consider backing out to preserve its political capital for future investments in London property, when it may need planning approvals from politicians to make the profits it needs. The campaign organisers claim a large majority of residents are backing the protest, with around 90 people attending a planning meeting last week. The key players are three single mothers: Lindsay Garrett, Danielle Molinari and Lynsay Spiteri. 11.20am GMT11:20 My colleague Aisha Gani is at the New Era estate this morning ahead of the protest: Spoke to Christine Norris who has lived in New Era for 11yrs and said there's great community spirit here pic.twitter.com/hXkt3PtskR People currently pay around £183 but this will go up to "market value" - Christine said this isn't fair. There's damp and holes in ground. 11.18am GMT11:18 Before today’s protest, my colleague Robert Booth spoke to residents of the estate about their struggle to hang on to their homes, and also went in search of answers from Westbrook … You can see how he got on in this video. 11.00am GMT11:00 New Era estate: who's who A good starting point for those coming fresh to the saga of the New Era estate is this guide by my colleague Amelia Hill. Here is her guide to some of the players in this battle: The New Era estate residents The residents of the 1930s, 96-flat housing estate include pensioners, teaching assistants, PAs, NHS staff and construction workers. Many have lived in the estate all of their lives and the community is a tight one: older residents are able to continue living independently in their own homes because their neighbours keep close eyes on them. Parents are able to go out to work because their friends and family look after their children. With house prices and rents in London soaring far above what this community can afford to pay, they face not just losing their homes but being forced out of London altogether. “If I have to leave New Era, I’ll have to leave London,” said Danielle Molinari, who has lived in the estate all her life. “My son’s father is really involved with his boy at the moment but he won’t be able to follow us out of London. We won’t just lose our home if we’re evicted: my son will lose his relationship with his dad.” Westbrook Partners Founded in April 1994, the privately-owned real estate investment management company has offices in New York, Boston, Washington DC, Palm Beach, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Tokyo. It claims to have raised and invested about $10bn (£6.3bn) of equity in $40bn of real estate transactions, according to Investment & Pensions Europe magazine, “investing in companies with dysfunctional ownership”. It has 10 British and American employees in London in an operation headed by a British national, Mark Donnor. Among properties Westbrook owns in London is Dolphin Square, a large block of 1930s apartments in Pimlico, central London, which has long been popular with MPs. After it bought the estate, a tenant took Westbrook to court claiming the firm had criminally harassed her to secure an eviction. A high court judge cleared Westbrook, while still finding some of its behaviour “unreasonable and oppressive”. The company also owned Shell-Mex House, the huge art deco office building next to the river Thames in central London, but sold it last year for a reported profit of more than £100m to a German firm. New York residents In April, just a month before Westbrook completed the deal for the New Era estate, it found itself labelled a “predatory landlord” by tenants in Three Borough Pool, a group of 44 buildings in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan co-owned by a private equity owners who bought the properties in 2007 but defaulted on the $133m (£97m) loan in 2010, foreclosing the buildings a year later. Two of Westbrook’s properties were listed as being among the 200 “most distressed” buildings in New York. After protests outside New York city hall, the attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, forced all four owners, including Westbrook, to make repairs to the 1,592 properties, resolve thousands of building violations and provide tenants with more than $1m in rebates for illegal fees and overcharges. The Benyons The Benyon Investment Company Limited was an active part of the bid that Westbrook made to the Lever family, who owned the estate until earlier this year. When Westbrook won the bid, the Benyons bought a 10% shareholding in the property and were given management responsibilities. Richard Benyon is a Conservative MP who, along with his brother Edward, owns the 300-year-old Englefield estate, which comprises 20,000 acres of land from Hampshire to Scotland. Their private family company has owned properties in east London for more than 150 years after the brothers’ great-great-great uncle first developed the area known as De Beauvoir Town. The family still owns about 300 properties there. After Westbrook took over the estate, Edward Benyon met residents to announce plans to refurbish the homes and build more flats on the roof. At a meeting of residents, he is quoted as saying: “The goal, which is something I have had to say to all of you, is the fact that the rents will be going to market value.” The Benyons sold their shares after protests in November. The company issued a press release, saying: “New Era residents have made it clear that they do not welcome our involvement in the future of the estate.” The politicians The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has asked his deputy to intervene. He said they were trying to find “a favourable solution that would allow the tenants to stay in their own homes“. The council is offering to broker a deal with a housing association. “We are calling on you to honour the rent commitments made by Hoxton Regeneration, that there will be no further rent increases until 2016. This is a bare minimum we would ask.” Labour’s Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary and shadow minister for London, told the Guardian: The shameful New Era saga embodies everything that is wrong with London’s broken housing market. If Westbrook won’t provide affordable housing to families on the estate they should sell to a social landlord who can keep the community together. 10.45am GMT10:45 The involvement of Russell Brand has helped to raise the profile of the the New Era campaign, reports Robert Booth: Russell Brand, who has focused his revolutionary fervour on the New Era campaign, has been busy landing his own scoop on the situation. At the weekend he posted a video interview he secured with New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio, in which the Democrat politician talked about his own problems with Westbrook and said there should be a limit on the profit residential property investors can make to prevent tenants’ lives being turned upside down. Blasio told Brand: Congratulations. London is experiencing what New York city used to experience. Our city government found a huge number of violations of our law by Westbrook for unfair treatment of tenants and attempts to interfere with tenants who organised for their own rights. I can’t tell you that what you are experiencing is news to us … Sometimes it is fair to say there is a limit to the amount of profit you should make, because you shouldn’t want to dislocate people from their lives. In April, Eric Schneiderman, the state attorney general, ordered Westbrook and other private equity owners of series of housing complexes to pay back $1m in rent to 1,700 tenants and make urgent repairs. It followed residents’ complaints about “dangerous” conditions and allegations that the owners’ management company, Colonial Management, blocked tenants and housing activists from organising, and used intimidation tactics to break up peaceful meetings. 10.33am GMT10:33 Morning summary Hundreds of people are expected to attend a protest in London today, calling on US investment company Westbrook Partners to scrap its plans to evict 93 families from the New Era estate in east London. The demonstration in Berkeley Square, site of the firm’s Mayfair offices, is being organised by residents and their families. Russell Brand, the comedian and campaigner who has thrown his weight behind the residents’ campaign, is expected to speak, alongside resident leaders including single mother Lindsay Garrett. Residents and their backers will then march from Westbrook’s offices to Downing Street, where they will hand in a 293,000-signature petition to the prime minister’s office. The petition calls for the owners to keep rents at an affordable level so existing tenants can afford to stay. Westbrook Partners bought the Hoxton estate in March and transferred its ownership to an offshore company in the Channel Islands tax haven of Jersey. The firm is understood to be planning to evict the tenants, refurbish the estate and re-let the flats at full market value – which in some cases could be three times higher than current rents. Westbrook has only made assurances that rents will not go up before the turn of the year. We’ll have live coverage of the protest throughout Monday. Guardian reporters Robert Booth and Aisha Gani will be with demonstrators, and you can follow their tweets from the march @Robert_Booth and @aishagani. I will be tweeting key developments @Claire_Phipps. Please do also feel free to leave comments and questions below. You can read Robert Booth’s latest report on the battle over New Era here. |