Brixton estate tenants 'intimidated' as fences and security guards are installed
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Version 0 of 1. Housing association tenants fighting eviction in south London have been left feeling intimidated after their landlord put up fences and posted security around their homes. The Guinness Partnership says the fences have been erected around the Guinness Trust estate in Brixton for health and safety reasons, but residents suspect they are a punitive measure after they blockaded the site to halt building works. The estate is set to be knocked down and replaced with flats. Its tenants say Guinness has left families with nowhere to go and dispute claims that the regeneration will increase the number of social homes. Many residents have already been served with orders to leave their homes, and the sudden appearance of fences and dozens of security guards left them afraid they were facing imminent eviction. Betiel Mehari, 42, who lives on the estate with her two sons, aged seven and eight, told the Guardian the fences appeared without warning on Tuesday. The first she knew of them is when security guards stopped her leaving through her usual route. “I wanted to get milk for my children from the local shop and I was stopped by four security guards,” she said. “They said to me: ‘You can’t go this way, you have to go the other way through the alleyway.’ “I was really shocked. I was, like, wow. This is like maybe 10 women and children [who days earlier blockaded the site], to have 20 security guards sent, it’s kind of frightening. “We didn’t have any notification and I was really confused. I came back and I saw it on social media. Up to now there has been no information from Guinness. Then this morning, I went out and they’ve got a dog. “I asked them why they’ve got a dog to intimidate women and children, and they said: ‘This is our pet.’” A number of women with children are remaining in their homes on the estate in defiance of possession orders obtained by the housing association. They are all shorthold tenants and, although Guinness has agreed to rehouse some of the single tenants on the estate, it insists it does not have any properties for families. Mehari, who works in customer services, is not at immediate risk of eviction after she challenged Guinness’s possession order. She is waiting for a date to appear in court where she will argue that the housing association’s decision to evict women and children without offering them alternative accommodation breaches its charitable status. She saw the sudden arrival of the fence and security around the site as an attempt to scare occupiers off the estate. Related: Guinness Partnership defers eviction of Brixton social housing tenant “I just think it’s unnecessary and the fact that it’s been done after the blockade, it’s intimidation. I don’t want to come out of my house with two kids and have to explain why there’s security around.” Grace Lally, organiser with Lambeth Housing Activists, which has been supporting the Guinness Trust tenants, said Guinness’s decision to offer alternative housing to some tenants came only after grassroots pressure. She said the housing association had maintained until June last year that it had no obligation to rehouse its shorthold tenants. Now most of those remaining have received possession orders and are facing eviction. “Some people are opposing their possession orders and have been given a court hearing but most of them were given a possession order, which was effective as of Tuesday,” Lally said. “A number of them are staying and have stayed past the date of possession. They are very, very insecure and Guinness can apply the possession order at any time. “The scandal of the whole thing is that while the estate has 390 flats which were social housing in the heart of Brixton, by the time they are finished knocking down these blocks and building new ones there will be only 210 at the social rate, all the rest will be at these higher rates.” In a statement, the Guinness Partnership said: “We are providing 487 new homes for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership at Loughborough Park – none of which will be for outright sale or for rent at market rates. All existing tenants with secure tenancies will move into homes in the new development and will continue to pay social rent. “We understand this is a difficult time for the 20 assured shorthold tenants and have offered them a range of financial and housing support. We’ve been clear from the outset they would not be entitled to be rehoused when the site was redeveloped. “They agreed to this when they moved in and we’ve given them more than a year’s notice. We are also assisting them with nominations to other properties across our national housing stock, including in London, and continue to be available to meet with them if they wish. “However, the rehousing of these tenants by Guinness is a very limited option, as the majority of our homes are let via the relevant local authority. “We need to ensure everyone’s safety while we move some heavy vehicles off the site and have put additional security and fencing in place temporarily while we do so. We expect these to be removed today.” |