Green Islington Councillor Caroline Russell has thrown her weight behind the campaign to save a community in Islington Park Street from eviction.
Residents from Islington Park St are welcomed to an Islington Green Party meeting
The property in Islington Park Street was taken on ten years ago by One Housing Group (OHG), from the now closed down Patchwork Housing Association, along with other properties, for a token one pound payment. OHG first issued notice to quit five years ago, but have recently begun eviction proceedings which arrived “out of the blue”. Residents have told Cllr Russell the only offer of engagement by OHG has been around the “decanting process”. The group are calling instead for a discussion between tenants and landlord to find a resolution that enables them to remain.
The four knocked-together houses are home to a diverse group of eighteen people. Some residents have lived there for more than thirty years. Their allocations policy ensures that they are helping low income individuals to find a home, requiring that applicants earn no more than £23,000 and own no property. Residents are a mixture of ages from 19 to 79 and describe it warmly as like living in an extended family supporting each other through a range of health and other issues including: depression, learning needs, cancer recovery, Parkinson’s disease and escape from domestic violence.
It is not the first time that One Housing Group has been scrutinised for its reluctance to engage with residents bear the human cost of their business decisions. Following her visit to the property, Cllr Russell said, “This is a sadly familiar story in a city where land values are escalating and rents are too high. The residents of Islington Park Street are the most recent example of a London-wide story of unfair evictions, fuelled by the rocketing ‘value’ of property.”
“Clearly this community has accrued wisdom about this mutually-supporting, communal model of living. As our city becomes increasingly unaffordable it makes sense to think about living in different ways. Celebrating and developing this model, pioneered so successfully for 39 years in Islington Park St, seems a great place to start.”
“In the context of an ageing population, rising bills for social care and squeezed public sector budgets, surely we should be exploring models for housing such as this? We must persuade the directors at One Housing Group to engage with these residents and negotiate a way forward.”
You can help the residents of Islington Park Street and Crescent Road, their sister community in Kingston, by signing and sharing their petition.