Green Party Mayoral candidate, Sian Berry, has condemned conditions in Croydon council flats, saying that the scandal shows why London’s housing system needs a revolution.
Tenants of flooded and mouldy council flats have fallen through the gaps of a broken system, she said.
Berry remains the only Mayoral candidate to visit the flats, which were covered in a television news report on ITV. “It was really awful to hear.” she said after speaking with residents. Tenants’ complaints had been ignored for years, which she compared to the way Grenfell Tower residents’ complaints over fire-safety were ignored.
Berry, a long-term renter, has made housing reform a central plank in her campaign, pledging to give every Londoner the right to a decent, secure home.
She wants to empower tenants to not be exploited by negligent landlords.
“That kind of genuine powershift is really important,” Berry said. “Ultimately, housing is a public health matter. A lot of Green policy is about health and a healthy environment. But I apply it across the board to every other part of society as well.”