‘Gutted, a borough in siege’ by Oonagh Cousins

Filmed during lockdown ‘Gutted, a borough in siege’ by Oonagh Cousins captures the depth of inequality in Britain, detailing how it was to suffer a lockdown without any drinking water, raw sewage leaks in your home and crumbling asbestos. PEACH Members – Temi, Maggie, Mabel, Mengeh, Sam, Boglarka – tell their story of housing and social injustices that they face. Our amazing community came together, as PEACH, to fight back against one of the countries biggest social housing management firms, a private company called Mears which maintains 1 in 10 council properties in the UK.

For five years, PEACH members – Mears Cats – campaigned and fought to break the Mears contract and get Newham council to take back control of properties in Custom House. In 2020, the council agreed to transfer MEARS tenants to Council tenancies, returning the properties to Council control and implementing a 60% rent reduction. In summer 2021, this became a reality.

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