With Newham Council’s regeneration plans set to demolish homes and displace the community and the ballot vote excluding hundreds of residents from participating in a decision that will change their lives (see our blog to learn more), PEACH members have taken matters into their own hands. They are not willing to play by a set of rules that are rigged to get the results the council wants (no matter the cost to local people), so PEACH members are making their own rules.
The People’s Vote is an alternative to current offer on the table from the Council. Everyone living and working in the Custom House area is eligible to vote in the People’s Vote, regardless of whether you are ‘eligible’ to vote in the council’s ballot. It lays out a vision for Custom House that would keep the community together, and lay the foundations for a respectful, thriving community, with homes people can be proud of, streets people feel safe in, communal spaces with offerings for everyone and jobs that offer stability and dignity.
Our People’s Vote demands are:
- Love Custom House NOW
- Repair our homes now, we want healthy homes to live in.
- Keep and refurbish the homes that are structurally safe
- No unnecessary demolition
- Permanent Homes NOW – 3 generations of waiting for regeneration – no more waiting!
- Temporary Tenants – No more temporary tenancies! Temporary Tenants to be on secure tenancies now & have the same rights and rent as council tenants.
- Council tenants – Council tenants to no longer be in uncertainty, to stay in current homes where possible
- Homeowners to stay – Homeowners to be able to stay in their current homes if they want, or to be given a fair price for their home (fair means the same price as other homes in the area that are the same size and same distance from the station – not a reduced price because it is in the regeneration zone)
- Private Tenants to stay – private tenants who have lived in the area for more than 5 years to be able to stay in their current home, or be offered an affordable rent close to their home with security
- Community owned and managed land NOW
- PEACH run community centre – a place for the community to meet and run community activities
- Community Owned High Street – community owned, affordable rents for local shops and businesses that employ local people
- Community Land Trust Homes in the regeneration area – affordable homes owned by the community.
We know we can win these demands from our previous successes. In 2020 PEACH members not only triumphed by breaking the council’s contract with Mears, but also wrote off £350,000 of rent arrears and secured rent reductions of 60% for tenants.
In October 2021 250 people signed a petition demanding a higher standard of repairs and refurbishment. As a result, PEACH members got new windows installed across blocks, a refurbishment programme drawn up to bring homes up to standard, a direct line of communication with a dedicated team within the council to deal with the backlog of repairs, as well as regular meetings with the Director of Housing to monitor progress.
If the Landlord Offer gets a “yes” vote, then not only are these hard-fought wins are under threat, but tenants of all kinds could be forced out of the area. Temporary tenants’ rents will increase and some might slip through the cracks, like when Mears tenants were evicted after being re-assessed by the council. Homeowners will need to choose between leaving the area or losing full ownership of their home. Private renters will be pushed out even though some have lived in the same house for 20 years. The environmental impact will also be huge as there will be unnecessary demolition of structurally fine buildings. A “yes” vote will also set a precedent and make it much harder to demand different things for the next phases of the regeneration.
Demand for better – vote for the People’s Vote!
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