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Activists are asking tenants whose incomes have been affected by the coronavirus crisis to withhold all or part of their payments to landlords, in an attempt to generalize a growing rent strike movement.
The campaign, led by the London Renters Union, comes after activists in the US. USA And Australia, and students from universities across the UK, began to withhold their rents due to the crisis.
Activists believe there is broad public support for the measure after YouGov polls, conducted on LRU’s behalf, found that 45% of people thought other essentials should take precedence over rent payments for those who They face financial problems, and 22% said any tenant struggling to make ends meet shouldn’t have to pay rent.
Following a model tested by American and Australian activists, LRU calls on people who are struggling to commit online to withhold enough of their income to meet their basic needs, including food and bills. More than 11,000 members and supporters have been invited to join, and invitations have been sent to the Momentum mailing list, which supports the campaign.
Claire Weldon, an LRU organizer, said: “We are asking people to register at www.cantpaywontpay.uk because many tenants feel isolated right now, but we know that people can be powerful when they join.” If people come together, we can share our advice on how to tell landlords that we are not going to pay part of their rent and how to resist eviction. “
However, other major tenant unions, including Living Rent in Scotland and Acorn, which is organized in 19 English towns and cities, are taking a different approach. Nick Ballard, Acorn’s chief organizer, said he was not against such actions, and that the members had already conducted successful local rent strikes, including in the student hallways in Lancaster, with others planned in Coventry, Warwick, Bristol. and Nottingham.
But, he said, Acorn preferred at this stage to focus on building from a local level, rather than a total effort. He called on tenants concerned about the safety of their homes to join the tenant union before striking out.
The call to withhold rents comes as many people face poverty due to the blockade. Recent surveys suggested that hundreds of thousands may already be cutting back on food and other essentials to pay homeowners. Opinium’s survey for The Guardian found that 25% of respondents had to leave their home due to the crisis.
Earlier this month, analysis by the New Economics Foundation group of experts showed that 1.2 million private tenants in the UK will fall through the cracks in government schemes to help workers who have lost income and face up to earn a living with the benefits.
Ministers have suspended eviction procedures for the duration of the crisis, although landlords can still issue notices to tenants who are behind on payments. Earlier this week, Acorn, LRU, and Living Rent jointly sent a letter to the government asking it to suspend rent payments for the duration of the crisis, to pay off already accumulated debts, and to protect tenants from eviction.
The letter said: “Thousands of tenants have joined tenant and community unions in the past six weeks. Together, we will continue to organize to protect our homes and communities, and we are ready to take more collective action if the government does not adequately address the growing coronavirus income crisis. “
