PEACH
PEACH: opposing the housing crisis in Newham
Sevice Area:
housing
Sevice Area:
housing
Background
East London’s skyline is emblematic of inequality in the UK and the property that underpins it. The financial district in Canary Wharf towers above neighbouring working-class residential areas in Newham, Tower Hamlets and beyond. Across the UK, long-term patterns of property ownership and finance have led to a severe housing crisis, preventing growing numbers of people from feeling secure and meeting their basic needs. The gap between those who bear the brunt of this system and those who reap its benefits is more deeply felt in London than anywhere else in the country.
In Newham, the crisis has led to deteriorating housing services and soaring costs. Between 2011 and 2018 rents in Newham rose by 56%, and house prices by 89%. Wages on the other hand, only grew by 21%. Residents have increasingly experienced insecurity, overcrowding and homelessness. Much of the council’s housing stock was outsourced during the 2000s, exacerbating these trends. Notably, the publicly-listed private rental company Mears Group PLC and its subsidiaries significantly expanded activities in the borough.
Local Action
Responding to negligence and mismanagement in the private rented sector, local residents took matters into their own hands. The People’s Empowerment Alliance for Custom House (PEACH), a residents’ action group, was founded in 2013 and has been organising and taking action to improve services ever since. It has pushed the council to provide more affordable, better-quality homes for residents, with support from Rokhsana Fiaz who was elected Mayor in 2018.
One approach has been to enforce existing laws, so that tenants are better protected and more providers are obliged to uphold sufficient standards. Newham is responsible for over half of all landlord prosecutions in London. By using the law to enforce energy efficiency standards of privately-owned properties, the council can also tackle fuel poverty and help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, while the development of a private renters’ rights service provides support for renters facing evictions and other problems.
PEACH has applied pressure to improve the delivery of related services in the area, including cleaning and maintenance. PEACH members now have a direct line of communication with senior staff in Newham’s housing department, enabling them to apply pressure on those in power. A repairs escalation service has been set up, providing residents with a way of regularly liaising with council officers and contractors to prioritise urgent issues. Housing Hubs provide a network of spaces in estates and community centres where residents can speak with housing officers in person.
Increasing the supply of council housing in the borough is of paramount importance for addressing the long waiting lists and unmet demand, while delivering secure tenancies at genuinely affordable social rents. Reacquiring privately owned former council housing stock via compulsory purchase orders has been one strategy. The Greater London Authority’s ‘Right to Buy-back’ citywide scheme has supported this approach since 2021.
The council is planning to build around 10,000 new homes as a part of a regeneration project. Across London, however, estate regeneration has too often led to gentrification and removal of vulnerable residents. While Newham Council claims the project is in the interest of the local community and the result of a democratic process, the legitimacy of its balloting methods has been brought into question. Some residents in one estate due for demolition are uncertain they will be rehoused with affordable social rents when it has been rebuilt. PEACH has been pushing to steer the plans in line with the local community’s needs and consider this a test of how far the council supports residents. Alongside other campaigners, such as the Public Interest Law Centre, PEACH is concerned about the permanent displacement of existing working-class communities (who are vital to the functioning of the city), calling for a minimum guarantee of social rented housing
Impact on local residents
Action in Newham has provided relief for some residents on the frontline of the housing crisis. In particular, those provided with repurchased council housing are paying affordable social rents without having to deal with negligent private actors for repairs and other key services. In 2020, PEACH won the repossession of 250 homes, with the council issuing new contracts to bring rents down by around 60%. In 2021 and 2022 Newham Council bought more than 400 properties through the Right to Buy-Back Scheme and purchased over three times more properties than the average across all participating boroughs (only Hounslow scored higher, with 550). It continued acquiring homes in 2023 to provide for insecure households and those experiencing homelessness. However, the numbers supported through repurchase schemes (around 1,000 since 2020) pale in comparison with the council’s housing waiting list (over 36,000) and with those experiencing homelessness (over 17,000).
Environmental Impact
While environmental concerns are not at the core of Newham’s approach, aspects of its strategy are relevant for developing greener housing policy. Academic researchers have pointed out that use and allocation of housing space is highly inefficient in the UK and that trying to build enough new homes to match unmet demand would consume the country’s entire carbon budget. The repurchasing programme in Newham and the London-wide Right to Buy-Back scheme show that reallocating existing space at affordable rents is at least part of the answer.
What's next?
Despite these concerted efforts, Newham experiences the highest rate of homelessness in London, affecting one in 20 people. While universal, green housing is beyond the remit of one London borough alone, it is worth noting what can be achieved when a determined community-based organisation works closely with a local authority. Much depends on how much momentum can be gained by Newham’s initiatives and the GLA’s Buy-back scheme.
What happens to the council’s regeneration plans will be pivotal. If local people are effectively engaged in developing them, there is scope to buck the trend of gentrification and actually improve living conditions for existing communities in the borough.