Analysis: Cost of Living Crisis? Not for the Rich
by Ell Folan
Ordinary people are feeling the pinch on energy, food and rent – while in their well-insulated, mortgaged homes, the rich are hardly feeling anything at all. Ell Folan explains.
Tag: rent
Explainers: The Establishment’s Plan to Deal With Inflation
As inflation rises the establishment has a solution: we all need to get poorer. The alternative is for profits to fall – but that is unacceptable to the powerful. Aaron Bastani on how only unions can save us.
Analysis: Landlords Are Getting Off Scot-Free in the Cost of Living Crisis
by Ell Folan
From energy prices to tax hikes, everything has been blamed for the cost of living crisis: except profiteering property-owners, writes Ell Folan.
Opinion: London Landlords Have Ushered in a New Era of Feudalism
by Sam Bright
There’s not a North/South divide; there’s a London/Everywhere divide, and the capital’s landlords are at the heart of the problem, argues Sam Bright.
Opinion: 9K for What: A Fresher’s Guide to Renting in Halls
by Zac Larkham
Having pulled off the biggest rent strike in 40 years, student organisers have compiled some helpful tips for those of you renting in halls - ones that your university definitely forgot to mention.
Opinion: This Isn’t Just About Universal Credit – Our Entire Benefits System Is a Joke
by Andrew Fisher
While the campaign to cancel the £20 cut to Universal Credit is welcome, we risk atomising our struggle against a broken system, argues Andrew Fisher.
Analysis: Has the Pandemic Shifted Britain Left?
by Ell Folan
As we emerge from the pandemic, even the FT is claiming the left has won the argument. Have we really?
Report: Tired of Greedy Landlords, Students Are Setting Up Housing Co-ops
by Eloise Barry
The past year has seen students nationwide coordinate the largest wave of rent strikes in recent history. But growing numbers are going one step further: breaking away from the private rented sector altogether and setting up housing co-ops. Eloise Barry reports.
Opinion: Until He Starts Talking About Rent Caps, Keir Starmer Isn’t Serious About Championing Business
by Aaron Bastani
For all his posturing, Keir Starmer’s efforts to recast Labour as the party of business are entirely cosmetic, argues Aaron Bastani. If he really wanted to address the challenges businesses face, he’d be talking about rent caps.
Report: Students Have Been Duped Into Returning to Halls – So They’re Refusing to Pay Rent
by Rivkah Brown
On Tuesday, the University of Manchester joined the growing list of UK universities whose students are going on rent strike during the pandemic. Rivkah Brown reports on the student movement the pandemic has restarted.
Analysis: What Would Jesus Do? Cancel the Rent
by Francis Brewer
The UK is facing a massive, and avoidable, debt crisis. Throughout history, the cancellation of debts has been used as a safety valve against social and economic collapse - and now's the time to reopen it. If it’s good enough for Christ, argues writer and activist Francis Brewer, it’s good enough for us.
Opinion: Students, Here’s How to Organise a Rent Strike
by Rosa Porter
Universities conned thousands of students into returning to campuses across the country, only to almost immediately lock them inside their dilapidated and overpriced halls, while all teaching takes place online. For students who feel they have been treated unfairly, now is the time to strike, writes housing activist Rosa Porter - and here's how to do it.
Opinion: Covid-19 Has Shown University Isn’t About Educating Young People – It’s About Exploiting Them
by Aaron Bastani
The spectacle of student lockdowns at British universities may seem absurd. But it’s just the logical conclusion of a system in which everything - including higher education - is subordinated to the interests of rentiers, landlords and big business, writes Aaron Bastani.
Report: Renters Unions Are Preparing to Resist an ‘Impending Tsunami’ of Evictions
by Rivkah Brown
Landlords hoping to ride the 'impending tsunami' of evictions stand to be disappointed as renters unions prepare to resist. Rivkah Brown reports.
International: Locked Down But Not Out: 15,000 Sign Up to Rent Strike Campaign in Spain
by Coordinadora de Vivienda de Madrid
Despite the country having become a pandemic hotspot with over 18,000 deaths, Spanish landlords are continuing to force evictions upon people who are unable to make rental payments, or who are forced to squat by long waiting lists. But tenants' unions and mutual aid groups are fighting back.
‘We Want a Rent Strike Now’: the People Poised to Take on Their Landlords
by Sophie K Rosa
In the absence of government-backed rent relief or rent suspensions, people across the country are unable to pay their rent. Sophie K Rosa speaks to some of the people ready to go on rent strike.
Coronavirus Shows How the Government Fails Precarious Workers
by Beth Perkin and Charlotte England
The government’s new job retention measures have received widespread praise, despite ignoring the needs of millions of vulnerable workers on insecure contracts who are exempt from the benefit. Novara spoke to three workers about how their lives and livelihoods are being impacted.
GE2019: Labour Offers a ‘Housing Revolution’ for Generation Rent
by Jamie Sims
Labour's manifesto is promising a "housing revolution", including the most ambitious house-building programme in decades and action on bogus 'affordable' rents. Housing activist Jamie Sims says it's a lifeline to Generation Rent - who could prove a major political force in this election.