The Sunday Times May 1, 2022 3earners can pay as little as £3
a month and higher earners
are asked to pay up to £25 a
month. Everyone is expected
to train to campaign for
policies such as banning
Section 21 and setting up a
public register of landlords.
Acorn cannot give legal
advice, but makes referrals
to organisations such as
Citizens Advice and Shelter.
Its members put pressure
on what they perceive to be
negligent landlords, as in
the case of Fadumo Omar, a
32-year-old mother of seven
who had a rat infestation and
went without hot water or
heating for a month in winter
in Bristol. Acorn’s members
marched on the landlord’s
offices and they agreed to
repairs, pest control and to
pay £1,250 in compensation.
After they were evicted
for speaking out on multiple
issues, joining the London
Renters Union helped
Jordan Osserman and his
neighbours in Somerford
Grove in Hackney, east
London, to take their
billionaire landlord to court.
On July 21, 2021, four
members of the Somerford
Grove Renters received
£18,420.96 — or eight
months’ rent — because he
did not have house in
multiple occupation (HMO)
licences. They are awaiting
the outcome of an appeal.
Osserman, 32, says: “If we
win, we will set a precedent
for renters to successfully
claim rent repayment orders
against negligent landlords.”
Unions may not quite
have landlords quaking in
their boots, but it seems
there really is some power
in them.MARKET WATCH
Source: Zoopla Research & InsightHouse price in lation hotspotsTop locations in each region for
average 20-year house price increase190%
Hull
Yorks & Humber210%
Dover
South East196%
Basildon
East of England216%
Waltham Forest
London173%
Highland
Scotland142%
Hartlepool
North East142%
Bolsover
East Mids187%
Bristol
South West170%
Sir Gaerfyrddin
Wales170%
East
Staffordshire
West Mids190%
Oldham
North WestAverage house price
in Britain, 2002
£92,517Average house price
in Britain, 2022
£245,027Percentage increase
in 20 years
165%LANDLORDS BEWARE: THE
RISE OF RENTERS’ UNIONS
GEORGIA
LAMBERT
@GLJournoT
he 1970s is coming
back to haunt us with
soaring energy bills,
inflation and a cost-of-
living crisis that is
beginning to bite. On
average, private rented
households are spending a
record 54 per cent of their
post-tax income on rent and
utility bills, according to the
estate agency Hamptons.
On top of this, private
rented homes are in a worse
condition than any other
type of housing, with an
estimated 23 per cent of
them classed as “non-
decent”, according to the
National Audit Office.
Tenants also live in fear of
Section 21 “no fault”
evictions, which give them
eight weeks’ notice to find
somewhere else to live and
the landlord does not have
to prove arrears or antisocial
behaviour.
So Britain’s five million
private renters are turning to
renters’ unions, which are
cropping up in cities such as
London and Oxford. Nick
Ballard, 41, started Acorn
union in 2014 after he was
made homeless by a Section
21 notice in Easton, Bristol.
He says: “Building a
community of renters was so
important to me, because it
gives people a voice and a
sense of belonging.”
Many renters’ unions offer
free membership to
unsalaried renters, while lowAT A GLANCE
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