Stories

Examples of how residents across various London estates organised to solve the problem of cockroaches - permanently. In some cases the benefits went beyond mere pest control and even brought new paid work to the residents.

What do you do when there are cracks in your flat big enough to pass your arm through? See how the residents of the Ledbury estate took action.

Daniela is a local authority tenant in South London. She spent 20 years living in her family home in a tower block in South London before was moved out by the landlord, Southwark Council in 2017, due to fire and structural safety issues. She and her young daughter were then moved to another block in the borough, which also has significant disrepair problems.

Gerry Boyd is a tower block resident and chair of the Rosebank Tower Property Council in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. As the owner of a flat which has suffered with various disrepair issues over the years – he describes his relationship with the Factoring managers, the local authority and talks us through his journey through the […]

Anne Clarke is a councillor in the London Borough of Barnet. We ask her about her experiences in supporting residents in her area with housing and disrepair problems

Nick Durie is a neighbourhood organiser with LivingRent.org - Scotland's tenants' union which represents members in both the private and social rented sectors. In this podcast, Nick talks about the LivingRent 2020/2021 manifesto, rent rises, the impacts of privatisation and environmental priorities for new builds.

Peter McLoughlin is a tower block tenant who has been living in a 14th floor flat in Netherthorpe, Sheffield since 1988. He was formerly Sheffield's Cabinet Member for Housing and continues to lobby for safer housing conditions across the city, particularly in tower blocks. In this episode, Peter discusses his history in the tenants' movement and what's led him to campaign, carry out his own safety and disrepair audits and write many reports on housing over the past 40 years.

Rhiannon is the Campaigns and Research Officer at the Southwark Group of Tenants Organisations. In this podcast she discusses housing disrepair and the power of collective action.

Annie Barrett, a tenant of Marsh Drive estate in the London Borough of Barnet joined forces with her neighbours to tackle disrepair in their blocks. We interviewed Annie to find out what action she and her community took.