LGT was proud to join the largest National Housing Demonstration for a decade last weekend. Alongside thousands of tenants and over 80 organisations, we were calling for an end to the housing crisis and homelessness.
London’s Gypsies and Travellers share the concerns of all people who experience interminable waiting lists for social rented accommodation, non-existent adjustments for disabilities, unaffordable rents, dire homelessness and overstretched council services.
To this awful list we add problems specific to our communities, who are disproportionately affected by the crisis:
- No new site with culturally suitable accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers has been built in London since 1996.
- Overcrowding is twice as bad for Gypsies and Travellers (32%) than the London average (19%), which is already twice the national rate.
- Existing sites are plagued by environmental racism: 54% of Gypsy and Traveller sites in the UK are located less than 100 metres from a major hazard such as sewage works, factories and dumps.
- There are no transit sites for people pursuing nomadic ways of life in the entire Greater London region.
Philomena Mongan, Community Development Officer at London Gypsies and Travellers, said the lack of government action over decades has left families feeling desperate about losing homes and relationships that are fundamental to their way of life.
“Then, when we take matters into our own hands to build a suitable home, we are faced with racist prejudice and pushed from pillar to post again,” she said.
“Every week we hear about community members trying to make a home somewhere suitable, and when the authorities tell them they have no right to stay, their children are left with no fixed abode. Parents who want the best for their children who have additional needs can’t get help and support because local plans don’t make space for their way of living. We need more culturally suitable sites and we need recognition of our rights.”
Alongside other organisations, LGT is calling for more social housing, affordable rent, decent Gypsy and Traveller sites and stopping places, and a humane approach to nomadic living (for example, negotiated stopping).
Fix the Five Basics
There are tangible things that London councils can do immediately to support people at the sharp end of the crisis who are affected by one of its worst symptoms – increasing numbers in temporary accommodation.
In the face of a chronic housing undersupply, the social housing system is pushing thousands of Londoners into temporary accommodation – often for years – without basic necessities for cooking, laundry, accessing the internet, storing securely and getting clear information.
There are 76,000 London households living in temporary accommodation – and Gypsies and Travellers are ten times more likely than other homeless Londoners to be placed in hostels and B&Bs with no kitchen or bathroom.
LGT has joined the Fix the Five Basics campaign to call on all councils in London to pledge to ensure access to these five basics. The campaign was built from the ground up by people with experience of homelessness – and it’s already having an impact. Boroughs from Wandsworth to Greenwich are taking action through affordable, practical solutions like installing laundry facilities in hostels and providing prepaid data SIM cards to homeless families.
With elections in all London boroughs in just a few weeks, this is an important moment to call on candidates to put better temporary accommodation on the agenda.
Watch the video below to find out more, and email your local candidates today
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