LCAP General Meeting July 11th 1pm-3pm

Posted on | July 1, 2015 | No Comments

London Coalition Against Poverty is a coalition of local groups who meet to provide support with housing and benefit issues (homelessness, benefit sanctions, welfare cuts, and dodgy private landlords), and take collective action on the issues we face. The local groups meet regularly in their home boroughs. You can read more about how these groups work in this pamphlet.

Every three months or so we all meet together in London Coaliton Against Poverty general meetings to share our expereinces and tactics, questions and ideas, and discuss how we can co-ordinate our activities.

This meeting of will be hosted by Hackney Housing Group, from 1pm – 3pm, in:

Navarino Mansions Community Hall,

Dalston Lane, E8 1LB

Come along to listen to and share experiences of organising mutual support groups and to help organise grassroots solidarity and action.

Whether you’re already involved in your local LCAP group, or you keep on meaning to be, or if you want to start a new group in your area – come along!

There will be childcare. Please let us know if you need childcare so we can know numbers in advance by emailing londoncoalitionagainstpoverty[at]gmail.com.

Building Mutual Support? Get the LCAP pamphlet

Posted on | October 29, 2014 | 1 Comment

A new updated print run of the LCAP pamphlet Building mutual support LCAP Pamphlet is out now! Contact londoncoalitionagainstpoverty@gmail.com if you would like some copies sent to you or read it online here.

LCAP has republished this pamphlet, sharing some of our stories and experience!

Success! HASL member overturns bedroom tax applied to her living room

Posted on | June 14, 2014 | 39 Comments

We demand that Lambeth Council now reconsider it’s flawed and unnecessary application of this tax!

A Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) member won her appeal against application of the bedroom tax to her front room last week following protests from the group and representation from Kevin Long at Lambeth Law Centre.

The judge in a tribunal held last month decided that the tax should not apply to the room when use was taken into account. Prior to this decision the Council had simply relied on the Landlord’s classification of the number of bedrooms in the property, showing to members of our group negligence and compliance with Landlords over tenants on behalf of the Council who should have simply carried an independent assessment of the property.

Kevin Long, who since cuts to Legal Aid has worked free of charge on this case, said “I’m now more convinced than ever that every bedroom tax decision should be appealed. Take for example a 2-bedroom under-occupying council tenant where grown-up kid(s) have left home and the spare room is used for storage/study/meditation room/personal library. Clearly this is a situation that the tax was meant to hit – but if you apply the room-use argument to its a logical extreme then the tenant would still have a chance of overcoming it.”

HASL are calling to anyone hit by this tax to contact the group, we hope with this experience we can challenge this regressive policy and have the tax on as many tenants as possible lifted and refunded.

We are also calling on the Council’s of Lambeth and Southwark to reconsider it’s application across the board. Recent steps taken by Glasgow Council prove that Councils need not be simply administrators of regressive central government policy. As Kevin again states “Councils should be inspecting to establish the ‘facts on the ground’ rather than just relying on the landlord’s classification. This might involve a consideration of ‘use’ – but it might also address issues where there is a genuine dispute over the number of rooms – consider for example a room that has been bricked-up due to partial collapse; or a room uninhabitable due to historic decay; or, as with us, a through-room.”

We will be celebrating our success this weekend in style, making great use of this member’s front room!

UN Special Rapporteur on Disability — Testimony Session

Posted on | November 18, 2013 | 46 Comments

UN Special Rapporteur on Disability – Testimony Session
Just Fair
Monday, 25 November 2013 from 13:30 to 16:00 (GMT)
London, United Kingdom
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/un-special-rapporteur-on-disability-testimony-session-tickets-9341062369
http://welfaretales.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/un-expert-to-hear-disabled-peoples-austerity-testimony/

Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth Info Day

Posted on | October 14, 2013 | 30 Comments

Join Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth on Saturday 26th October 3-6pm at The Brix, St Matthews Church in Brixton (SW2 1JF). We will have information on the cuts to housing and welfare that are happening as well as providing a chance to discuss ways of taking action against our housing situations and getting decent housing for all! Food and childcare will be provided.