SOCIAL LANDLORDS? YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING!

         
Rogue housing associations

and the big 

deception

Whatever Happened to Housing Associations? is the title of a book being planned by a housing campaigner who says that too many associations are not what they claim to be.

A big deception of the public is underway by rogue associations says the author, Glyn Robbins.

These associations may have started life years ago in a charitable way as social landlords aiming to give a home to the homeless.

But they have strayed badly.These rogue associations have become property developers, principally interested in profits.

This Thatcherite transformation gives full rein to market forces and has prompted Glyn Robbins to embark on the book because the transformation has come with what  he says is  an “increasingly corporate culture”and “a huge amount of denial and disinformation.”

Denial and disinformation allows these rogue associations to continue to present themselves as social landlords.

Glyn Robbins, of course, is not alone in his concern. Many tenants share it and there is a  growing number of campaigns around the country against these rogue associations and their authoritarian  culture.

(Glyn Robbins says there is a particular - and urgent - need to try and raise this issue within certain parts of the Labour Party, including the shadow cabinet.)

Glyn Robbins..."denial and disinformation"

 
One of the campaigns –against the giant Liverpool-based Riverside Housing Association-  has been chronicled over the years in posts on this blog by the campaign organiser, Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation.

The Federation considers Riverside to be a bossy,  dictatorial and inefficient property developer. Many posts on the blog have cited examples of that organisation`s appalling activities over the years.

The Federation was pleased to help Glyn Robbins when he asked for a contribution to the book Whatever Happened to Housing Associations.A Federation chapter has therefore been written  which will go alongside chapters already completed: from  tenants from other parts of the country campaigning against demolition, rent rises and mergers. Also a trade unionist dealing with shoddy  housing association employment practices and an analysis of housing association finance

Glyn Robbins  is a housing worker and campaigner.  He is a member of the Unite union housing workers branch and is heavily involved in the Axe the Housing Act (now 'Homes for All') campaign.  His writing about housing has been published by The Guardian and his first book - 'There's No Place{ The American housing crisis and what it means for the UK'- came out in June 2017.

 Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803