housing
Content about housing, housing policy and struggles over housing and accommodation.
Cologne: occupation of the Barmer Block housing estate, 2006 - Wildcat
Text published in Wildcat in summer 2006 reporting on the internal dynamics of a major housing estate occupation in Cologne in Spring 2006.
Cologne: 'Barmer Block' occupied. The feeling of great potential...
For over three months in the 'Barmer Block' housing estate an unusual squatting experiment took place.
Dale Farm traveller reprieve
Hopes have been raised that Dale Farm, the largest traveller site in the UK, will gain a reprieve from eviction in the New Year.
Two appeals in the area at nearby sites have led to one yard on Cranfield Road given a five-year allowance for residential use, and three other sites, on Gypsy Hill, have won four years each.
Anti-eviction actions in Chatsworth, South Africa
An article with information about resistance to eviction and workers' struggles over housing in Chatsworth, South Africa in the late 90s and early 00s.
Stirling rejects stock transfer
Council tenants in Stirling have voted by a large majority to reject stock transfer to a not-for-profit company, Housing Stirling.
Despite a massive propaganda campaign by the Scottish Executive, Stirling Council and not-for-profit housing organisation Housing Stirling, tenants have overwhelmingly rejected the transfer of their homes out of council control.
Squatting guide
This is a brief guide to the completely legal activity of squatting - occupying an empty property and making it your home.
It helps avoid homelessness, since renting or buying a house can be prohibitively expensive for many people.
Setting up housing co-operatives guide
Some tips on how to set up a housing co-operative. Co-ops can be an affordable way of housing yourself if you can't afford to buy, and you don't want to be beholden to or exploited by a landlord.
Many housing co-ops are state funded; the Housing Corporation puts up much of the funding, and therefore can, on the whole, call the tune. However; it is possible to set up a housing co-op which is totally independent.
Mike Davis "Planet of Slums" Treason Pamphlet
These three articles by Californian Marxist Mike Davis deal with the respective situations of the world’s richest and poorest people.
1971: Via Tibaldi occupation
A short history of an occupation of empty housing in Italy by workers who had inadequate accomodation. Their direct action and solidarity forced the council to house hundreds of people.
The occupation at Via Tibaldi was a great step forward for the tenants’ and homeless movement in Italy. A whole neighbourhood was involved in it : factories, schools, housing projects took part in the organising of the struggle. There was a victory at Via Tibaldi because everyone there was fully aware
1971: The Quarto Oggiaro occupation
A short history of a militant mass occupation of empty housing in Milan, Italy, 1971 which pressured the government to give in and provide the participating families with housing.
Quarto Oggiaro is a working class quarter of Milan in northern Italy. Many Italians had been forced to leave the poverty of the south to try to find work in the industrialised north, and there found pay low. Housing was scarce, and where it did exist much was wretchedly sub-standard.
1931: Barcelona mass rent strike
The story of one of the biggest rent strikes of the 20th century where more than 100,000 people faced down the landlords and the government winning improvements for many tenants.
The strike laid the groundwork for much more workers' organisation in the community in subsequent years
