Freedom News

Brighton and London rally for Stansted 15

Following on from a rally outside the Home Office on Tuesday which drew thousands of people, hundreds more took to the streets of Brighton last night to show their support for the Stansted 15. Organised by a collective including the Devils Dyke Network and Brighton Against Borders, the demonstration attracted over 300 people angry at

Beating the letting agents

Brighton SolFed writes on lessons learned over the first year of its efforts to build up an anarchist housing union. After a string of successful cases largely against wage theft in the hospitality sector, Brighton Solidarity Federation launched our housing union in June 2017. Our experience in Brighton was of rents rocketing up, while conditions

We taught them a lesson: Beating a deposit deduction

Below is the write-up of a successful campaign organised by a tenant and Brighton SolFed against a deduction to that tenant’s deposit. The three month public campaign concluded in April 2018 with a £450 payment to the tenant, who had had £390 deducted from her deposit. Please note that the article contains brief discussion of

Brighton SolFed stands up to Youngs letting agency

Last weekend Brigthton Solidarity Federation organised a protest against Youngs letting agency and in support of tenant facing a revenge eviction. The emergency action follows recent decision of a landlord of one of the properties managed by Youngs to evict a tenant after he asked for essential repairs of his home, and to be remunerated

Rent strike at Sussex University

Students have announced an indefinite rent strike at the institution’s Kings Road halls today following revelations that new vice chancellor Michael Farthing got a £230,000 “golden hello” — cash they say could have been spent fixing up decaying accommodation. The group of around 30 are members of tenants’ union Acorn, which has been campaigning for renovations to be

Brighton Solfed: Standing up to the landlords

The anarcho-syndicalist group rounds up its recent activities in the city, where it has been having a lot of success organising against mistreatment of tenants. Three groups of tenants organising with Brighton Solidarity Federation Housing Union over the past three months have each secured victories in their disputes. Working with our Housing Union, these tenants

Social Centres update: Common house in trouble, Partisan nears opening

Radical social centres across Britain have run into financial issues recently, with business rates rises causing trouble for Larc in east London and the Cowley Club in Brighton this year. For the Common House however cash problems have followed on from the loss of their major funding grant — and they’re in dire need of

Case study: Grassroots pressure over substandard housing in Brighton

The following article from Brighton SolFed looks at how even seemingly small amounts of pressure on council figures can shine enough light to panic them, and potentially force concessions. On Monday June 25th Brighton SolFed delivered leaflets to a number of high rise blocks in the city, offering our solidarity and support to any tenants