Don’t Evict Maritza – Stop Selling Social Housing
For immediate release
DON’T EVICT MARITZA
Stop selling social housing
On Wednesday 29th January Lambeth residents and campaigners will meet outside Lambeth Town Hall, in Brixton, to protest against the council’s sale of long-standing housing co-operatives.At the lobby Lambeth councillors will be asked to sign a specific pledge against the eviction of long-term housing co-op resident Maritza Tschepp:
We the undersigned pledge to stand with Maritza and her family when they refuse to leave their home, if Lambeth go through with their threat to send bailiffs to evict her in order to sell off the property.
Maritza’s story
Maritza Tschepp and her family have lived in their home for 33 years. Their house was among those compulsory purchased by Lambeth for demolition for a couple of thousand pounds in the 1970s and left to rot. The council allowed ‘shortlife’ co-ops to be set up, run by the people like Maritza who were occupying and maintaining the houses. But Lambeth are now destroying these co-ops and selling off the properties with no acknowledgement of the blood, sweat and tears of the ‘short lifers’, who saved these homes from dereliction.
At a time when waiting lists for council housing are at record levels it is a crime for lambeth to sell social housing.
Maritza has also invested in her community, setting up a local youth group and running it as an unpaid volunteer for over 20 years, but Lambeth has shown no concern about keeping people in homes and communities where they have lived and worked for so long.
If Lambeth send bailiffs we will stand with Maritza to resist this unjust eviction.
Don’t let ‘the Cooperative Council’ evict Maritza’s family from their housing co-op.
Lobby Lambeth Council
6pm, Wednesday 29th January,
Lambeth Town Hall
Pledge your support to stop the eviction by contacting:
Lambeth Housing Activists
lambethhousingactivists@gmail.com
www.housingactivists.co.uk
07834 828 292
and Lambeth United Housing Co-operative
lambethunitedhousingco-op.org.uk
Twitter: @LUHousingCoop
facebook.com/LambethUnited
Petition: http://chn.ge/16PkKwv
As to the houses being too valuable for us to occupy, nobody wanted mine when it stood empty for several years, half gutted by a fire, and without a roof. I did some £40,000 worth of work on it, without which it would not be there now. Now Lambeth wants it so that they can make a lot of money selling it. That does not seem like justice to me.