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Yet, whilst we make do with these short term fixes, hundreds of luxury flats and apartment blocks are beingbuilt all across Tower Hamlets. Many of these are out of reach of most local residents, with some evenmarketed abroad instead of to locals.We are aware of new flats in Stepney and the Aberfeldy estate being advertised for sale to people in Chinarather than to Tower Hamlets residents. These homes are nothing more than financial investments for theirowners and can remain uninhabited for years. It is not fair that the desires of overseas investors for a safedeposit box for their money are being met before the needs of local people for decent and sanitary homes.Why should brand new homes stand empty whilst we are living in these unhygienic conditions?‘The kids have asthma and whooping cough because of the damp. They are constantly coughing athome’Mum of Two,Housing Association Tenant, Marion Richardson School, 26.03.14So, What Do We Propose?To fix the problem of damp and put an end to this constant worry, we propose that:Tower Hamlets Council either charge a fine, or increase the amount of council tax to the ownersof ‘buy-to-leave’ properties in the borough, and use this money to pay for damp to be fixed inpeople’s homes.This money be made available to fix damp across all housing sectors through a means-testedapplication processDamp: Fatima’s StoryMy name is Fatima, I am a single Mum who lives in a two bedroom, private-rented flat in Poplar. I have lived in thisflat with my four children, aged 5 to 11, since 2011 when we first moved to Tower Hamlets. This flat has awful damp,caused by the structural faults with the building. One bedroom has got so bad that the walls were dripping withwater and the carpet became saturated with liquid. I have had to abandon this room and move all of my kids intoour one remaining bedroom, where they all sleep. I have no space for a bed of my own, so I now sleep on the sofa inthe sitting room. I am paying £1,200 per month in rent, for what is now a one bedroom flat.Three of my children have developed asthma since moving into this flat and now have to use an inhaler everymorning and night to control their breathing. I am in the Royal London so often because of my children’s asthmaattacks that the nurses in A&E know me by name.I have asked my lettings agent to fix this problem on numerous occasions but he refuses to help me. He says that thedamp is my own fault and that the only way to fix it is to leave all the windows open 24 hours a day. But how can Ido this when I have four young children living here? I informed Environmental Health about the problem and thedeclared the flat uninhabitable, yet still he refuses to fix it, and tells me that if I don’t like it then I can leave and findsomewhere else to live. But I cannot afford the deposit for another flat, so I am trapped here.Each night, I lay awake like a zombie in a haze, constantly thinking about how to get out. I spend most nightscooking, in the early hours of the morning; to try and get my mind off these worries- my neighbours think I’m mad. Ihave lived in this country for four years since fleeing my home country, Eritrea, where the government was harassingmy husband. I now wonder why I did this. I must have been stupid. In Eritrea we have problems with thegovernment, but we do not live in conditions like this.
UNAFFORDABILITYAlmost two thirds of our community feel that new developments of housing in the borough are unaffordable totheir family. Many of us feel like we are being priced out of Tower Hamlets by the high cost of rent on many ofthe new apartment blocks that are springing up around the borough. Only 40% of us feel certain that we will beliving at the same address in three years’ time. The rest of us fear that we may not.This is a tragedy for our community and for our children’s future. Just 23% of us, less than a quarter of thepopulation, think that our children will be able to afford to start a family in Tower Hamlets when they grow up.New developments are not meeting local people’s needs and the high rents and a lack of affordable housingpose a major threat to the future of our families and communities.61% of Tower Hamlets residents do not think thatnew developments of housing in the borough areaffordable to their householdOur children should have the right to stay in Tower Hamlets and be able to start a family of their own in theplace they call home. Tower Hamlets is where they were born and bred, it’s where their friends live and wheretheir family remain. If they cannot afford to stay here when they grow up, then they face being cut-off fromtheir support networks and thrown-out of a community where they feel safe and comfortable. How will ourchildren be able to raise their own family if they are isolated from their parents and friends?With a lack of affordable homes being built in the borough, many of us are stuck on the waiting list for socialhousing. Every week people bid for a property but rarely succeed. If they do get an offer it is either too small fortheir family’s needs or in a place they’ve never heard of and never dreamed of going to. Paula, from Poplar, toldus that her daughter was offered a council house in Manchester, 160 miles away from her family, her friendsand her job. She rejected the offer because she, like the rest of us, doesn’t want to leave Tower Hamlets; ourlives are here and we want to stay.We are proud to call this borough home. It is where our parents and grandparents first put down roots all thoseyears ago. It is home to all of the services and facilities we need: the shops, the schools, the mosque, the church.We love the place so much that even those ofus who have had to leave, and move out toplaces like Dagenham or Islington, still travelhere each day to take our kids to school.‘This is where they grew up. It’s their home andthey have a right not to be pushed out’Linda, Private Tenant,Denning Point, Whitechapel, 03.04.14The community here is like no other. We look outfor one another and feel safe in each other’scompany. We are diverse but we get on welltogether and respect our differences. However, people are uncertain about whether they can continue to livehere because of the rising rents.The yearly rent increases mean that people move around a lot and cannot stay in the same place for too long.This harms our sense of community by replacing neighbours with strangers, making us feel less safe andsupported on our street. We asked people if they would like a stronger sense of community on their street orblock and 98% of respondents said yes. We want to get to know our neighbours so we can feel less isolated,insecure and make Tower Hamlets a friendlier place to live.
Page 1 and 2: TOWERHAMLETSA Report on the Housing
Page 3 and 4: LANDLORDSA large part of our commun
Page 5: DAMPTower Hamlets is riddled with d
Page 9 and 10: HIGH RENTSWe asked people if their
Page 11: The lack of storage space in our ho

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