🚨 Don't let Pemberstone kick residents out of their homes - donate to the legal fund now! justgiving.com/crowdfunding/s… ✊ Our friends in @SaveOurHomeLS26 are raising funds to fight their landlord Pemberstone's appeal of the hard-won council decision to not demolish their homes. The date of the appeal is closing in on the 6th October - and they need cash urgently to pay legal costs 📢

🏆Over August and September, we've been winning big!

🚩 We've supported a member in LS7 to get released from her contract after tragic personal circumstances meant that she could no longer stay in the property. This meant she was no longer liable for £5000 worth of rent. 🚩 We've won an £814.13 rent waiver for an immunocompromised student forced to return home at the start of the pandemic in order to protect her health.

Landlords being able to evict people from their homes in a pandemic without having to provide a *single* reason is one of the causes of unstable economic and social terrain for millions of renters in the UK.

The pandemic makes it all the more imperative to act, not wait.

https://twitter.com/ashcowburn/status/1308745006572765190

But the government’s endless procrastination over their pledge to end Section 21 evictions only serves to create an environment of uncertainty for renters while affluent landlords are able to continue filling their pockets.

💥A Call for Action & Solidarity!💥

ACORN Leeds is reaching out to tenants across the city who might have unknowingly experienced first-hand exploitation and over-charging by Glide energy suppliers. Glide Utilities Limited have consciously ignored the Default Tariff Price Cap enforced by the UK government under the Domestic Gas and Electricity Act of 2018, by way of filling their own back-pockets.

With the eviction ban now ended, it's estimated that 55,000 renters already served notice in the midst of the pandemic are at risk of eviction as court proceedings recommence. Many tens of thousands of more have fallen into arrears and fear homelessness 🚨
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/… Neither the Government or the courts will protect our communities from eviction. With the rules so ambiguous and stacked against us, we need to feel empowered with not only knowledge of our rights but be ready to join together and take collective action 📢

🚨 THE EVICTION BAN ENDS TODAY 🚨

@RobertJenrick and @BorisJohnson have failed to legislate to protect to renters from homelessness or help those who have accumulated rent debt as a result of this crisis. With furlough coming to an end in October, and unemployment levels rapidly on the increase, if we do not act hundreds of thousands will be facing eviction. 🏡

🎉ANOTHER ACORN VICTORY - £1076 Deposit and Rent Returned!🎉

After being unable to conduct a proper viewing during the COVID-19 pandemic, our member Ashley found the property she had rented was uninhabitable. 🏡 Previously raised issues about heating were unresolved, leaving the property freezing cold and teeming with damp. This meant Ashley had to leave the property after just 2 days. On top of this she was intimidated with accusations of blackmail and slander for bringing it up! ❌

🛡 Join us at Community Protection Trainings - LS4 & LS8 this weekend as we prepare to defend our communities from eviction 🛡 facebook.com/events/3101848… In just a matter of days the eviction ban will come to an end. The Government, @RobertJenrick and @BorisJohnson are missing in action once more, with hundreds of thousands of tenants who lost income during the pandemic and have fallen into arrears at risk 🚨

The Government are trying to make much fanfare about 'evictions truces' over Christmas and extension of notice periods. But rather than a gesture of mercy, this exposes how little they have done to avert the looming evictions crisis. The reality of renters' lives has been one of fear and insecurity, before and during COVID-19 🦠With the paltry 4-week extension of eviction ban coming to an end, the Government is also imposing backdoor policy to fast-track evictions for those with 6+ months of arrears.

***Get trained up in eviction resistance next weekend in LS4 & LS8 as the eviction ban lifts*** facebook.com/events/3101848… 🚨 For months we have sounded the alarm about the tsunami of evictions that will result from the lifting of the eviction ban. The Government has offered only delays, leaving hundreds of thousands of tenants in arrears under prolonged threat of homelessness.

Just 8 days until the eviction ban ends! The government have announced measures to continue the eviction ban in local lockdown areas and an 'eviction truce' over Christmas, but this so-called 'comprehensive support' merely pays lip service to the issue.

gov.uk/government/new… Unless @RobertJenrick and @BorisJohnson act quickly to help the quarter of a million people in rent debt, we know that long before Christmas thousands could find themselves without a roof over their heads. ❌

🚩CASE OPENED - Shame on Amy Baxter for harassing and attempting to evict tenants during a public health crisis! 🚩

Our member Paula contacted us about the horrific living conditions she and her children have endured for over two years. Not only are the pervasive damp problems affecting her physically, but her landlady Amy Baxter has repeatedly tried to evict her during this pandemic. ❌ This cruel disregard for her safety is heaping worry and stress upon her at a time when her home should be a place of safety.

It is a scandal that people are being thrown back out on to the streets in order to resume business as usual. Homelessness has always been a public health crisis, but especially with COVID cases spiking again shelter must be guaranteed as a social right.

metro.co.uk/2020/09/01/rou… Homelessness surged long before the pandemic because of cruel Government policies - benefit caps driving people into poverty, the decimation of social housing, no-fault evictions.

🎉🎉🎉 VICTORY - £814.73 of rent WAIVED! 🎉🎉🎉
ACORN Leeds has secured a significant victory for a member whose financial stability was put in serious jeopardy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 😷 A student from abroad, our member was forced to quickly return home when the crisis began. After receiving advice from her doctors that her immunocompromised condition meant home would be the safest place, she asked her letting agents that her contract be terminated early.

🚩 Shape our strategy to fight evictions at our All Members' Meeting tomorrow! 🚩facebook.com/events/1160210… In 3 weeks the eviction ban threatens to lift once more, with the Government failing to protect renters in rent debt and at risk of homelessness. Many already served with eviction notices, harassed by their landlords for rent and with long-term arrears fear an uncertain future 🚨

🏡The government may have announced a four week extension of the eviction ban, but without a real effort to tackle rising rent debt, this U-Turn only serves to delay the impending homelessness crisis. We won't be waiting for the government to protect us. From broken promises over ending Section 21 evictions, to granting landlords mortgage holidays whilst renters continue to rack up rent arrears, we know we can't rely on them.

📰 Yet more coverage of our Day of Action against evictions, this time with a brilliant piece from @TheGryphonLeeds! thegryphon.co.uk/2020/08/24/aco… 💬 ACORN member Samuel, who we came together to defend in a phone jam after he was subject to harassment from his agency in the height of a pandemic despite being immunocompromised, had this to say:

📻Check out ACORN Leeds member Sam on BBC Radio Leeds, talking about why tenants across the country are taking action against evictions and rent debt today! Through our strength in numbers the Government has been forced to extend the eviction ban again, but we need to push them further. They cannot just kick the can down the road, with hundreds of thousands of renters still in arrears, their futures and homes in limbo.

📹 Check out Aleesha's story. She was facing financial difficulties due to COVID, but we helped her get 3 months of rent arrears waived.

230,000 tenants remain in Aleesha's position. Whilst the government has extended the eviction ban till September, rent debts continue to rise. This extension may be a win, but it is not enough. ACORN Leeds will be taking action tomorrow, to demand that the government takes action to keep tenants safe. They must abolish 'No Fault' evictions, and urgently legislate to ban evictions due to Coronavirus rent debt. 🏡

Once again, the power of tenants and communities has forced the Government into retreat, with the eviction ban now being extended until 20th September ✊

https://twitter.com/ACORN_tweets/status/1296791288881262593

But less than a month extension is a paltry and insulting concession in light of the turmoil many renters find themselves in. It is the latest in a series of chaotic U-turns, running ordinary people's lives down to the wire.

🏡 Just over a year ago, the government pledged to end section 21 'No Fault' evictions for good. Under this callous legislation, landlords do not need to provide a single reason for denying tenants a roof over their head. Now, with the ongoing public health crisis plunging renters into yet more uncertainty and our economy in recession, it is more imperative than ever that the government enacts this broken promise.