Brent Renters Union to stage housing protest in Wembley Park

Brent Renters Union (BRU) will stage a demonstration outside Brent Civic Centre, in Wembley Park, on October 24.

Wembley Park is where developer Quintain has built thousands of flats that the BRU says are out of reach for most local people - with rents starting at more than £1,800-a-month for a studio flat.

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BRU member Jenner Folwell said the group will be calling for more family social homes, for the Government to introduce rent controls within the Renters Rights Bill, and to demand that Quintain "provides for low-income renters or hands the buildings to someone who will".

"The situation is intolerable," he added. "Our members are regularly waiting more than 20 years to be housed due to insufficient supply of larger family social homes.

London Renters Union Rent Freeze Day of Action, protesting outside Foxtons estate agent, in Willesden (Image: Jess Hurd)

"Many of us are being regularly evicted from substandard temporary accommodation, with our children becoming sick due to overcrowding and damp and mould.

"We are then trapped in high rent housing, unable to afford to take work, with the Government paying billions to private landlords in housing benefit instead of building the homes we need."

Brent Council has some 34,000 people on its housing register. Mr Folwell said a video on its website advises people to move out of the borough.

More than 34,000 people are on Brent Council's waiting list for affordable social housing (Image: Jess Hurd)

"It says if you want a property and are on the waiting list you are going to have to look outside London. In a practical sense it's probably true but it's actually depressing." 

Brent local organiser Khadija Mohamud said: "Tenants in Brent have had to watch luxury skyscrapers built on their doorsteps while they live in cramped temporary accommodation or sofa-surf. Our members have been failed at every level.

Demonstrators out in Willesden (Image: Jess Hurd)

"While the Government refuses to protect renters from skyrocketing rents in the Renters Rights Bill, the council gives the green light to unaffordable developments and fails to meet its targets to build additional council homes for families."

Brent Council leader and housing lead Cllr Muhammed Butt said despite being the borough with the highest number of new homes, supply in Brent cannot cope with the "surge in demand".

He added: “The homelessness crisis we now face is a perfect storm, with spiralling interest rates encouraging more private landlords to exit the market due to the rising cost of mortgages."

Quintain was contacted for comment.