A day of action to tackle the housing crisis in the UK is taking place on Saturday 11 February and UNISON members are being encouraged to take part.
The Homes for All campaign group comprising housing campaigners, trade unions, including UNISON, and community groups is calling on the UK Government to take action to:
- Freeze rents in line with Scotland
- End evictions during the cost of living crisis
- Fund the rent freeze to protect social housing services
The cost of living crisis continues to have a huge impact on the housing costs of UNISON members, especially those who are privately renting.
Average rents in the UK have hit a record high and many renters, including UNISON members who provide the essential public services we rely on, pay well over a third of their income in rent and have little hope of saving enough for a home of their own.
Despite record high rents, some renters are not receiving high quality returns particularly in the private rented sector.
In many parts of the country, and more-so at the cheaper end of the market, rented housing is poor quality and renters need protection from eviction and from unaffordable rent increases.
The day of action takes place on Saturday 11 February from 12 noon at the Department of Levelling Up, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.
Housing campaigning
In campaigning for stronger rights and higher standards across the housing sector, UNISON supports calls for renters to be protected, during the cost of living crisis, from inflationary rent rises, as is the case in Scotland.
UNISON believes that the government must fully fund the rent freeze for social housing tenants and ensure that social housing providers, especially councils, have additional funding to protect the provision of social housing. This includes protecting housing-related services, staffing and pay, and budgets for maintaining and delivering new homes.
As part of its campaigning, UNISON is also affiliated to Homes for All campaign group. Members affected by the cost of living crisis and struggling to pay their rents and meet household bills are encouraged to support the day of action.
The article Homes for all – housing day of action first appeared on the UNISON National site.