The housing crisis in Islington: locals respond to the increasing issue

By Carolina Piras

The housing crisis is increasing in London, with more than a quarter of Londoners living in poverty.  Although London has been an outstanding environment to create jobs and opportunities, it has failed to build the number of homes required. 

We still are facing a heavy housing crisis in one of the richest countries of the Western world, where many Londoners still can’t afford their rent, or have no choice but to live in over crowded houses, or inadequate conditions. What is Islington council doing to tackle this?

Influential Guardian writer, Dave Hill, described Islington Council as “considered by many to be the capital’s most radical local authority” in tackling the housing crisis facing London.

“It is fostering support for intensified council house building by using its local lettings policy to ensure that local people benefit. It is also succeeding in avoiding introducing new, higher “affordable rent” levels brought in by the government, and proposing to use planning policy to impose penalties on ‘buy-to-leave’ owners,” he said.

Islington became the very first council to reject the Government’s plans to raise ‘affordable rents’ to near-market level, and since 2010, it has kept building new council homes, taking part in one of the biggest affordable home building programmes.

“The very big issue we have in London is the unoccupied properties. Why don’t put a tax on them? I mean, very huge taxes. There is a real need to fill all those empty homes, that’s how we can bring more houses back into circulation,” says Lindsay Robinson, a 41-year-old Islington resident, teacher, and mother of three sons.

The crucial point of unoccupied properties is strictly related to the scandal of ‘buy-to-leave’, which sees investors (mainly overseas) buying properties in the city without even occupying them, just to benefit from eventual rising property prices.

“As well, I believe we could advantage from renovating derelict homes. What about grants for individuals too, not just for landlords. Also, more council houses are the solution.”

Tamanna Brown, 29, freelance and activist for Black Lives Matter said: “We can’t underestimate the housing crisis in London anymore, this is going too far. Think about how many foreign nationals have left London lately, due to Covid and Brexit. London is facing an unprecedented crisis, and we have to start by changing the roots otherwise our children will face those consequences.”

Some figures obtained by Jennette Arnold, the London Assembly member who represents Islington, last year found that of the 62 homes built in Islington under PDR (Permitted Development Rights) since 2013, less than 25 percent were affordable, while 15 homes did not even meet the minimum space standards.

Some other residents in Islington have quite a different opinion on whether or not building more council houses would be the final solution.

Alyosha Ikonomi, a 37-year-old lecturer for Digital Marketing, ex Islington resident now based in Brighton, said: “We are losing local business day by day. That’s the truth. The impact of the Covid pandemic, as we know, made all of it worse and more difficult to handle. But the reality is that we won’t solve the problem by creating tons and tons of council houses: the story will always be the same.

“When we talk about the housing crisis we forget to see what are the roots of the issue: to make houses more affordable is not enough. We have to make them decent, respectable.”