Home Sweet Home E17: Day of Public Action, Town Square, 1.30pm, Saturday

This Saturday 9 August from 1.30pm we will be in Walthamstow Town Square with our campaign to highlight the good and bad behaviour in our local housing market. 

With Walthamstow seeing the biggest increases in the country in house prices in the last year, and rents going up by nearly 10% in our area at the same time, only through collective action to tackle the behaviours that are distorting prices and encouraging exploitation can we ensure that all residents can access quality housing. Please join us on Saturday to show your support and send a strong message we will not tolerate these practices in Walthamstow. 

Damp, extortionate charges and misleading information are all too common for many residents - and the good landlords, estate agents and letting agents find their reputations tarnished as a result too. Please join us and the Movement for Change with our 'wheel of misfortune' activity (plus a few 'cockroaches' and other uninvited guests) as well as encouraging residents to nominate in our Local Living Awards: 

• Click here to nominate a Letting Agent 
• Click here to nominate an Estate Agent 
• Click here to nominate a Social Housing Provider 
• Click here to nominate a Landlord 

All nominations are confidential - categories include topics such as from 'Best' and 'Worst' letting agent, 'best' or worst' offer to completion and  even 'Most Inventive Excuse’!

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow this week

• Saturday 9^th August – Attending the Home Sweet Home community action in Walthamstow Town Square and then helping run a training session for young campaigners in Ilford. 
  
• Monday 11th August to Wednesday 13th August- visiting the Scottish Parliament and campaigning in the Scottish Referendum in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cumbernauld 
• Friday 15th August - Attending the display of Walthamstow's bus history in Walthamstow Town Square and then heading to Stoke to run a campaigning workshop 

'Home Sweet Home community action' 1.30-3pm this Saturday in the Town Square

One of Stella Creasy MP's campaign priorities this year is to work with Walthamstow residents to tackle the impact of rising rents and house prices on our local community. This dovetails with the council's announced scheme to licence all landlords across the borough. We're seeking to challenge those letting agents and landlords who exploit London's housing market to rip off tenants with excessive fees and rents for poor quality housing as well as to support those who treat local residents fairly.

A number of meetings have already been held with local party members and residents to get this going, and  next up is our . . .

'Home Sweet Home community action'

this Saturday in the Town Square from 1.30-3pm

One of the attractions will be a housing 'wheel of misfortune', where you can test your luck trying to find accommodation, and see what sort of obstacles you could face. Do come and join us - find out more about the campaign and maybe offer your support.

'Local Living: SOS! awards'

As part of our 'Home Sweet Home' campaign in Walthamstow we're going to hold landlords, letting agents and estate agents to account for their conduct by creating the 'E17 Local Living: SOS! Awards' to highlight the good, the bad and the ugly of our local housing. 

You can support this scheme by submitting your nominations for the 'Local Living: SOS! awards'. They're in three sections - renting, buying and selling, and social housing, and the nomination forms are here:

• Letting Agents
• Buying and Selling from Estate Agents 
• Social Housing providers

Categories include topics such as from 'Best' to 'Worst' letting agent, 'best' or worst' offer to completion and even 'Most Inventive Excuse’! The idea is to make it easier for people trying to find accommodation to know the standards of the agents they have to deal with, and maybe make more informed choices. The more local residents who contribute the better our info will be - so get submitting!

We're also planning a meeting on this issue to take place in November, so watch out for more news of this nearer the time.

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow this week

• Saturday 2nd August - attending the Walthamstow Village Festival  
• Monday 4^th August – Attending  the WW1 Commemorative event at Walthamstow Town Hall
• Wednesday 6^th August – meeting with women's groups in Parliament to discuss female representation 
• Friday 8^th August – giving a speech to twitter about campaigning
• Saturday 9^th August – Attending the Home Sweet Home community action. If you would like to attend please contact Ruby in my office or call 020 8521 1223.

Healthy E17 and Home Sweet Home Update

In her latest newsletter Stella Creasy writes:
Hello! As your MP I'm writing to ask for your help with the following actions:

Please help us highlight the good and bad in our local landlords, letting agent and estate agents by nominating them for one of our E17 Local Living: SOS Awards. This is part of our Home Sweet Home Campaign to tackle some of the problems residents in Walthamstow face securing housing. We've split the awards up into four categories:

Click here to nominate a Letting Agent

Click here to nominate an Estate Agent
Click here to nominate a Social Housing Provider
Click here to nominate a Landlord

All nominations are confidential - categories include topics such as from 'Best' and 'Worst' letting agent, 'best' or worst' offer to completion and even 'Most Inventive Excuse’!

There will be a meeting on Wednesday 30 July between 7-8.30pm in central Walthamstow to discuss these awards and plan a day of action on Saturday 9 August in Walthamstow to highlight our concerns about housing in the area. If you would like to attend this discussion or help with this day of action please contact Ruby in my team on 020 8521 1223 or ruby@workingforwalthamstow.org.uk.

Furthermore if you have experience of contacting Clarke Hillyer letting agents and free on Friday 1 August please reply to this email.

Already our work together on these matters is starting to yield results - with your help we can do even more to make sure everyone in Walthamstow has access to good quality healthcare and housing!

Stella Creasy

Labour and Co-operative MP for Walthamstow

(the deadline for entries is September 1 2014.)

Home Sweet Home - Stella Creasy MP awards best & worst landlords

Reported in the local Guardian online: 
Stella Creasy MP will hand out awards to the best and worst landlords in Walthamstow later this year under her Home Sweet Home campaign

A new set of awards will be handed out later this year to the best and worst housing providers in Walthamstow. Social housing providers, letting agents and estate agents can all be nominated in categories including the ‘most inventive excuse’ given to tenants. Stella Creasy MP has organised the 'E17 Local Living: SOS' Awards as a part of her Home Sweet Home campaign to improve the lives of people in the borough.

(The deadline for nomination is September 1.)

Do you have story to tell about finding your 'home sweet home'? Complete one of the Home Sweet Home online surveys:

For letting agents

For estate agents (ie buying and selling property)

For social housing

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow this week

• Monday 14th July - meeting with new councillors in Walthamstow to discuss how we can collaborate to improve the service to Walthamstow residents 
• Tuesday 15^th July – attending parliament for the debate on the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill 
• Thursday 16^th July – Holding one of my advice surgeries for Walthamstow residents- to make an appointment to attend a surgery please call 020 8521 1223 
• Friday 17 July - Sunday 19 July – Attending the Labour Party National Policy Forum in Milton Keynes

Cabinet meeting on Compulsory Purchase of EMD

COMPULSORY PURCHASE MEETING: 15th July from 6.30pm at Walthamstow School for Girls, Church Hill, E17 9RZ

The original auditorium of the Granada / EMD

Council cabinet members will vote on whether to proceed with a Compulsory Purchase of the EMD/Granada - the meeting is open to the public (aim to arrive from 6pm - entrance via main school reception entrance). 

This is in the Girls School rather than the Town Hall as previous meetings about the cinema's future have been heavily attended. Come and give your support if you can - so the cabinet know that our community very strongly backs their decision to press ahead with the CPO process

Where to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow this week

• Friday 4^th July – Attending the Shakir Ali 14th memorial Trust AGM 
• Saturday 5^th July - joining Bridget Christie at the Rose and Crown for the Red Imp Comedy Evening 
• Sunday 6^th July – dropping into the Chewton Road Street party and then taking part in a local discussion forum for young people about employment at All Saints Church, 47 Melbourne Road, E10 7HF. All welcome from 6pm. 
• Monday 7^th July – Watching the Tour de France pass through Walthamstow and then attending Audacity, Talent Rising Conference in central London
• Thursday 10^th July – Hosting the E17 Public Health and Sport event in Walthamstow. If you are a sports club and would like to attend please contact Clark in my team for more details.