‘No compassion’ as Manchester homeless squat evicted

Guest article from the Salford Star: Monday’s early morning eviction of a squat above the BefFred shop opposite Manchester Town Hall has been roundly condemned by housing campaigners, as 17 homeless people were put back on the streets. Greater Manchester Housing Action stated “shame on whoever it was that made the decision to evict”; while […]

The Addy land squat:  a missed opportunity for Hulme?

When masked bailiffs arrived to clear the North Hulme Adventure Playground of a group of squatters and dismantle the homes they had built there, it marked the end of the most recent in a series of occupations, and eventual evictions, of non-residential buildings across Manchester. The site’s residents spent three months clearing, building and planning […]

No, Councillor Blundell – the solution to begging isn’t fines, it’s fixing our broken housing system

Councillor John Blundell strongly proposed in Manchester Confidential that Manchester City Council should start fining “aggressive beggars” as it is “the only solution” to what he describes as “organised begging”. His use of the term “beggar” comes off the back of Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese in his leader’s blog describing Christmas as “peak […]

Lifeshare, the homeless charity facing homelessness needs help

Manchester homeless charity Lifeshare is in need of a new home due to the controversial development plans for Angel Meadows. Up to 756 private rented sector apartments will be built there under the control of an offshore tax haven registered company called Far Eastern Consortium International Ltd. Due to the development, Lifeshare’s home for over […]

Austerity: the false economy increasing homelessness (part two)

Second article in ‘The Meteor Explores: Homelessness in Manchester‘ series. Part one of this story can be viewed here: The safety net of the ‘cradle to grave’ welfare state, implemented by Atlee’s government after the Second World War, is becoming increasingly threadbare due to the economic and humanitarian degradations of austerity. Increasing numbers in the […]

Austerity: the false economy increasing homelessness (part one)

First article in ‘The Meteor Explores: Homelessness in Manchester‘ series. Part two can be read here. Homelessness is often described as a complex problem, usually by those tasked with reducing it, and there are no doubt a multitude of factors that contribute to someone becoming homeless. But there is a common theme to the rise […]

The Meteor Explores: Homelessness in Manchester

To see all the articles in this series, click here. Homelessness is a visibly growing problem in Manchester. When asked what concerns Mancunians have about their city, homelessness was one of the top issues mentioned. The Meteor has subsequently covered a range of stories relating to homelessness over the past year and have now been […]

Manchester 1, Tories 0: Take Back Manchester Festival outperforms conference in the rainy city

“Get off your arse and do something..” sang the Commoners Choir on Saturday night, at a Partisan pre-protest party entitled ‘Fuck the Tories’. The following day, an estimated 50,000 people got off their collective arse to demonstrate outside the 2017 Conservative Party Conference, under shared slogans of ‘No More Austerity’, ‘Scrap the Pay Cap’ and […]

Research reveals 89% of homeless experience worsening mental health

Research has uncovered the shocking toll being homeless has on the health of this most vulnerable and growing community. The results, which included responses from those living in temporary accommodation or sleeping rough, revealed 89% of homeless people completing the survey experienced worsening mental health due to their lack of secure good quality housing. The […]