Rough sleeping in Manchester has dropped for the first time in years according to official figures released today, but research carried out by the BBC suggests the official figures underestimate the true scale of the problem five-fold. The rough sleeping count in Manchester has dropped for the first time in six years. In 2018 a […]
2020 Housing Vision: an opportunity to act against the housing crisis
There is widespread concern that our new Conservative government will do little to alleviate the housing crisis, that has become more severe over the last ten years while the Tories have been in power. This event hosted by organisations fighting for housing rights, aims to guide the hand of national and local governments to do […]
Back on Track: empowering people to make positive changes to their lives
Public services have been slashed by the false economy of austerity. Back On Track is a charity in Manchester that provides a wide range of services for those most in need of help, that have been abandoned by the state. Austerity has hit public services hard in Manchester and left vulnerable people unsupported. Many community […]
Proposed Order will ‘create a hostile environment for homeless people’ in Manchester city centre says open letter to the council
Manchester City Council will meet tomorrow to discuss the introduction of a controversial Public Space Protection Order. Fifty eight signatories to an open letter are calling on the council to oppose the proposal, which they claim will be severely detrimental to homeless people within the city centre. An open letter addressed to Manchester City Council […]
Review: Videodrome at HOME Manchester
David Cronenberg’s 1983 sci-fi thriller Videodrome was screened last Tuesday 6 August at Manchester’s HOME cinema. Starring Debbie Harry in one of her first acting roles, the film was presented as part of their Sound and Vision: Pop Stars on Film programme. HOME’s screening of Videodrome began with Ellen Smith, one of the cinema’s Ushers and […]
Food Poverty Action Plan aims to tackle hidden crisis in GM
The latest estimates are that 620,000 people in Greater Manchester are living in poverty, and struggle to put food on the table. Of those, around 200,000 are children experiencing food poverty. £30 billion per year has been cut from welfare budgets since 2010. By 2020, Local councils will have lost 60% of central government funding […]
A Green New Deal could alleviate the housing crisis and climate change
Jonathan Atkinson from Greater Manchester’s Carbon Co-op, looks at the key issues concerning the Green New Deal and the multiple beneficial outcomes that could be brought about by its implementation. People wanting to learn more about the Green New Deal can do so at a free event this Friday at the Friends Meeting House in […]
Tenant rights campaigners victorious over government plans to scrap ‘no-fault evictions’
A coalition of housing activists are celebrating a campaign victory as the government announced its plans yesterday to abolish “no-fault evictions” under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act and introduce open-ended tenancies for private renters in England. Currently, Section 21 allows landlords to evict tenants without giving a reason, after a fixed term tenancy […]
Fifteen die homeless in Manchester over last 18 months, figure rises to 796 across the UK
The death toll of homeless people on the streets of Manchester has risen to 15 over the last 18 months. Across the UK the number of victims of the housing and homelessness crisis comes to 796, according to information gathered by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). Working alongside researchers at University College London (UCL), […]
Banning begging, tents and obstructing highways under discussion at Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council launched a consultation yesterday to ‘promote a safe and welcoming environment across Manchester city centre’ – by introducing a Public Space Protection Order, or PSPO, to ban ‘Occupying a tent or other temporary structure…’, ‘Aggressive or intimidating begging’ and ‘Continuing to obstruct a building entrance/exit, stairwell or highway after being asked to […]