Our reporter Emma spoke with Ben, a policy officer at ACORN the union, to find out more about ACORN’s work and what the future might hold for renters now that we have a new government.
Book Review: The Rentier City by Isaac Rose
The Rentier City takes a geographical approach to arguing against the latest form of neoliberal conquest sweeping Manchester. Hinged on the concept of rentierism, something which writer Isaac Rose argues has been an undercurrent in the shaping of the city we see today, the book makes a wider warning about cities in the UK at large. Published by Repeater Books, the book makes its case by charting the Manchester story from the end of industrialisation to the present day, via historical examples of resistance, class struggle, racial equality, politically managed decline and Manchester’s obsession with memorialising certain aspects of its history.
The Desperate House Hunter’s Blues
This is a poem from local author Rob Steventon’s book How I Made My Millions
published by Flapjack Press.
“We won’t stop ‘til we win” – UoM rent strikes supported by over 10,000 students after occupation eviction
Rent strikers at The University of Manchester (UoM) have been given a show of solidarity by 10,860 fellow students, almost a quarter of the entire student body. In an official referendum, only open to UoM students, 97% of respondents voted in favour of the strikers’ demands. The 350 members of the rent strike are calling for more students to join the movement in time for the next payment date on 20 April.
Greater Manchester Tenants Union: two years of successful campaigns and fighting for housing rights
Over two-fifths (45%) of England’s private renters have been victims of illegal behaviour from a landlord or letting agent. Greater Manchester Tenants Union (GMTU) have spent the past two years fighting for renters’ rights so that everyone has access to an affordable, secure and decent home.
Co-op News reports on failures at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
Three recent stories from Co-op News cover the criticisms levelled at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH). And why did they report on the social housing provider’s failures? Because the organisation was set up as a type of co-operative.
Block To Block: a film asking who really benefits from Manchester’s property boom
Joe Malamed’s new film looks at the effects of property investment in Manchester on the people who actually live here.
RAPAR open letter to Stockport Council Leader re. concerns about safeguarding and security at Home Office subcontracted SERCO-controlled hotel
For this week’s Friends Of The Meteor, we are republishing the open letter sent by RAPAR to the head of Stockport Council, regarding the squalid conditions at a hotel being used to accommodate asylum seekers.
Manston refugee scandal is just the tip of the iceberg, with North West asylum accommodation dilapidated and overcrowded
Sunday 6 November saw a crowd gather in Manchester’s St Peter’s Square, calling for the shutting down of the Manston immigration centre in Kent and to demand better treatment of asylum seekers nationwide.
Revealed: The company paid millions in public money for providing temporary accommodation in Manchester
A single company received £4.59m from Manchester city council for providing temporary accommodation for homeless households in the 2020-21 financial year, a freedom of information request submitted by the Meteor to the council shows.