Tag: politics

Just how do you get social housing in Tower Hamlets in just 5 months? We asked Apsana Begum MP.

(text updated 21st June 2021)

A secure tenancy on a £330,000 riverside flat in Tower Hamlets in east London, at social rent? That sounds too good to be true! Tell us how?

We asked Poplar & Limehouse’s newest occupant of their secure Labour parliamentary seat in Tower Hamlets for an answer. Ms Begum, formerley married to a currently serving Tower Hamlets councillor, seems to have bagged herself a secure tenancy on a £330,000 property in the Isle of Dogs region of the Borough.

Balfron Social Club asked her how she did it?

Ms Begum seems to like Twitter, but she must just keep missing our tweets. I’ll ask again.

We still haven’t received an answer.

“The housing crisis remains at the top of the political agenda, its scale laid bare by the Covid-19 epidemic . But despite the media spotlight, the stories of those affected by the  chronic shortage of social housing in the United Kingdom, including in Tower Hamlets, have often been left out of debates on housing.”

https://poplarandlimehouselabour.org.uk/index.php/events/

We agree!

The housing crisis in Tower Hamlets is catastrophic for local communities, after years of corruption at the very top, with a mayor who used to be a lobbyist for property developers; billions of pounds of public assets have been passed into the hands of their friends and associates, which are then quickly passed into the hands of property developers, redeveloped and sold with the most minimal of public housing provision; typically 0% in direct comparison with traditional social tenancies.

Instead, properties, which still meet the criteria to be classified as “affordable” housing, require a £90,000 income in order to buy a 25% share of a tiny new-build property; a property built on the graveyard of social housing and the communities that once lived there.

But Poplar & Limehouse has a brand new MP- young, female and ambitious, what’s the problem?

The problem is that Apsana Begum jumped over 18,000 places on the official Tower Hamlets social housing register. This register recently had tens of thousands of names removed from it, and many more people, including myself, have simply been refused permission to add our names to the list.

So, if there are 18,000 people officially on the list, how many people are there that Tower Hamlets have deemed un-listworthy?

Including myself, I estimate there to be at least that number again; sofa-surfing, sleeping on floors, in vehicles, in overcrowded or unsafe homes, garages, sheds, doorways, squats etc.

So, how did Apsana Begum MP get a secure social tenancy on a £330,000 riverside flat on the Isle of Dogs, next to the now near-abandoned Canary Wharf international banking sector?

We have asked, repeatedly, but we have still not received a reply.

To be fair, I am not the only person asking, and I don’t think anybody has received a reply. Corruption and social cleansing seem to come as standard equipment in Tower Hamlets, under Mayor John Biggs, with a number of entire buildings mysteriously changing hands or being sold to friends for just £1, and dozens of entire estates facing “regeneration” as our social housing is asset-stripped and replaced by business models that suits banks and property developers, not buyers and certainly not the local community.

Housing policy in Tower Hamlets is overt social cleansing.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10390219/labour-candidate-probe-council-flat/

Tower Hamlets Social Housing Case Studies

As official figures provided by crooked politicians on social housing simply cannot be trusted, and their PR closely resembles the genre of fantasy fiction, I thought I would share a few stories about people who weren’t lucky enough to be given a secure tenancy, at social rent, in a riverside property, in only 5 months.

Classic Move

Having been hand-picked to stand for election, in 2019, in the secure seat of Poplar & Limehouse in Tower Hamlets, east London- a borough renowned for corruption, Ms Begum seems to have decided that it would be a good idea to spin herself into position as a saviour of social housing.

Dispossession: the Great Social Housing Swindle

Watch Dispossession: the Great Social Housing Swindle for yourself, the Balfron Tower excerpt, co-produced and even featuring a guest appearance by myself, is available to watch below or on YouTube, free of charge.

You can watch the full documentary here.

Dispossession: the Great Social Housing Swindle. Dir: Paul Sng 2017.

A tradition of corruption

In a Borough as corrupt as Tower Hamlets, you would think that a “model” Labour council would be more careful about corruption, especially housing fraud, given the scarcity and price of such a limited resource.

This is not the first time a Labour politician in the area has been caught, accused and convicted of housing fraud.

Mohammed Haran, was convicted of housing fraud and sent to jail, shortly after being elected as Councillor for Lansbury, site of the hotly contested Chrisp Street Market regeneration proposals, which were unanimously approved by crooked Labour councillors in the pockets of property developers.

https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/muhammad-harun-admits-housing-fraud-1-6305345

Stop the corruption! Stop the social cleansing!

The people of Tower Hamlets have had enough. We have had enough of the fraud and corruption and the Sino-Soviet style entitlement to public assets by politicians in Tower Hamlets.

Another event providing a platform for Apsana Begum to spin her way out of corruption allegations.

Drop the act, Ms Begum. You jumped the housing queue, trampling over 18,000 people to receive housing that you are not entitled to. That is fraud, and you should go to jail for blatantly stealing social housing from people in need.

Dear reader, if you were really looking for an answer to the opening question then we apologise, as we are still a little unclear as to how we can get social housing in just 5 months as well.

Why not ask Apsana Begum directly, maybe she will be able to help you.

apsana.begum.mp@parliament.uk
0207 219 6826

UPDATE:

On 14th September 2020, Apsana Begum MP blocked Balfron Social Club on Twitter. No answer has ever been provided as to how she skipped over 18,000 places on the social housing register to receive social housing in just five months.

Despite being blocked, we will keep asking.

Representation by UK Labour Poplar & Limehouse MP Apsana Begum

UPDATE (21st June 2021)

Apsana Begum MP has been charged on three counts of housing fraud and will appear before a Judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 21st July 2021.

Further information can be found here:

https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/apsana-begum-housing-fraud-trial-date-set-8066658

Balfron Social Club

Poplar

26th August 2020

Shock, hypocrisy, as London housing activism group @Homes4AllUK provide platform for social cleansing.

London housing activism group @Homes4AllUK, run by Glyn Robbins from the London School of Economics, are providing a platform for Labour politicians deeply involved in corruption and social cleansing.

Hopefully nobody is going to notice how many Labour politicians in Tower Hamlets have been jailed for housing fraud, or that local Councillors like Bex White are sponsored into office by “a family friend”, the CEO of Poplar Harca, or that 1000’s of socially rented homes have been dismantled into the hands of luxury developers, or that Apsana Begum MP herself was given social housing in just 5 months…

Are we just going to ignore all the housing fraud and corruption carried out by the current crop of Labour politicians and their crooked connections to luxury developers ripping apart the social housing in Tower Hamlets?

Including Apsana Begum herself?

Labour Party MP candidate Apsana Begum faces council investigation into social housing

Do #BlackLivesMatter & @GrenfellUnited not take exception to @ApsanaBegumMP co-opting your worthy causes who, via her party, has helped systematically dismantle social housing into the hands of property developers & then personally jumped the housing queue because she “needed housing“? All the while participating in creating ghettoes, such as that at Chrisp Street Market, so they can then justify social cleansing, or as they keep referring to it-regeneration.

Spin

Apsana Begum recently appeared on a q&a panel for Paul Sng’s feature length documentary Dispossession: the Great Social Housing Swindle, an online event held exclusively for Labour Party members.

Here’s the excerpt from Balfron Tower, co-produced by myself.

How can housing activists seriously justify giving her or her local party a platform?

Homes 4 All website states that they’re supported by @unitetheunion, @DCHcampaign, @radicalhousing & @LambthHousngAct.

Could anybody from above groups please explain why you are providing a platform for @ApsanaBegumMP, following years of social cleansing & corruption in Tower Hamlets?

Deafening silence surrounds housing allegations against Apsana Begum MP

Would you be so pleased to see Peter John, Neil Coyle & co. being given a platform to spin themselves out of the devastation they have caused to your communities?

@Homes4AllUK we need answers. Stop giving platforms to crooks.

I’m not going to provide an exhaustive list of links about fraud, corruption and social and ethnic cleansing in Tower Hamlets, as you don’t seem to care (Labour cult?) about the damage these people have done to our communities, our families and our lives, though you can find many more instances in this website http://www.BalfronSocialClub.org or the recently relaunched https://www.eastendenquirer.org/ which provides “investigative journalism for London’s East End”.

I would however be fairly certain that groups like Homes 4 All are connected to UK Higher Eduction establishments, establishments that have routinely treated working-class communities as mere case studies, as they divert attention away from the devastating impact these institutions are causing to London’s working-class communities- invading, colonising and then demolishing them in cynical attempts to gentrify and socially cleanse the community, as happened recently on the Teviot Estate by University of the Arts’ London College of Fashion, where a deeply suspect poll claimed 86% of the tenants of the estate voted to demolish their own homes, on an estate where flats rent for up to £600 per week.

However, here is one, as you specifically referenced this one:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-12-10/news/labour-in-2m-skyscraper-bribe-scandal-kvxd80t6s

One rule for them, and another for us.

Six years ago, I was thrown out of Tower Hamlets housing office into the street by police, for refusing to leave as I had nowhere else to go, following eviction by Bow Arts who were assisting Tower Hamlets crooked cabal of social cleansers aggressively cheat the working-class community from their homes in Balfron Tower, so they could be sold off to the wealthy and the vulgar, with zero social housing at all.

I was refused any support at all and was refused entry on to the waiting list for social housing, & I’ve been insecurely housed / homeless ever since, and I am still not included on any housing register.

Meanwhile, Apsana Begum was given social housing in just 5 months.

As some people have questioned, there may have been extenuating circumstances surrounding Ms Begums very brief appearance on the waiting list, such as fleeing domestic violence.

However, as Ms Begums partner was and remains an elected councillor in Tower Hamlets, then surely this information should be made available as being in the public interest?

Questions raised over Labour candidate’s £330K council flat

However, her response was that she “needed housing”.

Obviously a damn good excuse, one I wish I had thought off because I have thoroughly appreciated 6+ years of sleeping on floors and sofas, down to the kindness of some good people to whom I am very grateful, and a socially rented flat worth £330,000, as was rented at a social rent to Ms Begum, would have been of no use to me at all.

Meanwhile social housing continues to be dismantled in this east London Labour stronghold, and with organised, and presumably funded, housing activism groups like @Homes4AllUK clearly turning a blind eye to corruption, fraud and brutal attacks on working class social housing communities amongst their Labour cronies, and instead providing them with a platform.

Surprisingly, @Homes4AllUK don’t seem to feel much need to answer questions about their hypocrisy in providing a platform for this politician, and by extension her party, who are routinely involved in fraud and corruption of Tower Hamlets precious social housing.

Utterly shameful stuff @Homes4AllUK. You should be thoroughly embarrassed to be complicit in the PR cover-up for the social and ethnic cleansing of multi-billion pounds worth of socially rented homes, transferred by Labour politicians into the hands of property developers, especially as this was something that they once campaigned against, as questioned by Balfron Social Club in 2018.

Thank you for your solidarity. You are failing the people of London to defend crooked politicians involved in social and ethnic cleansing.

Balfron Social Club

Poplar

1st July 2020

Just Where Do You Stand On Housing?

Just
Where Do You Stand On Housing?

Following
the government commissioner’s investigations into the London Borough of Tower
Hamlets and subsequent events, an opening for the position of Mayor of Tower
Hamlets has led the following candidates to announce their candidacy for the
position, with an election due on 11th June:

·         

Rabina Khan                    –
Independent

John Biggs                       – Labour

Peter Golds                     –  Conservative

Nicholas McQueen           – UKIP

John Foster                      – Green Party

Elaine Bagshaw                – Liberal Democrats

Andy Erlam                       – Red Flag Anti-Corruption

Vanessa Hudson              – Animal Welfare Party

Hafiz Abdul Kadir              – Independent

Motiur Rahman Nanu         –Independent

Balfron
Social Club is a non-funded grassroots campaign for
minimum 50% social tenancies to be retained in all social housing
redevelopments with a focus on Ernö Goldfinger’s masterpiece of residential social
housing Balfron Tower. We are aiming to highlight the catalogue
of failures that the London Borough of Tower Hamlets has allowed to happen to our
social housing in recent years.

Allowing
Registered Social Landlords control of local housing has allowed them to asset
strip prime property and prime locations. Entire housing estates are then
demolished or refurbished, rebranded and marketed as luxury flats overseas, out
of reach of local people, both geographically and financially.

The effect
has been that Housing Associations, like Poplar Harca and East End Homes, have
swept through the borough, leaving behind insecurity and poverty amongst our
friends and neighbours as they set about socially cleansing our neighbourhoods.
The occasional ‘affordable’ housing unit is then thrown in to satisfy a public
relations department that can then bamboozle those making enquiries into where
our social housing has gone, fudging numbers and terminology to make their
actions look acceptable.

Plans
to convert Balfron Tower into luxury apartments have been a step too far for
the people of Poplar. We are not going to stand back as the plunder of our
housing continues by those intent on dismantling what was built for us, as they
make cosy deals with their friends in finance at Canary Wharf.

But
what have our elected politicians done to stop this outrage so far? You would
think that such a serious issue of land grabs and the dismantlement of social
housing, especially in an area with such severe levels of homelessness and poverty,
would be taken seriously by politicians, elected officials voted in by member of
the electorate to represent their interests?

In
recent years, we have seen little that suggests that our elected
representatives are going to stand up for our housing, and to stand up and refuse
to let our social landlords push us around as they plunder our architectural
and municipal heritage, like the privatisation of Balfron Tower, or the planned
demolition of architectural masterpiece Robin Hood Gardens, soon to be
demolished and replaced by thousands of bland luxury apartments for workers in
Canary Wharf, but priced well out of reach of local people, even those earning
enough money to qualify for so called ‘affordable’ housing.

We
are asking that all of the above mayoral candidates issue a statement
addressing housing in the borough, and to advise us their position and intent in
this regard, and what, if anything, they are prepared to do to defend social housing,
or indeed whether they support the status quo. We believe that housing is a
major issue for the majority of residents in Tower Hamlets and could be an
issue that may influence how somebody may choose to vote.

It is
our opinion that the commissioners that recently investigated Lutfur Rahman should
turn their attention as to why the boroughs housing is being subjected to a
neo-liberal agenda of the asset stripping of taxpayer-funded housing, and
leaving behind the casualty of thousands of families, countless numbers of
schoolchildren, living with insecure short-term housing.

Candidates;
are you standing for Mayor of Tower Hamlets to see what you can strip off for
yourself and your powerful friends, or are you going to stand up and say that
enough is enough, it was the people of Tower Hamlets that elected me their Mayor
and I am going to fight for them, their housing and their quality of life?

Just
where do you stand on housing?

Balfron Social Club

Poplar, E14

19 May 2015

Balfron Social Club is on Twitter and Facebook.