News

Bedroom tax is a human rights issue

Published in Friday September 13th, 2013 In In the media

The Guardian It really comes to something when the UN special investigator on housing, more familiar with shanty towns and favelas, has expressed herself so fiercely on the subject of the UK bedroom tax. “I was very shocked to hear how people really feel abused in their human rights by this decision and why – being so vulnerable – they should pay for the cost of the economic downturn, which was brought about by the financial crisis,” said Raquel Rolnik.

Tags

Hungary is about to criminalise homelessness once again

Published in Wednesday September 11th, 2013 In Social movement news

The Minister of Interior proposed the modification of the Act on Petty Offences in April 2013 to allow local municipalities to penalize the use of public spaces for habitation in order to preserve public order, public safety, public health and cultural values. The law would also penalize the building of huts/shacks without permission. The parliamentary debate of the proposal started this week, and the final vote will most probably take place on September 23 or 24, 2013.

UN expert fights back after bias allegation

Published in Wednesday September 11th, 2013 In In the media

Inside Housing: Raquel Rolnik has come under fire from Conservative chair Grant Shapps, after she recommended suspending and reviewing the bedroom tax following a two-week fact-finding mission in the UK. Her preliminary report – which also recommends regulating the private sector and significantly increasing the social housing stock – was branded an ‘absolute disgrace’ by the former housing minister.

Tags

UK’s bedroom tax and housing crisis threaten human rights, says UN expert

Published in Wednesday September 11th, 2013 In In the media

The Guardian: In the warehouse, where volunteers were sorting crates of potatoes and pots of lemon and coconut yoghurt for distribution to the city’s poor, Rolnik listened as Robertson explained how the introduction of the bedroom tax was already causing substantial hardship to her and to her neighbours.

Tags

UN scrutinising impact of UK housing benefit changes

Published in Wednesday September 11th, 2013 In In the media

BBC: A senior United Nations official is examining the impact of changes to UK housing benefit on the human rights of low-income households. Raquel Rolnik is meeting tenants across Britain affected by the shake-up. Since April, social tenants in England, Scotland and Wales who are deemed to have surplus bedrooms have seen their housing benefit reduced. Ministers say it tackles an unfair “spare room subsidy” but opponents have dubbed it a “bedroom tax”.

Tags , , ,

London Roma hit back at harrassment

Published in Wednesday September 11th, 2013 In Social movement news

Westminster City’s notorious attempts to ethnically-cleanse Roma from billionaire Park Lane may have begun to unravel last night when homeless London Roma spoke out at a meeting with a UN special rapporteur and gave evidence to a European Roma Rights Centre team.

Tags ,

Bedroom tax investigated by UN housing official

Published in Wednesday September 11th, 2013 In In the media

The Guardian: A senior UN official is in the UK to scrutinise the impact of the bedroom tax on the human rights of people in low-income households. The special rapporteur on housing, Raquel Rolnik, is on a two-week tour of cities where she will meet tenants affected by the policy as well as officials, campaigners and academics.

Tags

Media statement by the Special Rapporteur on her mission to the UK

Published in Wednesday September 11th, 2013 In Collection

Read the press statement made by Special Rapporteur at the end of her mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Tags

Fixing the mortgage game: Hill vs. Goliath battle in Bronzeville

Published in Monday September 9th, 2013 In Social movement news

About five years later, Hill’s monthly statement from Saxon Mortgage Services Inc. increased by $500. According to Hill, Saxon explained it covered homeowner’s insurance, which her carrier confirmed she already had. Hill said Saxon led her to believe it would make the correction. Saxon subsequently returned her third payment of the usual amount, warning her account was now in arrears.

Tags

The New Flood Insurance Disaster

Published in Friday August 30th, 2013 In Opinion

There was no question that the nation’s troubled flood insurance program needed an overhaul when Congress passed legislation last year to eliminate many of the subsidies that had put the program about $25 billion into debt. But these reforms offered too much tough love and too little compassion for flood-prone homeowners.

Tags