Tenants in London

“Westbrook has the money and the power,” said Lynsay Spiteri, 38, a single mother who has lived at New Era Estate for six years and cares for her mother, who lives in a separate flat there. “Why do they need to make us homeless too?”

Local government officials sent a letter to Westbrook, claiming that its plans would cause nearly half of the development’s tenants to become homeless.

“Financial cost to taxpayers will run to hundreds of thousands of pounds” as local authorities try to rehouse the tenants, the letter said, “in effect picking up the bill for your wish to empty the estate of existing residents.”

One reason tenants feel they have earned the right to keep living there is that they have been in the neighborhood since it was a drug-infested crime den.

“We made London what it is,” said Danielle Molinari, one of the single mothers at New Era who led the campaign.

Now the tenants want to enjoy the French cafes, food trucks and green parks that have made their neighborhood, Hackney, one of the most desirable places in London. “Now that’s it’s nice, we’re told we can’t live here anymore?” Ms. Molinari said.

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“They all look after each other,” said Philip Glanville, Hackney’s cabinet minister for housing. “They do each other’s shopping and they look out for each others’ kids and the elderly.”

by Jenny Anderson

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