Rebels Protest Social Housing Auction
Last Friday, campaigners from Housing Rebellion spent some hours occupying a property that Southern Housing has put up for auction. Merlin Betts reports.
No. 3 Beaconsfield Road pictured last Friday
It was one of those classic early spring days – heavy cloud and bright sun – when I arrived at 3 Beaconsfield Road. The viewing agent, a freelancer acting for the auction house, was lurking in the doorway, unsure whether he was keeping the campaigners in or letting himself out. “Are you part of the protest?” he asked. “No – lefty press,” I said, “so… sympathetic.”
He expressed some sympathy himself while fiddling with his phone, but he had another viewing at 12.30 to get to, and it was 12.30 when I arrived. What do you do when protestors take over your mass viewing anyway? Call the police? Call the auctioneer, the seller? And what sort of people are these freaks? Hippies? Punks? I could see the confusion on his face. “They could have knives”, he muttered, not sure himself whether he was joking.
A banner hung from the bathroom window, blowing in the breeze, “Stop selling social housing” – a clear and concise message. Three bedrooms, garage, garden, EPC C. Decent condition but well used. Owned by Southern Housing (or Optivo pre-merger).
The campaigners were from Housing Rebellion, a direct action network for housing and climate justice. They said the previous solo resident had left to free the property up for a family in need, but Southern Housing were instead auctioning it, guide price £240,000. This while the number of Hastings folk in temporary accommodation floats around 1,500, and the financial burden of that is crippling the council.
Eventually the police arrived, some plain-clothed and some community support. After an initial briefing from the agent, the non-uniforms went off to gear up and came back in stab vests. Normal procedure? It was clear to me that no-one intended violence.
We waited while the authorities tried to consult Southern Housing. Billy Bragg started playing from the second floor and I chatted politics with a protester hanging out of the bathroom window, chewing on a vegan donut and reading Leigh Deighton’s SS-GB. “I’ve got food, water, a good book,” he said, “We could be here all weekend.”
Later in the afternoon, after torrents of soft and hard rainfall and bursts of sunlight, I and a dog-walking ally decided to take a break. We both had other work to do, and things seemed to be at a standstill. But I had a lingering feeling it was all about to come to a head. And it did. Not long after we left the police got their instructions. They started talking about reinforcements and forcible removal of the protesters, at which point Housing Rebellion agreed to peacefully leave, point made, no harm done. The stab-vests had, of course, been unnecessary.
Southern Housing’s press office refused to acknowledge the protest as anything more than a trespassing incident, but explained:
“We reviewed 3 Beaconsfield Road in Hastings in late 2023, after the previous Southern Housing resident had taken the decision to move out. We found the property required significant investment to meet existing and new requirements for safety and sustainability. Based on this assessment we agreed to sell the property and re-invest the funds into local new homes.”
But that leaves me wondering why the property hasn’t been properly maintained, and how expensive these new requirements really are. Housing Rebellion contacted Cllr Simon Willis, who said he’ll make enquiries about keeping it as social housing. The auction is with Harman Healy and scheduled for Wednesday 25. It may have resulted in a sale.
Any concerns can be expressed via a petition that’s been initiated: www.change.org/p/southern-housing-stop-sale-of-3-bed-family-home. Alternatively, Housing Rebellion are waging a broader campaign against the sale and misuse of social housing via [email protected]. They will be holding a meeting next Monday 29 April. Ally organisations are Hastings Acorn and Hastings Rental Health.
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