The fight by residents of an estate in east London against exorbitant and unaffordable rent rises has exposed the extent to which people’s homes have been reduced to financial assets by international companies. The entire New Era estate in Hackney was bought up in March 2014 by the multi-billion US investment company Westbrook Partners, in partnership with millionaire British Tory MP Richard Benyon. New Era was one of the last private estates to provide working-class Londoners with an affordable home. Now its new owners are to raise the rents from around £600 a month for a two-bedroom flat to upwards of £2,000, in keeping with the hyped-up housing market in the gentrified surrounding area. For the majority of residents, who include pensioners, low-paid workers and single parents, such rents are simply unaffordable and many face eviction and either homelessness or insecure temporary housing, almost certainly outside London.
Originally, residents were told rents would rise in 2016. Following the withdrawal of the Benyon family from the deal in the face of public pressure, Westbrook simply accelerated its plans, sending out eviction notices telling residents they had to be out by Christmas. It has since been forced to backtrack slightly, but will go ahead with evictions and rent rises in the coming year. In New York, where the investment fund is based, Westbrook has been labelled as ‘a predatory landlord’. The madness of London’s soaring housing market now makes homes here its target. It cares nothing for families left without a roof over their heads, but only for the ruthless pursuit of maximum profits from its investments. In a somewhat opaque manoeuvre, Westbrook has shifted ownership of the New Era flats to an offshore Channel Island company to avoid tax. Last year, Westbrook controversially bought up Dolphin Square, a housing block in central London; soon afterwards its behaviour in harassing existing tenants to secure evictions was deemed ‘unreasonable and oppressive’ (although not illegal) by a judge. It is now reported to be planning to invest £200m in a further portfolio of property in southeast England. As well as money from wealthy endowments and financial institutions, Westbrook invests money from public sector pension funds in the United States, including those of teachers and firefighters, which demand a 20% annual return. Meanwhile Westbrook’s managing principal in London, Mark Donnor, recently purchased a Grade II 12-bedroom house in Hertfordshire for just under £4 million. He has never so much as set foot on the New Era estate or attempted to talk to any of the residents.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 242 December 2014/January 2015
