Over 200 tenants on Lorne Street, in the Leith area of Edinburgh, have been threatened with eviction by the charity which owns their homes, the Agnes Hunter Trust, as it decides ownership of the flats is no longer profitable. The news of these evictions was sudden: tenants received letters in June announcing the evictions, with no prior notice. No alternative housing has been provided; some former tenants have already been evicted and are now homeless. Lorne is a close-knit community with many elderly, low-income and otherwise vulnerable people, who would be left without an essential support network if the evictions were to go ahead.
In response to this assault on their community, residents formed the Lorne Community Association, to put pressure on the trust to delay the evictions: they have managed to delay the date of the evictions from January to July. The Association also intends to form a housing co-op in order to save their community, but they may need a year to do this, and the Trust is unwilling to offer an extension to the date. A petition to City of Edinburgh Council to buy the property was unsuccessful. It is clear that the way to save their community is to fight back.
For more information see The Lorne Community Association on Facebook.
Saoirse Nic an tSaoi
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 248 December 2015/January 2016
