Housing Crisis
How activists have fought back against the escalating housing crisis
The last five years have seen astronomical rises in rents, evictions and spiralling rates of homelessness but communities have been organising, fighting back and, whisper it, winning.
Written by: Micha Frazer-Carroll
Tenants are being left out in the cold by the cladding crisis
'We want our homes back' — When Grenfell-style cladding was removed from a Salford tower block in 2020, tenants had no idea it would take years to replace. With the government and the private housing association Pendleton Together at loggerheads over responsibility, residents of Holm Court have now spent three winters without insulation.
Written by: Jessica Bradley
The dire truth behind London’s housing crisis
Cleansing a city — A new documentary, We’re Still Here, follows activist groups and social housing tenants caught up in London’s rampant social cleansing.
Written by: Katie Goh
The home of UK counterculture is facing closure
Save The Horse Hospital — One of London’s longest-running independent arts venues has been hit with a 440 per cent rent increase, and will be forced to closed at the end of March.
Written by: Guy Sangster-Adams
The housing activists trying to beat property developers at their own game
Taking on the housing crisis — A group of local residents in Haringey, North London, are defying private property developers by bidding for an old hospital site that's for sale. Does this signal a new direction for housing activism in the capital? One that looks at the needs of a community not simply the bottom line?
Written by: Emma Snaith
The young people finding creative ways to escape London’s housing crisis
Huck x giffgaff — From squatting to property guardianship and communal living, young people are finding non-traditional ways to survive the capital’s unaffordable property market. The giffgaff Perspectives video series on VICE explores alternative solutions to the housing crisis.
Written by: Advertorial
Has criminalisation killed squatting in the UK?
They tried to kill it, but squatting's not dead — Despite the British government criminalising residential squatting in 2012, the squat community is still active and squatting remains a defiant protest against inadequate housing and inequality.
Written by: Vyvian Raoul
Poet Paul Hawkins raises the ghosts of East London’s ‘No M11’ squat protests
London’s ongoing battle for living space — Paul Hawkins draws on zine culture to push back against mainstream poetry in Place Waste Dissent, an account of the era-defining 'No M11 Link Road’ squat protests in the early ‘90s.
Written by: Joshua Gabert-Doyon
Artists and architects unite to imagine creative solutions to the global housing crisis
The future of living space — Huck visits a new exhibition in Berlin to see how innovative thinkers are using architecture to re-empower communities fragmented by the housing crisis.
Written by: George Kafka
The freshest young filmmakers at the East End Film Festival
Five not-to-miss screenings — Discover challenging filmmaking and up-and-coming directors of the 14th East End Film Festival.
Written by: Robin Nierynck
Russell Brand's new film is a hilariously powerful call for change
Things can change, things do change — Director Michael Winterbottom explains The Emperor's New Clothes is a fun and empowering wake up call to fight back against growing inequality.
Written by: Alex King
How much would it cost to swing a cat in your neighbourhood?
London's housing crisis is ridiculous. Period. — If you want to buy enough space to swing a cat in London, you're going to need big wads of cash. Find out how much it would cost in your neighbourhood.
Written by: Alex Taylor