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| Lifeline for London families facing eviction after charity sold their flats | Lifeline for London families facing eviction after charity sold their flats |
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| Dozens of families who faced eviction from their homes in north-east London after a charity sold them without warning to property developers could be reprieved after an affordable housing group offered to step in and buy them. | Dozens of families who faced eviction from their homes in north-east London after a charity sold them without warning to property developers could be reprieved after an affordable housing group offered to step in and buy them. |
| Residents on the Butterfields estate in Walthamstow have endured months of uncertainty after their affordable-rent flats were sold by the Glasspool Trust, a poverty charity that had owned them for decades. The deal happened without tenants being told, with many only learning about it after they received eviction letters in the post. | Residents on the Butterfields estate in Walthamstow have endured months of uncertainty after their affordable-rent flats were sold by the Glasspool Trust, a poverty charity that had owned them for decades. The deal happened without tenants being told, with many only learning about it after they received eviction letters in the post. |
| Related: A charity selling off its housing is a new low for gentrification | Stella Creasy | |
| Now Dolphin Living has said it wants to negotiate with the new owners to keep the families in their homes at similar rents. In 2014 the same group bought the New Era estate in Hoxton, east London, after new owners doubled rents and began evictions, a case highlighted by the comedian and campaigner Russell Brand. | Now Dolphin Living has said it wants to negotiate with the new owners to keep the families in their homes at similar rents. In 2014 the same group bought the New Era estate in Hoxton, east London, after new owners doubled rents and began evictions, a case highlighted by the comedian and campaigner Russell Brand. |
| The Labour MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy, who has campaigned for the Butterfields tenants to remain in their flats, said she had tried in vain to get the current owners, a specially formed property investment company called Butterfields E17 Ltd, to begin negotiations. | The Labour MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy, who has campaigned for the Butterfields tenants to remain in their flats, said she had tried in vain to get the current owners, a specially formed property investment company called Butterfields E17 Ltd, to begin negotiations. |
| “I’m trying to say to them: you can make some money on this, you can stop having your reputation trashed – but they’re not interested,” Creasy said. | “I’m trying to say to them: you can make some money on this, you can stop having your reputation trashed – but they’re not interested,” Creasy said. |
| “The last time they spoke to me they say: ‘They’d give us a fair price, wouldn’t they?’ I said: ‘It’s for you to negotiate.’ But Dolphin are serious and they have the money. This is a serious offer. | “The last time they spoke to me they say: ‘They’d give us a fair price, wouldn’t they?’ I said: ‘It’s for you to negotiate.’ But Dolphin are serious and they have the money. This is a serious offer. |
| “I’m in the process of writing to tell them by special delivery that I’m going to name them in the House of Commons chamber [on Wednesday], to see if that gets their attention.” | “I’m in the process of writing to tell them by special delivery that I’m going to name them in the House of Commons chamber [on Wednesday], to see if that gets their attention.” |
| An employee of Butterfields E17 Ltd who answered the only phone number associated with the company denied that it had avoided negotiations. “Nobody has made contact,’ he said. “We would be very, very happy to entertain them if they want to speak to us.” | An employee of Butterfields E17 Ltd who answered the only phone number associated with the company denied that it had avoided negotiations. “Nobody has made contact,’ he said. “We would be very, very happy to entertain them if they want to speak to us.” |
| The man said any further answers could only be obtained by writing a letter to the company’s directors, brothers Pardeep and Jasbir Singh Jhumat, at the registered address in Chigwell, Essex. | The man said any further answers could only be obtained by writing a letter to the company’s directors, brothers Pardeep and Jasbir Singh Jhumat, at the registered address in Chigwell, Essex. |
| Jonathan Gooding, Dolphin Living’s chief executive, said the organisation was hopeful of making a deal but was waiting for Butterfields E17 Ltd to respond to Creasy. | Jonathan Gooding, Dolphin Living’s chief executive, said the organisation was hopeful of making a deal but was waiting for Butterfields E17 Ltd to respond to Creasy. |
| “We’re a housing charity and we’re focused on trying to provide good quality housing for working Londoners,” he said. “This is a group of people who are mostly not benefit dependent, who are paying their rent and contributing to London, who are clearly getting a bit of a raw deal. | “We’re a housing charity and we’re focused on trying to provide good quality housing for working Londoners,” he said. “This is a group of people who are mostly not benefit dependent, who are paying their rent and contributing to London, who are clearly getting a bit of a raw deal. |
| “And if there’s an opportunity for us to help out in a way that is commercial from the charity’s point of view then it’s obviously something that we’d like to do.” | “And if there’s an opportunity for us to help out in a way that is commercial from the charity’s point of view then it’s obviously something that we’d like to do.” |
| While it was too early to make any commitments on rents, Gooding said the aim would be to keep them affordable. | While it was too early to make any commitments on rents, Gooding said the aim would be to keep them affordable. |
| He said: “I have no doubt that we would want to say to those tenants that we will respect their existing tenancies, we will not seek to impose unrealistic rent rises on them. We’d certainly be able to assure the tenants that they’d be safe in their own homes.” | He said: “I have no doubt that we would want to say to those tenants that we will respect their existing tenancies, we will not seek to impose unrealistic rent rises on them. We’d certainly be able to assure the tenants that they’d be safe in their own homes.” |
| Glasspool, a long-established charity that makes one-off grants to poor families, has faced significant criticism for its decision late last year to sell the 63 homes it owned for decades. | Glasspool, a long-established charity that makes one-off grants to poor families, has faced significant criticism for its decision late last year to sell the 63 homes it owned for decades. |
| Several of the 1930s properties, near the Walthamstow Village area – which has seen breakneck-speed gentrification and an associated surge in property prices – have since been sold on for a profit and the tenants evicted, with others receiving notice to leave. | Several of the 1930s properties, near the Walthamstow Village area – which has seen breakneck-speed gentrification and an associated surge in property prices – have since been sold on for a profit and the tenants evicted, with others receiving notice to leave. |
| Last month a meeting between Creasy and Glasspool’s chair of trustees ended with the latter being escorted out of parliament by a police officer after he said of the tenants’ plight, according to Creasy’s account: “It happens.” | Last month a meeting between Creasy and Glasspool’s chair of trustees ended with the latter being escorted out of parliament by a police officer after he said of the tenants’ plight, according to Creasy’s account: “It happens.” |