CALL-OUT: Barnet to make Juliet and four kids homeless a day before the election!

Juliet and her youngest son

This Wednesday, Juliet and her four children have been told to leave the emergency accommodation they were moved to in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, following their eviction from Sweets Way. What makes this truly awful is that Barnet Homes have declared that they have no responsibility to help the family, leaving them with nowhere to go in London that Juliet’s salary can afford.

***** Can you join us on Wednesday at 1:45pm outside Barnet Homes (Barnet House, 1255 High Road, London, N20 0EJ), as Juliet meets with them to argue her case?

***** If you can’t make it in person, can you send an email or make a phone call to Councillor Richard Cornelius (Leader of Barnet Council) and MP Theresa Villiers, telling them that this is an unacceptable way to treat their constituents? (Details and template letter below)

Even though Juliet works in Whetstone and her eldest daughter is studying for her GCSEs, Barnet Council have essentially told her to get out of Barnet.

In a 4-page letter last week, Barnet Homes told Juliet that because she had turned down a property that would have been entirely unliveable for her family, she was making herself ‘intentionally homeless.’ In the letter, they sent four links to properties available to people claiming housing benefit. When Juliet checked the links there was not a single property available between them!

Juliet will be meeting with the Interim Chief Executive of Barnet Homes on Wednesday afternoon and we want to have a strong presence outside when she does, so they know that the public spotlight is on them the day before the election.

If Barnet can destroy 150 homes that people have been living in (they approved Annington’s development plans), then they can also find local accommodation in the borough that those families can afford, within reach of their work and school commitments!

So join us on Wednesday, 1:45pm and send an email to Cllr. Cornelius and MP Villiers, telling them that Barnet Homes’ treatment of Juliet’s family is completely unacceptable. They need to feel the pressure the day before the election, so let’s make sure we are flooding their inboxes with our collective anger at the ways they are treating poor and working class constituents!

Sincerely,

Sweets Way Resists

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Here are the contact details for Richard Cornelius and Theresa Villiers, and a template letter you can adapt and send them. (Be sure to mention if you are from their constituency, as they have an obligation to respond to you then).

MP Theresa Villiers
0208 449 7345
theresa@theresavilliers.co.uk

Councillor Richard Cornelius
0208 359 2059
cllr.r.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk

________________________

Cllr Cornelius / Ms Villiers,

RE: One of the 150 evicted households of Sweets Way

The disarray, distress, disruption, turmoil, trauma, and sheer terror wreaked upon the residents of the Sweets way Estate is set to reach a peak this week with another household facing imminent homelessness.

I’m sure you will agree that it is not acceptable for Barnet Homes / Barnet Council to allow the eviction of Juliet and her four children from their temporary accommodation to face certain street homelessness. It is probable that this would result in Juliet losing her job, and her children being taken into the care system.

We ask that you urgently:

• Ensure Barnet Homes arrange provision of suitable local accommodation for the family
• Conduct an urgent review into Barnet Council’s Housing Policies
• Meet with the residents of Sweets Way (along with a representative from Annington Homes) to discuss options for a long term solution for them
• Instruct an assessment of the potential 3,000 empty residential properties in the Borough and ways we can bring them back into use.

We realise that you no longer need to seek to win the votes of 150 households that have recently been evicted from your ward/constituency, but we hope that you appreciate that these people belong in their community and should not be treated in the appalling manner in which they have.

Thank you,

A person who cares about the people of the community of the Sweets Way