A group of residents held a protest outside a North London council’s offices demanding the local authority do more to tackle the borough’s ‘housing crisis’.
The campaign group raised concerns about damp and mould in council properties, private rental costs and an alleged lack of enforcement action against “rogue landlords”.
Organised by Harrow Healthy Homes – a tenant-led campaign group facilitated by local charity Harrow Law Centre – the protest saw around 20 residents gather outside Harrow Council’s offices ahead of its Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Campaigners met with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Cllr Mina Parmar, and the Director of Housing, David McNulty back in August to discuss the issues affecting renters, including disrepair, rent costs, and affordable housing. The group described the initial meeting as “productive” but claimed previous requests for a follow-up meeting “were ignored.”
One of the protesters, Adam Gabsi, spoke at the meeting. He asked what the council is doing to ensure that housing is “truly affordable and accessible”, especially for disabled people who “already face additional financial pressures and limited housing options.”
Mr Gabsi said: “Many disabled people rely on genuinely affordable housing to live independently, yet so much of what is classified as affordable in Harrow is still out of reach for people on lower or fixed incomes.”
Deputy Leader, Cllr Marilyn Ashton, acknowledged the “very important questions” and said that the council is working “to increase the number of genuinely affordable homes” in the borough.
She pointed to developments in Byron Quarter and Poets Corner as two schemes that “will have over 40 per cent genuinely and truly affordable homes”, and changes to Phase 2a of Grange Farm meaning it will deliver more social housing instead of houses for private sale.
Cllr Ashton added: “The council has also worked with partners to make more homes available for disabled people. In 2024, an extra service in Harrow was opened – Klute House. […] However, it is important to note that any housing scheme must be viable if we want to deliver any affordable housing. We need to understand the pressures of escalating build costs and also increased regulation.”
Mr Gabsi used his follow-up question to ask Cllr Parmar if she would agree to a follow-up meeting with Harrow Healthy Homes, stating that there is so much more to talk about when it comes to issues that Harrow renters are facing”. Cllr Parmar agreed, stating “we will arrange another meeting so we can understand how we can work better together.”
Protest organiser Jackson Caines said: “Harrow Healthy Homes took action today out of frustration with Harrow Council’s total lack of urgency when it comes to the housing crisis. After our meeting with Cllr Parmar and David McNulty in August, our requests for a follow-up meeting were ignored. I’m delighted that Cllr Parmar has now publicly committed to meeting again.
“A second meeting means we can continue to make progress on the issues that matter to renters. We want to see the council endorse the reintroduction of rent controls, so the government is pushed to legislate on this and give private tenants some relief. We want a chance to discuss the council’s new developments so we know they are maximising the numbers of council homes. And we want the council to improve their procedures and customer service so homeless families are treated with compassion.”
