Fair Housing for Frome to screen ground-breaking ‘Swindle’ film

AS part of its campaign to understand and tackle the housing crisis in Frome, Fair Housing is screening an important and controversial new film.

‘Dispossession: The Great Housing Swindle’ is a feature documentary exploring the past, present and future of social housing in Britain.

“With house prices rocketing in Frome, many of the people and families who need homes cannot afford to buy,” said Roger Saunders from the Frome campaign. “Once upon a time, social housing was available to provide homes for people whose incomes couldn’t pay for a mortgage. Until 1980, around one-third of all housing was provided by councils –  decent homes, for genuinely affordable rents, with secure tenancies.

“Today, social housing in Britain is marginal. For most people who can’t afford to buy, the only other option is renting from a private landlord. And private rents in Frome are relatively high, tenancies are insecure, and housing benefit doesn’t fill the gap. Which is why sofa-surfing and homelessness are on the increase and our young people are having to move away when they need a place of their own.”

‘Dispossession,’ described by The Big Issue as “Perhaps the most important film since I, Daniel Blake”, shows how local authorities around the country have neglected council estates and are now allowing them to be sold off to private developers, while local people are forced to relocate to other parts of the country.

“We want to use this screening to launch a debate about social housing in Frome,” said Vicki Burke from the Fair Housing group. “There are still housing association properties in some parts of Frome, but they are only available to a fraction of those in housing need. We want to ask what can be done to protect and, if possible, enhance the social housing provided locally.”

The film tells the stories of people who are fighting to save their homes and preserve their communities from the effects of gentrification and social cleansing. The documentary focuses on the neglect, demolition and regeneration of council estates in London, Glasgow and Nottingham, and examines the human cost of the housing crisis, with unprecedented access to residents, politicians and experts in the housing industry and media.

Mark Brierley, director of NVB Architects said, “We are pleased to be able to show this film at Rook Lane, because it raises such important questions about the future of housing. Despite all the financial and regulatory pressures, there are positive examples from around the country of schemes where social landlords are building homes and continuing to let them at genuinely affordable rents. Hopefully we can start exploring these types of possibility locally.”

The film screening of ‘Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle’ is on Monday 6th November, 7.30pm at Rook Lane Chapel (doors open at 7.00pm). Entry will be free, with donations welcome. The film will be followed by a discussion. Please see the Fair Housing for Frome website for further details.