Please support our letter action in support of our member Y who is facing eviction by Optivo (now Southern Housing). Over 200 letters have already been sent to Optivo’s CEO in support of our member. Send yours using our quick online tool here.
Optivo housing association served him with a section 21 eviction notice saying that the property where he has lived for the last 7 years “is no longer used for the Eritrean Community”. We think this is a racist eviction.
We are calling on Optivo housing association:
· Stop this eviction and to urgently re-house our member in local social housing – as they originally promised.
· Optivo must end the use of section 21 no-fault eviction notices against their tenants.
· Optivo must ensure that their tenants from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are treated fairly and with respect and not singled out for eviction.
On Monday this week, we were in court with our member where we successfully stopped Optivo’s Possession Order so Optivo can’t evict him for now. It was great to have so many members at the court showing their support for our member ‘Y’.
But our campaign continues to make sure that our member is safely re-housed in local social housing as he has been promised in the past by Optivo. The housing association’s handling of this case shows they have a long way to go to gain the trust of our member and other black, Asian and minority ethnic tenants.
Our friends Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) have written an excellent blog about our member’s case other cases where housing associations have subjected their tenants to racist treatment.
Housing Action Southwark & Lambeth 