Just one year ago, a community of women from mainly Bengali migrant and refugee backgrounds living in the east end of London would probably not have described themselves as grass-roots housing activists. Yet their substandard housing conditions left them keen to fight for better, and their ESOL (English language) class gave them both the perfect platform and the support they needed to make it happen.
Substandard Housing
The women are English language students at English for Action (EfA), and live in rented accommodation provided by the local council or Clarion Housing. Like too many social tenants, they endured maintenance problems including persistent, rising damp, regular lift malfunctions, and prolonged periods without hot water and heating. They also suffered the scourge of leaks, mould, security problems, and significant concerns over fire safety.
Councillor Marc Francis joins the class
Clarion had taken over management of the tower blocks from Tower Hamlets council when the buildings were already in a serious state of disrepair after years of managed decline. Lack of remedial action by Clarion only deepened the problems, and many residents were left feeling that meaningful change was out of reach. Clarion was therefore the primary target for action.
For years, the women and their families regularly and patiently reported the disrepairs to Clarion and the council, but describe their universal experience as poor, with no meaningful action being taken. So, with a growing sense of frustration, they turned their English language classes into a platform to build a housing campaign, and approached SHAC for help.
Campaigning Begins
The EfA housing campaign took shape through a series of dedicated, online training sessions hosted by SHAC. Two of our members who had campaign experience were able to complement online training with visits to the classroom.
With SHAC’s support, the women formed a Tower Hamlets Housing Action Group (THHAG), brainstormed slogans, created a banner, and designed a leaflet to get wider public support. They exploited their proximity to the busy Roman Road, and other English language classes in the area to start a petition.
Uma Kumaran MP visits the class
A face-to-face meeting was arranged with Clarion. The class spent time honing what they wanted to communicate and what actions needed priority attention. They enlisted support from local councillor Marc Francis, who helped both the engagement with Clarion and taking on individual cases. They invited their MP Uma Kumaran to visit the class and explained first hand how their housing situation was having a detrimental impact on all areas of their lives.
Signs of Improvement
The women’s hard work and dedicated planning is beginning to pay off. They are witnessing the first signs of movement. Clarion has begun essential structural work for the first time in years, starting with the long-overdue replacement of the outdated and inadequate boiler system.
They’ve started to engage more directly with residents, organising face-to-face meetings and sending individual updates to inform tenants about planned improvements. They have increased the number of security patrols making residents in the blocks feel safer. A meeting is now planned directly between the group and representatives from Clarion.
The collaboration with EfA speaks to SHAC’s core purpose, which is to help empower communities. The information we were able to pass on by way of campaign skills will be a permanent benefit for those involved. Working together helped forge links between excellent SHAC activists the Tower Hamlets area and the EfA students, alleviating their sense of alienation and powerlessness.
EfAs approach to its classes has been critical. It brought the women together and provided a space in which they could identify common problems. It helped the women not just with language skills, but an understanding of the workings of the instutitions and decision-makers affecting their lives. EfA’s efforts has allowed families in one of the most deprived parts of the UK to hold one of Britain’s biggest landlord to account for the conditions of the homes they rent out.
The project received financial support from the People’s Health Trust and The Disrupt Foundation.
19 June 2025
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