New Orleans        I made a smart decision to attend a workshop of renters’ rights in the United Kingdom at the ACORN England and Wales first convention in Bristol.  I knew we had been a key part of a housing reform coalition and built strong alliances to get something through parliament under the new Labour government.  I had followed its progress in regular conversations with ACORN staff, but still didn’t feel like I had a full understanding of the content, even as I tried to keep up with the back and forth as the House of Lords, an always faithful friends of property holders in Britain, had attempted to delay the measure with amendments and general piddling.  One bit of humor in that process had been a recording that ACORN had posted of the many, many lords that had needed to declare their conflicts in these debates, because they were landlords themselves.

Listening to several ACORN leaders, who had been intimately involved in the lobbying, along with Anny Cullum, ACORN’s policy and political director, who had staffed the fight, was an eyeopener.  Of course, we didn’t win everything we wanted, especially when it came to controlling the rents themselves and the resources to fully hold landlords’ feet to the fire, but what we are on the verge of winning is huge.

A longtime target for ACORN UK has been getting rid of Section 21, allowing no-fault evictions, which in plain English is to say, eviction by landlords based solely on their wishes and whim. The Renters’ Rights Bill eliminates Section 21.  Perhaps even more important is that renters will now have “open ended contracts,” rather than fixed term leases.  This means that as long as a tenant is paying their rent and not involved in anti-social behavior, they are good to stay in a unit indefinitely with the only exceptions being if the landlord and their family wants to move in, or they want to sell the property.

There’s more:

• The price advertised on the unit will be the price paid, outlawing bidding wars in these scarcity markets.
• There will be a limit to tenants being required to pay multiple months’ rent in advance.
• Pets will be allowed under certain situations.
• Landlords will be forced to register nationally.
• Landlords will be forced to move more quickly on damp and mold in units, which is a huge issue almost everywhere.
• Landlords will not be allowed to discriminate against people on benefits and people with children.
• Rent increases can only be set once annually.
• Tenants will have the right to challenge rents to a tribunal, if they are out of synch with the market and new listings.

There’s more, and there are unresolved issues, but we’re on the verge of winning a large amount to say grace over.  It won’t end the struggle for tenants, but it proves that organizing works and wins.  This will be a victory that could propel ACORN England & Wales to places that only existed in our dreams a short years ago.