Occupy protestors in bid to shape housing policy UK

Housing looks set to be the next battleground for a protest group which has camped outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London since October last year.

Occupy London has set up a think tank to look at problems facing the sector with a view to creating its own proposals which would be presented to the government later this year. Protestors said they were trying to organise a seminar with housing providers and professional bodies to gather more information on the problems facing the sector.

They hope their ideas around housing supply, house prices and homelessness will influence national housing policy.

Occupy protestors in Leeds are also ramping up their campaigns on housing. One member said the group planned to spend the night outside the town hall in February, if agreed at a general assembly, to highlight homelessness. The group also said it had considered taking over empty homes, but protestors’ welfare concerns made it difficult.