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[Report] Housing Action Days 2023

Posted by European Action Coalition on 20 May 2023
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Between the 24th of March and the 2nd of April, at least 120 decentralized actions took place in over 60 different European cities and towns in the framework of  the Housing Action Days For this 4th edition, the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City called for an action-week during which participation was twice as important as previous years. After a short hold during the pandemic, our movements are undoubtedly on the rise again and so is transnational solidarity!

Many cities have seen unprecedented mobilization : 30.000 people took the streets in Lisbon, 7000 in Porto, and as much in Bayonne/Baiona in the French Basque Country. Smaller protests took place in numerous cities and towns across Europe. Occupations were also at the core of these Housing Action Days : an empty building was symbolically occupied in Vienna, the National Department of Housing was targeted by our comrades in Dublin, an occupation for undocumented people was about to begin in Brussels. In other places, people came together to listen to each other and organize together. The huge variety of actions and events that took place during these Housing Action Days beautifully illustrates the extent of our movement, but we could also observe a growing number of actions involving people from other movements which shows the intersectional character of our struggles.

Our answers to the housing and energy crisis, the destruction of our public spaces and environment, are as multifaceted as the actors and social relations that drive them in our local context. Butthe Housing Action Days show  that we can coordinate and unite these struggles! After all, our local contexts may differ and capitalism may take different forms, but it still remains the structural cause of these processes and we need to struggle together.

Much love and solidarity to all who joined our mobilization. The Housing Action Days is our collective achievement! Let’s get inspired from it and keep on building a transnational movement that is as diverse in its forms of actions, as intersectional, as decentralized and as militant as it was this year. A movement that can make a small protest in Nicosia as visible as a 30.000 people rally in Lisbon. Let’s unite our struggles beyond borders!

Here is our non-exhaustive report on the Housing Action Days 2023 below.

Friday 24/03: HAD Day 1!

Brussels/Belgium

J’habite, tu habites, ils spéculent… a gesticulating conference on housing, the housing market and private property. The question of housing was central during the Paris Commune… and still is 150 years later. Comité belge des Amies et Amis de la Commune de Paris 1871 and RBDH – BBRoW / Rassemblement Bruxellois pour le Droit à l’Habitat therefore organised an evening on this theme to discuss it. It began with a gesticulated conference by Sarah de Laet which was followed by a debate on the importance that the question of housing took during the Paris Commune, and all the actuality of this question.It was a great opportunity to reflect on the causes of real estate speculation, but especially on the solutions that would guarantee accessible and quality housing for all and to question the fact that the right to private property is superior to the right to housing.

‘Dream House’ a spectaculated conference on ending homelessness. As part of the Housing Action Days and in advance of the March 26 mobilisation, Collective 1984’s organised a lecture with the title: ‘The cost of a secure roof, a home, is increasing every year’. Rent is becoming a monster that often eats up half of your income. The lecture analysed the outrageous reality of rented life. Human beings without shelter, without a roof, without a home.How is this possible? Who benefits from this injustice? Is there an invisible law?

Dortmund/Germany

Living-room on the street at St. Joseph’s church: Face painting for children, wheel of Fortune, housing info in different languages & nice conversations!

Augsburg/Germany

Open living-room on Willy-Brandt Square: tea, snacks and cozy seating for a relaxed exchange & spinning of ideas.

Drinks and banner painting at the Ganze Bäckerei.

Lisbon/Portugal

Inauguration of exhibition ‘Dias de Ação pela Habitação’ and double screening of the documentary ‘O Que Sobrou do Céu’, & ‘Cidade Guiada’.

Vienna/Austria

Start of the ‘Power to the people’ conference with the participation of the European Action Coalition & Stop evictions Vienna: ‘We need housing, we need heating, we need eating! Hence we need to abolish capitalism!’ .

Winterthur/Switzerland

Event: Attacking gentrification? But how? Life in the cities is getting more and more expensive.  Revolutionäres Jugendbündnis Winterthur wanted to learn from this and grasp a perspective for their local struggles. For this, they invited the IGBBSL, which has been building up pressure from below on the owner of the former Stefanini properties in Winterthur for several years.

Saturday 25/03: HAD Day 2!

Brussels/Belgium

Trilingual immersive exhibition: Photo and sound portraits on the right to housing in Brussels. So many ways to live in the city, to suffer or resist, to survive or adapt. Each photo portrait was accompanied by an audio portrait. These testimonies are a key to better understanding housing in Brussels, to apprehend the societal stakes and the changes that are slowly but deeply modifying our capital. They testify, confide in each other, share their experience. The right of access to affordable and quality housing is a fundamental right enshrined in article 23 of the Belgian Constitution because it is an indispensable condition for leading a dignified life. However, today, it is still too often flouted.At the crossroads of reality and imagination, the audio that accompanied the image proposed and invitedthe listener to immerse himself/herself in a universe and to experience a “more personal” relationship with the right to housing; by translating in a more human way the figures, statistics or other mapped data of the state of housing in Brussels today.

Lisbon/Portugal

Gathering of collectives and struggles: autonomy fair, movies, debates, open assembly, dinner and concerts (SMUP).

Lisbon Referendum Ball (Cosmos).

Porto/Portugal

Housing Forum with the grassroots organizations of Porto

Barreiro/Portugal

Citizen Assembly at the Alfredo da Silva statue

Berlin/Germany

Demonstration: ‘Rents down, wages up!’ For fair wages, employees of the public sector and other industries were on strike – Mietenwahnsinn stood by their side! That’s why they were taking the streets together on 25.03. to fight for an affordable and fair city for all.

Hamburg/Germany

Altonative: Demo Rave started at Altona train station, with this call: ‘We do not want an increasingly motorized city, we need more public space for pedestrians and cyclists. We need affordable rents, a climate-friendly housing and transport policy. We are committed to preserving established structures and open spaces. We want livable, diverse neighborhoods. We are fighting for a city for all. That is why we are on the move. That’s why we want to make the conditions dance and invite you to a big demo rave through Altona on March 25.’

Witten/Germany

Walk to a neighborhood of former industrial homes, today owned by the largest European listed housing company Vonovia. Heven, the former factory apartments have been neglected for decades. There are numerous problems. Vonovia is trying to remedy this with modernizations, some of the costs of which are passed on to the tenants. The latest project is a comprehensive energy modernization of the apartment blocks at Schulze-Delitzsch-Strasse 48-58 and Damaschkestrasse 17-19. The goal of climate neutrality is very welcome. However, the procedure is also very non-transparent for this measure, which is heavily subsidized by the public sector. Many irregularities have been noticed in the billing of earlier modernization measures in Heven. The actual costs have not been fully documented to date. Vonovia also drives up housing cost burdens via excessive new contract rents and non-transparent ancillary cost billing.

Marburg/Germany

Night dance demo Erwin-Piscator-Haus Rally 7 pm / 8 pm start demo march with mobile DJs

Köln/Germany

Protest against vacancy: demanding the city of Cologne to seize the vacancy and to house homeless people and refugees there. In times of housing shortage, such years of vacancy must not be tolerated.

Dresden/Germany

Vonovia tenants picnic organized by Aktionsbündnis “Mietenwahnsinn Stoppen” Dresden to exchange ideas, ask questions and discuss together how the community could stand up against the sellout of their apartments and for their rights as tenants.

Heidelberg/Germany

Invitation (Oberbadgasse 6 in Heidelberg’s old town) to get to know the house project.

Vienna/Austria

Workshops in Power to the People conference: Climate catastrophe, rising energy and living costs, or war in Ukraine and Kurdistan – we need collective responses to the crises that affect us and our lives. Despite this, corporations, financial institutions and politicians continue to come together to make strategic decisions without the participation and voice of those affected. The focus of their crisis management is on increasing profits and expanding their power. March 27-29, 2023 , precisely such actors met in Vienna at the invitation of OMV to decide on the future of European energy supply – at the European Gas Conference. Among them were all the big gas companies that are currently making record profits, while life is becoming unaffordable for many.

Zürich/Switzerland

For the european Housing Action Days a neighborhood walk in Witikon was organized.

Catalunya

Actions door to door on a series of blocks owned by La Caixa, a bank and one of the biggest owners in Catalunya. These actions were meant to inform  and call the tenants to action on 15th april.

Sunday 26/03: HAD Day 3!

Brussels/Belgium

Demonstration for the Belgian Housing Action Day 2023. Here is their call : ‘Living in decent housing is a necessary basis for building a stable life. Today in Belgium, more and more of us are faced with excessive rents and exorbitant charges, unhealthy housing, illegal and discriminating practices on the part of landlords, an inaccessible justice of the peace, and a sometimes incomprehensible administration. In short, it is more and more difficult to find a place to live and to have the security to stay there!’ A squat for undocumented people was also opened that day but was immediatly and violently evicted;

Hasselt /Belgium

Liège/Belgium

Housing Action Day demonstration in Liège! Their demands :

  • rent freeze and rent regulation
  • fight against vacant housing
  • more social housing and alternatives to the private market

Charleroi/Belgium

Gathering: As part of the European Housing Action Day movement, Charleroi was joining the mobilization!

Lisbon/Portugal

At Sirigaita Social Club the struggle for housing continues! We will visit the archives, in search of portraits of the struggle for housing in Lisbon and Portugal since 1975. We have chosen some short videos to debate from them: What is the same? How have the cities, the houses and the popular organization changed?

Leipzig/Germany

Housing Action Day in Südvorstadt. As part of the Europe-wide Housing Action Days, Vernetzung Süd was organizing a “Housing Action Coffee Table” together with tenants from municipal LWB houses in Leipzig’s Südvorstadt and publishing the posters for the “Südvorstadt für alle” campaign on this day.

Vienna/Austria

Workshops in Power to the People conference: Climate catastrophe, rising energy and living costs, or war in Ukraine and Kurdistan – we need collective responses to the crises that affect us and our lives. Despite this, corporations, financial institutions and politicians continue to come together to make strategic decisions without the participation and voice of those affected. The focus of their crisis management is on increasing profits and expanding their power. March 27-29, 2023 , precisely such actors met in Vienna at the invitation of OMV to decide on the future of European energy supply – at the European Gas Conference. Among them were all the big gas companies that are currently making record profits, while life is becoming unaffordable for many.

Arnhem/Netherlands

Housing protest Arnhem – After the first protest in October 2021, little has changed in Arnhem. The municipal council that has since governed Arnhem has shown no concrete plans to change the precarious housing situation.  The city still has many housing problems. The uncomfortable truth is that the problem lies much deeper than we are willing to admit: capitalism. On March 26 at 14:00 Woonopstand again organized a demonstration on the Grote Markt in Arnhem for a better, more humane  a more social and radical housing policy.

Monday 27/03: HAD Day 4!

Lisbon/Portugal

Projection of the documentary PUSH: eviction order with us!  The documentary portrays today’s cities and how unaffordable they have become for those who live and work in them. March 27th- 21h ESMAE – Rua da Alegria 503, Porto

Augsburg/Germany

The climate camp celebrates 1000 days. The camp is not only a place of protest for a consistent climate policy, but it also demands democratic participation and has become over the months and now years also its own place for exchange and meeting. Open spaces in this city are important!

München/Germany

Discussion: ‘The idea is good: homelessness is ended immediately by offering homeless people their own apartment – with a rental contract and no preconditions. But can this work? Where are the problems with implementation?’

Nicosia/Cyprus

Protest: The Action Network for Housing and the City-Solidarity for All, and other collectives, responded to the call of the comrades from the United Initiative against Auctions in Athens and the European Action Coalition, and called for a protest rally  at 11 Lapithou Street in Egomi, where the offices of the enterprise that bought the house of a helpless woman in Athens, stubbornly seeks her eviction.

Tuesday 28/03: HAD Day 5!

Lisbon/Portugal

Anti-Evicition Mapping: this event gave the opportunity for the participants to learn more about the work of Anti-Eviction Mapping and talk about how data visualization, critical mapping and multimedia narratives can contribute as tools for the work of our collectives in the struggle for housing and the city.

Berlin/Germany

Ein Reichenberger Kiezfest? Info-Orga-Treffen

Regenbogenfabrik-Kino, Lausitzer Str. 22, 10999 Berlin, Kreuzberg

Augsburg/Germany

Dialogue forum Living together: ‘self-determined living instead of externally regulated accommodation.’ They exchanged ideas on this topic together.

Grenoble/France

DAL Grenoble organized a demonstration at the Condorcet streetcar stop. the DAL 38 activists were distributing thousands of leaflets for lower rents and charges!

Wednesday 29/03: HAD Day 6!

Athens/Greece

Gathering in front of the Supreme Court: ‘15 years have passed since the 2008 crisis and the methods of dispossession of people’s homes in Greece are becoming more and more brutal : electronic auctions, disappearance of the protection of the primary residence, police violence against over-indebted people, violence against movements, methods of dispossession that resemble bullying (breaking down doors and passing through neighbouring balconies to let cops into houses), etc. In 2021, there were 11,000 auctions in Athens, in 2022, 31,000.  But we are here and we are not giving up. Our struggle is growing, adapting and getting stronger.’

Cluj/Romania

Social Housing NOW! organized a webinar on the new cost of living crisis and its overlap with the old housing crisis on the occasion of the Housing Action Days initiated again this year by the European Action Coalition. The theme of the event was debated with theirguests around three main issues:

  1. Causes and effects of high prices
  2. Experiences of the crisis in the cultural sphere and everyday life
  3. Actions against rising living costs.

Berlin/Germany

Places of Displacement and Resistance in Neukölln. This action was an opportunity to visit places of displacement and resistance in Neukölln and show places where tenants have joined forces to rebel against the violence of the capitalist housing market. Against evictions, terminations of own use, homelessness, rent increases, unwanted modernizations, touristification and mega-projects of gentrification. Again and again it is worthwhile to fight the battle and to get to know the strong and exciting people in the neighborhoods of Neukölln.

Witten/Germany

On March 29 an assembly of tenants took place, who are renting from  the second largest landlord in Germany, the largest private in Witten,  the LEG.There are many conflicts with this landlord, from illegal rent increases to the eviction from garden land. They are trying to unite the struggles,publish the cases and build a kind of legal collective rent boycott.

Augsburg/Germany

Documentary film: EIGENBEDARF! Life on the ejector seat.Together with Attac, Augsburg in Bürgerhand and Pa*radieschen, they showed the documentary film: EIGENBEDARF! Life on the ejector seat. A film by Raphael Knipping and Michael Trammer. After the film, theyheld an open and lively discussion.// Film hall in the Zeughaus, 3rd floor, Zeugplatz 4 // https://augsburgfueralle.noblogs.org/

Grenoble/France

Debate about the rise of energy prices and rent / Soirée Débat “Balance ta quittance!” Explosion des loyers, des charges d’énergie, comment réagir?

Den Haag/Netherlands

Flyer action by BPW in the Hague. The Hague was taking to the streets of South-West during the International Housing Action Week to flyer against anti-squatting, temporary rental contracts and housing insecurity. Members of BPW started onat Ruimzicht and then spread across the neighborhoods Dreven en Gaarden & Bouwlust and Vredelust where a number of clusters of demolition buildings are occupied by anti-squatting and temporary tenants.

Zürich/Switzerland

Urgent exhibition for a right to housing! (in the Central Laundry Zurich): Land prices in the city of Zurich are rising exponentially, rents are climbing behind, the media are outdoing each other with lurid headlines.

Catalunya

Door to door actions on a series of blocks owned by La Caixa, a bank and one of the biggest owners in Catalunya. These actions were meant to inform  and call the tenants to action on 15th april.

Thursday 30/03: HAD Day 7!

Lisbon-Barreiro/Portugal

Berlin/Germany

  • Neighborhood meeting in Pankow was organized from 6pm at Teuteburger PlatzThe Kieztreffen. They discussed the  topic of terminating the right of repossession!
  • ‘Social human right to housing for all – How to proceed with the referendum?’ After the successful referendum in September 2021, an expert inside the commission is currently dealing with the feasibility/ possibility of a socialization law. The interim result gives hope that expropriation is feasible. After the repeat election and currently emerging black-red coalition, it is completely unclear how to proceed with this important issue now.
  • Film evening with Mietenwahsinn Nord: “Miete essen Seele auf”. The film documents 2 years of neighborhood protest and organizing at Kottbusser Tor.

Augsburg/Germany

Augsburg für Alle organized a 24h vigil in front of Patrizia against real estate speculation. Like last year, they were pitching their tent symbolically in front of Patrizia. This year, they protested against housing being treated as a commodity. And they took public space and designed it theirselves. Colorful and cozy.

Leipzig/Germany

‘Keep your hands away from our tenement!’: Some comrades  invited people from their neighborhood and politics to talk in front of their house, which is going to be sold right now.

Amsterdam/Netherlands

Tenant action Rochdale! A large group of Rochdale tenants, opponents of the rent increase, and other sympathizers, went  to Rochdale’s headquarters in Amsterdam to express their dissatisfaction and hand over their demands. The following demands were expressed by Rochdale and all other housing associations in the Netherlands:

  1. Stop the impending rent increase from 1 July 2023!
  2. Stop intimidating tenants who participate in our rent action!
  3. Freeze rents for at least 5 years!

Palma de Mallorca/Spain

PAH Palma de Mallorca held a demonstration in front of the town hall in Plaça de Cort, Palma de Mallorca, at 1:00 pm. On the morning of the same day they tried to attend the plenary session of the town hall and read their demands.

Friday 31/03: HAD Day 8!

Dublin/Ireland

 

Local and national day of actions  to oppose the lifting of the eviction ban. Comrades occupied the Department  Of Housing, in opposition to the recent government decision to lift the ban on evictions. Activists from CATU and beyond held a rally at the Spire in Dublin. It was followed by a march on the Department of Housing at Customs Quay. They were calling for:

  • Eviction ban to be reinstated
  • Building public housing
  • Resist eviction attempts

Nantes/France

Stop evictions & Housing Justice protest at Place du Bouffay! “NO TO YOUR POLICY OF SOCIAL BREAKAGE AND DESTRUCTION OF THE COMMON GOOD!” !  Here is their call : ‘we demand in unison: A stop to rental evictions, energy cuts and homelessness. The regulation and reduction of rents, land and charges. The  withdrawal of the Kasbarian-Bergé bill criminalizing tenants in difficulty and those “without rights or titles”.The application of the law of requisition of empty housing and a reinforcement of the DALO law. Access to dignified and stable accommodation, until housing, for the homeless, without distinction. The massive realization of real social housing, the fight against real estate speculation and AirB’n’B type platforms. The renovation of thermal flats and indecent housing.  A halt to the destruction and sale of low-cost housing, as well as to gentrification policies. The Withdrawal of current bills and retrograde reforms, further making more precarious the most vulnerable.

Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val/France

Screening of “En permanence” and discussion. Camping in front of the city hall. On April 1 and 2, Halem Habitat Leger  initiated a mobilization weekend for the end of the winter truce in St Antonin (82).

Berlin/Germany

Kiezspaziergang Reuterkiez City-walk. A visit of places  of displacement and resistance in Neukölln was organised. Comrades showed places where tenants have joined forces to rebel against the violence of the capitalist housing market. Against evictions, terminations of own use, homelessness, rent increases, unwanted modernizations, touristification and mega-projects of gentrification. Again and again it is worthwhile to fight the battle and to get to know the strong and exciting people in the neighborhood.

Kiezraum meets Kreuzberg 61: Small “getting-to-know-you party”. Celebrating and resisting together.

Augsburg/Germany

Protest: Housing for all! / “Wohnraum für Alle”:  A demonstration was organised for the right to the city, open spaces and fair access to housing FOR ALL!

+ Concert & food for final celebration of the Augsburg housing action week!

Leipzig/Germany

Kneipe Gute Quelle / Mieter*innenstammtisch

Grenoble/France

Support evening & party for housing struggles! / Soirée de soutien aux luttes du logement , suivie d’une fête!

Lisbon/Portugal

  • Trans Visibility Day March 
  • Bicicletada Massa Crítica 
  • ManiFest Silent Disco

Saturday 01/04: HAD Day 9!

Lisbon/Portugal

Demonstration Casa para viver: “We are the invisible and ignored people who can no longer afford the costs of housing in Portugal. We are the people who produce the goods, services and ideas that sustain our society. We are people of all colors, nationalities, genders, sexual orientations, religions, professions, shapes and sizes.We are the silent majority – and we are about to be a noisy majority.” On April 1st Manifestação Casa Para Viver and Movimento referendo pela habitação initiated a demonstration to take to the streets in several cities to demand an end to the degradation of living conditions and social inequality in access to housing!

Braga/Portugal

Demonstration: A group of 27 collectives and organizations of the Braga district were calling for a demonstration for the Right to Housing for April 1st, at 3pm, with concentration near the Coreto da Avenida Central, in Braga, followed by a march through the historic center.

Porto/Portugal

Demonstration: On April 1st the country took to the streets in the national demonstration CASAS PARA VIVER! For the right to housing, to the city and for the end of exploitation through the cost of living! Demanding the end of exploitation through the cost of living: public control and price regulation of essential sectors.Redefining the effort rates with housing.Decent jobs, increase in retirement, pensions and benefits – Batalha Square, Porto!

Viseu/Portugal

Viseu joined the Portuguese cities that mark April 1st as part of the European protest Housing Action Days 2023, convening a concentration in Praça da República (Rossio).’The housing problem is national, not exclusive to Lisbon and Porto! Around here we know well the consequences of speculation and lack of investment in public housing.’

Aveiro/Portugal

Demonstration: In recent years, the cost of housing has skyrocketed to levels that are unaffordable for the incomes of the majority of the population, calling into question housing as a constitutionally guaranteed right. Portugal, unlike the European average, has practically no public housing sector. This coupled with competition from speculative real estate funds, the tourist pressure experienced in many cities, and the huge tax incentives for real estate speculation have made access to decent housing an enormous burden on the household budget. Nowadays, housing is the biggest factor of impoverishment for many workers. Housing is a right, not a business.

Coimbra/Portugal

Coimbra joined the demonstrations for the right to housing on April 1! After Lisbon and Porto, Coimbra is also on the map of the demonstrations “Home to Live For”, for the right to housing, part of a week of actions and demonstrations across Europe. The Porta Adentro movement has scheduled a gathering for 15H00 in 8 de Maio Square.

Açores/Portugal

Habitat Açores subscribes to the manifesto CASA PARA VIVER:”We will demonstrate in Portugal on 1 April 2023. We are part of Housing Action Days 2023, a week of actions and demonstrations across Europe for the right to housing, coordinated by the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and the City. You can read the full manifesto here> https://www.casaparaviver.pt

Berlin/Germany

Demonstration: BERLIN IS OUR CITY! “Some of us have living space, others have already been deprived of it. Even more tenants will be deprived of it in the future. Be careful – the deadlines for rent abatement are running. Now we have to fight back. While the rent and the cost of living skyrocket and wages stagnate, we calculate how much time we have left. Across Berlin, tenants are losing their homes in a massive way. The drastic consequences of the expiring social bonds are visible throughout Pankow, Lichtenberg and Friedrichshain. because BERLIN IS OUR CITY!”

Köln/Germany

Kundgebung | 01.04. | 16:00 | Kalk Post

Essen/Germany

Manifestation – Kundgebung 1.4. 12:00 Porschekanzel/Marktkirche

Toulouse/France

Gathering against the housing crisis in Toulouse. Around speeches from different collectives and associations,  they talked about gentrification, building demolitions that Toulouse is undergoing, evictions, rent increases.Toulouse, reaches a sad record to date: it is the 4th city in France that most encourages the gentrification of many neighbourhoods through demolition, evictions and rising rents. A ROOF IS A RIGHT!

Paris/France

Demonstration in Paris initiated by DAL : ‘2023, the housing crisis, explodes! The only answer of the state is the criminalization of the popular classes! The rich and the state make war, let us wake up!’

Saint-Denis/France

Collective travel to the big protest at the Bastille/Paris

Basque country

On the occasion of the end of the winter truce and the European day of the right to housing, on Saturday 1st April the big demonstration Herrian Bizi – Se loger au pays! took place in the streets of Bayonne.

Montpellier/France

At La Carmagnole Workshops were organised with the following topics: housing rights, squats, tenants facing eviction, precariousness. Then the Public Midi Forum on Housing took place.

Nantes/France

Protest – Saturday 1st April 2023 in Nantes at 11am, place du Bouffay

Their demands:

▪️ Stopping rental evictions, energy cuts and street deliveries;

▪️ Supervision and reduction of rents, land and charges;

▪️The withdrawal of the Kasbarian-Bergé bill criminalising tenants in difficulty and those “without rights or titles”;

▪️ The application of the law of requisitions of empty housing and a strengthening of the DALO law;

▪️Access to dignified and stable accommodation, including housing, for the homeless, without distinction

▪️ The massive realisation of real social housing, the fight against real estate speculation and AirB’n’B type platforms;

▪️ The renovation of thermal sieves and indecent housing;

▪️ Stopping the destruction and sales of HLM, as well as urban planning policies of gentrification;

▪️ The withdrawal of current bills and retrograde reforms, no further precariousness for the most vulnerable.

Den Bosch/Netherlands

Boschians in action against rent increases on April 1 during European Housing Action Week. Action group ‘We refuse the rent increase’ started an action in Den Bosch against the rent increase. Following previous years, they called on people to refuse the rent increase, which is introduced every year on the 1st of July.On the 1st of April, they held a flyer campaign and went door-to-door to call on Bosschen people to do this and inform them.

Haarlem/Netherlands

As part of the European Action Coalition’s Housing Action Days, Housing Riot Haarlem brought attention to failing housing policies. In the Netherlands, politicians pretend to solve the housing crisis, but in practice “social” policies too often fail.

Catalunya

Actions door to door on a series of blocks owned by La Caixa, a bank and one of the biggest owners in Catalunya. These actions are meant to inform  and call the tenants to action on 15th april.

Sunday 02/04: HAD Day 10!

Berlin/Germany

Anti-demolitions bus-Tour with the Solibus. In Berlin, still functioning buildings are carelessly released for demolition. All affected buildings can be used or converted. Comrades say: keep the buildings that are already there! Because demolitions trigger displacement and destroy neighborhoods. If a building is demolished and rebuilt, the rents in the new building are many times more expensive. On 2.4.23 they  drove with the Solibus through Berlin, past numerous buildings threatened by demolition and showed solidarity with the people who fight for the preservation of these houses and affordable housing. https://strassegegenleerstand.de/?p=1110

W/Mut-exchange about gentrification, displacement & resistance. “In both Lichtenberg and Pankow, the problem with expiring social bonds is particularly pressing. Many of us are experiencing displacement not for the first time, as the apartments that are now our homes were turnover apartments. Many of us don’t know how much longer we will be able to pay the rent, which jumps when the lease expires and then continues to rise in line with the rent index.And numerous tenants are threatened with termination of their own tenancy. Most have quietly disappeared from the district in recent years and decades. We want to put an end to this (quiet) displacement (once again). Because this is our city! This is our neighbourhood. And this is our home!” https://www.mietenwahnsinn.info/…/event/w-mut-austausch/

München/Germany

Housing Action Day Protest: Houses for those who live in them!. ‘Especially now, in times of crisis, it is us tenants who have to pay twice. Not only the additional costs are a growing imposition for all of us, our apartments also represent one of the safest and most promising investment opportunities in times of crisis. The state and the sense of justice of those who make profit with our homes cannot be relied upon. That’s why we were taking to the streets together: against profit-oriented housing policies and for the socialization of housing. The houses to those who live in them!’ https://zukunfterkaempfen.noblogs.org/housing-action-day…/

Saint Antoine Noble Val/France

Press conference and carnival with the trial of poor housing https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3497503820568649

Grenoble/France

Assembly against evictions / Assemblée contre les expulsions. https://fb.me/e/13eHGQreD

Stockholm/Sweden

Demonstration against Fastighetsägarna, an organisation that represents landlords in Sweden: ‘Vi kräver sänkta hyror! We demand lower rents! We have had enough of constant rent increases, housing speculation and substandard rental housing. Now we  spoke out and demonstrated against Fastighetsägarna, the organisation that represents terrible landlords like Victoriahem (formerly Hembla) and Stena Fastigheter.’ https://fb.me/e/Ocg1achP

Press review : 

HAD2023

Brussels:

Bruxelles et Liège: des centaines de personnes manifestent pour le droit au logement (photos)

Par Belga, Le Soir, 26/03/2023
https://www.lesoir.be/503474/article/2023-03-26/bruxelles-et-liege-des-centaines-de-personnes-manifestent-pour-le-droit-au

Des centaines de personnes manifestent pour le droit au logement pour les Housing Action Days

Anais Corbin, Médias de Bruxelles, 26/03/2023
https://bx1.be/categories/news/des-centaines-de-personnes-manifestent-pour-le-droit-au-logement-pour-les-housing-action-days/?theme=classic&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=BX1_Page_officielle

Des manifestants “violemment” repoussés par la police lors d’une manifestation pour le logement à Bruxelles

Guillaume Fraikin, TRL info, 27/03/2023
https://www.rtl.be/actu/regions/bruxelles/des-manifestants-violemment-repousses-par-la-police-lors-dune-manifestation-pour/2023-03-27/article/537151

Une nouvelle occupation de demandeurs d’asile évacuée par la police : “On s’est pris des coups”

Michel Geyer; Marjorie Fellinger, Médias de Bruxelles, 27/03/2023
https://bx1.be/categories/news/une-nouvelle-occupation-de-demandeurs-dasile-est-evacuee-par-une-soixantaine-de-policiers/#.ZCCvp_BkhFo.facebook:

Belgium (Belgian HAD press review):

Full press review from Belgium:

https://www.housing-action-day.be/fr/medias/presse

HOUSING ACTION DAY, ICI ET AILLEURS !

Inter-Environnement Bruxelles, 06/04/2023
https://ieb.be/Housing-Action-Day-ici-et-ailleurs?suivi=2023-04-06&noix=46691

Germany:

»Housing Action Days«: Mietrebellen auf der Straße

Peter Nowak, ND-Aktuell, 26/03/2023
https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1172006.mieterproteste-housing-action-days-mietrebellen-auf-der-strasse.html

Hamburg:

Sternbrücke: Demo-Rave zeiht mit lauter Musik durch Altona

Friederike Ulrich, Hamburger Abendblatt, 25/03/2023
Assembly against evictions / Assemblée contre les expulsions. https://fb.me/e/13eHGQreD

Berlin:

Aktionswoche gegen Mietenwahnsinn

Junge Welt, 27/03/2023
https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/447610.aktionswoche-gegen-mietenwahnsinn.html

Greece:

Διαμαρτυρία κατά των πλειστηριασμών σήμερα στον Άρειο Πάγο – «Έμπρακτη αλληλεγγύη σε κάθε πληττόμενο νοικοκυριό»

The Press Project, 29/03/2023
https://thepressproject.gr/diamartyria-kata-ton-pleistiriasmon-simera-ston-areio-pago-ebrakti-allilengyi-se-kathe-plittomeno-noikokyrio/

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=kontra+news#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:981c2708,vid:sSIQSMahrHQ

Portugal:

Três perguntas aos organizadores da manifestação Casa para Viver

Carolina Amado, Publico, 27/03/2023
https://www.publico.pt/2023/03/27/p3/noticia/tres-perguntas-organizadores-manifestacao-casa-viver-2043898

Diversidade e empenho na preparação da manifestação pela habitação de 01 de abril

Impala News, 29/03/2023
https://www.impala.pt/noticias/politica/diversidade-e-empenho-na-preparacao-da-manifestacao-pela-habitacao-de-01-de-abril/

De Lisboa a Braga, retrato de um país que sai à rua pelo direito a uma casa

Paula Sofia Luz, Diário de Notícias, 01/04/2023
https://www.dn.pt/sociedade/de-lisboa-a-braga-retrato-de-um-pais-que-sai-a-rua-pelo-direito-a-uma-casa–16103175.html

Manifestações pelo direito à habitação em sete cidades

Manuel Almeide/Lusa, AbrilAbril, 31/03/2023
https://www.abrilabril.pt/nacional/manifestacoes-pelo-direito-habitacao-em-sete-cidades

Confrontos com a polícia marcam final da manifestação pela habitação em Lisboa

Após marcha pelo direito à habitação. PSP carrega sobre manifestantes em Lisboa

Inês Moreira Santos, Carlos Santos Neves, RTP Notícias, 01/04/2023
https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/pais/manifestacoes-pelo-direito-a-habitacao-percorrem-varias-capitais-de-distrito_e1476956

“Habitação não é negócio”: milhares na rua não foi mentira de 1 de abril

JN Direto, 01/04/2023
https://www.jn.pt/local/galerias/habitacao-nao-e-negocio-milhares-na-rua-nao-foi-mentira-de-1-de-abril-16106792.html

As imagens da manifestação. Milhares de pessoas na rua contra crise da habitação

About Portugal from abroad:

Au Portugal, la crise du logement squatte les mobilisations sociales

Ludovic Lamant, Mediapart, 31/03/2023
https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/310323/au-portugal-la-crise-du-logement-squatte-les-mobilisations-sociales?at_medium=custom7&at_campaign=1046

Manifestantes saem às ruas contra crise habitacional em Portugal

Veja, Brasil, 03/04/2023
https://veja.abril.com.br/mundo/milhares-aderem-a-protestos-contra-crise-habitacional-em-portugal

Au Portugal et ailleurs, personne ne devrait avoir à consacrer la majeure partie de ses revenus au loyer

Joana Ramiro, Contretemps, France, 19/04/2023
https://www.contretemps.eu/portugal-loyers-droit-logement-manifestations/

Bayonne:

Logement : malgré la pluie, 3 500 personnes à Bayonne pour que ça change

Ximun Larre, MediaBask, 01/04/2023
https://www.mediabask.eus/fr/info_mbsk/20230401/logement-8-000-personnes-a-bayonne-pour-que-ca-change

IMAGES – Logement au Pays basque : plusieurs milliers de manifestants à Bayonne pour dénoncer la situation

Stéphane Garcia, Thibault Vincent, Oihana Larzabal, France Bleu, 01/04/2023
https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/societe/en-direct-logement-au-pays-basque-du-monde-pour-manifester-dans-les-rues-de-bayonne-3843675

Logement au Pays basque : en images, la manifestation du 1er avril à Bayonne

Sud Ouest, 01/04/2023
https://www.sudouest.fr/economie/immobilier/immobilier-au-pays-basque/logement-au-pays-basque-en-images-la-manifestation-du-1er-avril-a-bayonne-14649780.php?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=echobox&utm_medium=Social-PaysBasque&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1680367961

Au Pays basque, les habitants luttent contre l’invasion des résidences secondaires et Airbnb

Chloé Rebillard, Reporterre, 03/04/2023
https://reporterre.net/Au-Pays-basque-les-habitants-luttent-pour-l-acces-au-logement

Lorient:

Lorient : 80 personnes demandaient le classement de la Bretagne en zone tendue pour le logement

Le Télégramme, 01/04/2023
https://www.letelegramme.fr/morbihan/lorient/lorient-80-personnes-demandaient-le-classement-de-la-bretagne-en-zone-tendue-pour-le-logement-01-04-2023-13309409.php

France (in general):

Partout en Europe, une grande journée pour dénoncer la crise du logement

Lucie Delaporte, Mediapart, 01/04/2023
https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/010423/partout-en-europe-une-grande-journee-pour-denoncer-la-crise-du-logement

Dublin:

Ireland needs return to mass mobilisation to bring change to housing system

Fiadh Tubridy, Irish Examiner, 06/04/2023
https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41110489.html

London:

Campaigners march to Downing Street to demand protection for renters

ITV London, 21/03/2023
https://www.itv.com/news/2023-03-21/campaigners-march-to-downing-street-to-demand-protection-for-renters

Rent hikes could become backdoor to unfair eviction, tenants warn in advance of day of action

Matt Trinder, Morning Star Online, 21/03/2023
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/rent-hikes-could-become-backdoor-to-unfair-eviction-tenants-warn-in-advance-of-day-of-action

Short mention in the Guardian: UK renters can’t afford their mouldy, exorbitant homes – now they can’t afford to complain either

Elle Hunt, Guardian, 16/03/2023
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/16/uk-renters-mouldy-homes-landlords-tenants-rent-repairs

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