The Kolenkitbuurt’s struggle is part of a broader struggle which is the claim for right to the city for people. Since the Kolenkit’s neighborhood was decided to be turned into transformations with renew urban projects, such as the Koelkit project, we decided to organize the struggle hand in hand with inhabitants.

Indeed, Rochdale has the plan to renovate and sell 4 buildings in which people with 5 different types of temporary contracts are currently living. This Koel Kit project will force these temporary tenants to leave, and replaced by others, given that the 154 housing accomodations are gonna be more expensive, sold and privatised.
Therefore we went to Rochdale on the 4th of January in order to claim our requests:
1. Stop sell out of these rental houses
2. Make temporary homes indefinite homes
3. No evictions without replacement housing

Since no measures and decisions have been taken to relocate the precarious inhabitants yet and that Rochdale replied that they «couldn’t solve these people’s housing problems», more and more inhabitants joined the movement, determined to stay.

Why shall they leave, while this is their living space? Indeed the kolenkitbuurt is the place they live, the space they use, where they meet, create.

Why shall they leave and replaced by other people? As housing corporations are the legal structure which decide, they are also responsible in housing people.

Why shall they leave in times of increasing flexibilisation of renting? Housing is a human right. flexibilisation doesn’t acknowledge that. More and more tenants are excluded from social rights and become flexnomads with 1-5 year and other precarious flex-contracts.

Why shall they leave while their homes are being privatised and sold in times of increasing scarcity? As financialisation and precarisation of the public good will not solve this housing crisis.

ACTION!

That’s why we decided to continue the struggle in trying to call out public’s opinion, and policy makers attention about this privatisation process which basically force the poor to go outside of the cities and attract the rich in. Lately, some tenants’ unions, and local parties supported our struggle, such as the Huurdersvereniging Amsterdam, Huurdersbelang Zuid, De Woonbond, Doorbraak, the IWBN and many more.
Thereby, inhabitants are the moral partie we are supporting, because cities are for people, not for profit! Today it’s time to react and to reclaim our houses and save them from privatisation processes.

Therefore we say these houses are not for sale. Stop evictions, housing is a right. We re-appropriate this buildings from an ever increasing marketisation of the public good and bring it under direct public control. We invite you to join the struggle. The amount of public social rental housing shrank drastically form 44% in the 90′s to 30% in the Netherlands. Since 1998 more then 21,000 houses in Amsterdam have been sold. Policy is to further reduce this amount. The proposed “law mobility rental market” (wet doorstroming huurmarkt) forsees the introdcution of 1 and 5 year contract. It will make expensive and precarious housing the new norm. Today we say: it’s enough. Precarity ends here. We invite you to join the struggle! And share the solidarity.

Support the tenants via Twitter @kolenkitgroep.

For more information contact us

Bond Precaire Woonvormen http://bondprecairewoonvormen.nl/2016/02/kolenkit-is-niet-te-koop-afschaffen-huurbscherming-leidt-tot-verzet/