Kirkby Rent Strike (1972)

Mon Oct 09, 1972

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The Kirkby Rent Strike was a 14-month long rent strike initiated by 3,000 tenants on this day in 1972 in the town of Kirkby (outside Liverpool), against the Housing Finances Act.

The Act caused a £1 rent rise for residents of Tower Hill and brought grievances that had been bubbling under the surface for years to a boiling point. The women who lived there formed the Unfair Rents Action Group, and responded to the rent raise by organizing a 14-month long rent strike.

More than 3,000 people participated in the strike, and women from a tenant organization called Merseyside Big Flame helped them organize. The rent strike was ultimately defeated on December 24th, 1973.

  • trailing9
    2·
    1 year ago

    An inspirational story.

    For the housing market today, strikes will only help some tenants. We need a surplus in housing to reduce rent.