ACORN Bradford faces down bailiffs to protect a member facing eviction

One of the many tools our union has at its disposal to protect members is the eviction resistance. As it sounds, our members prevent an eviction, not by sending letters or pleading with officials, but by putting their bodies on the line to get the desired result. In Bradford, Gemma joined the union after coming home to find a notice that bailiffs had visited and giving her just two weeks to vacate the property. 

As happens to all of us at some point or another, Gemma had been through a rough patch; losing a job and in general going through a difficult time. Her landlord claims she was served a proper section 21 eviction notice but Gemma never received any and was looking to set up a repayment plan. Our members reached out to the letting agent, looking to get her more time in the property and set up the payment plan but they refused, with her landlord rather astonishingly claiming that she should ‘never be able to rent again.’ He intended to go through with the eviction.

So ACORN Bradford members assembled bright and early on the day, arm in arm, in front of the property - with Gemma safely behind in her home. The bailiffs, the landlord and the letting agent turned up shortly after and immediately became aggressive, attempting to force their way through our cordon, which included elderly members. The bailiffs were no match for them though and soon called the police. The bailiffs again tried again to violently break through our lines, with the landlord even having to be dragged off one of our members, all while the police insisted they had the right to use ‘reasonable force’. 

In the end, they were not enough to break the power of community and Gemma won more time in her home to find somewhere else to go, no longer facing the threat of homelessness or temporary accommodation.