MIPIM UK 2015: The rain has put off large crowds of protesters on the first morning of the event, though it did not stop a few individuals.
Protesters from residents’ associations, unions and political parties gathered outside the conference to rally against a perceived injustice in UK housing supply.
Ravi Bali, a resident of Dorchester Court, south-east London, and member of DC Resists, said: “We are here because this is a property developers’ fair, an international gathering for councils to hawk their public land to developers.”
Meanwhile, Harriet Vickers, of GMB Young London Union, said she was here because “housing is one of the biggest problems that affects young people at the moment”.
When asked her response to the fact that housing developers have provided around £1bn in affordable housing commitments since 2010, Sian Berry, Green Party mayoral candidate said that it “should be a lot more than that”, and “developers can work on lower profits”.
The organisers of MIPIM UK, Reed Midem, said that the event was here to encourage more investment into London, but acknowledged the protesters concerns.
Julien Sausset, director of MIPIM UK, said: “Our reaction to demonstration is we are very mindful to the importance of affordable housing in the UK and London, and we respect the right of individual to protest.”
Although the UK weather might have put off the morning demonstrators – all had left by early afternoon – it is unlikely to stop some people from using the conference as an opportunity to voice their concerns over the London housing crisis.
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