Fun days and free pizza may skew London tenants’ ballots, say Greens

Newham council held a ‘community fun day’ at Carpenters estate, where posters encouraged its demolition. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Bouncy castles and free pizza may be helping skew votes on housing estate demolitions, according to activists who want stricter rules to stop landlords gaining an unfair advantage.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds are being spent on tactics ranging from family fun days to repeated door-to-door canvassing by landlords determined to persuade social housing tenants to approve multimillion pound redevelopments in a way that would breach the rules of standard democratic elections, campaigners warn.