This is the moment a group of Bristol renters stormed the first meeting of a new Bristol City Council commission - after they were excluded by the Mayor. Rent campaign group ACORN burst into the first meeting of the council’s Living Rent Commission, disrupted the meeting with more than 20 members entering the boardroom where it was taking place - and stopped the meeting from happening.
Members of the community union, which is the biggest representative group for people who rent homes in Bristol, said they had not been invited to take part in the commission once it had been set up. They claimed it was because of the Mayor’s ‘personal dislike’ of their campaign.
The council set up its Living Rent Commission to investigate renters’ experiences, and to work towards making Bristol a ‘Living Rent City’. That came after a Renters Summit earlier this year, organised by housing charity Shelter, tenants’ union ACORN and Bristol City Council, which looked at ways to help ease the housing crisis for the hundreds of thousands of people in Bristol in private rented accommodation.
