Russell Brand Leads ‘Sleepover Protest’

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Russell Brand led a sleepover protest on a North London estate this week, where housing activists reoccupied their old homes.

The protest at the occupied housing estate attracted more than 150 people on Tuesday night .

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Annington Property Ltd, the owners of Sweets Way in Barnet, North London, recently evicted tenants to make way for a new housing development.

RT reports: Large crowds gathered on the estate on Tuesday to show solidarity with former tenants and those on the verge of homelessness.

Housing activists, who brought sleeping bags and tents with them, chanted “we want our homes back.”

They removed metal grilles from two recently cleared homes and urged evictees to “move back in.”

Taking to Twitter, Brand accused Annington and the Barnet Council of “putting profit before people.”

With a lack of affordable homes left in Barnet, “Annington should not be allowed to bulldoze our homes to make luxury flats,” Brand said on his website.

He told the Guardian the housing crisis is a “confection, a creation and unnecessary,” as “there are 1.5 million empty buildings in the UK.”

Addressing protesters, he said: “We’ve got an opportunity for housing, and work, and to defend people who are vulnerable to stop the break-up of community assets like health, and to stop the break-up of jobs.”