SOCIAL tenants will picket a property auction today as their estate is put up for sale.

Residents of the Butterfields estate in Walthamstow, London, will be marching on the Marriott Hotel in Grosevenor Square to protest against the sale of their homes.

The 64 homes were owned by poverty charity Glasspool Trust until earlier this year, when the estate was bought, without its tenants’ knowledge, by property firm Butterfields E17.

Commenting on the sell-off of the first six homes today, activist Nancy Taaffe said: “More of these cases are in the pipeline.

“Just look at the plans to massively redevelop our market.

“And look at the attacks on council tenants and housing association tenants in the Tories’ Housing Bill.

“This is only the beginning unless we fight back and stand together to stop this cold cruelty and injustice.”

Most of the Butterfields tenants are workers on low wages, often relying on benefits to survive.

The two-bedroom flats up for sale at the Marriott today have been described by estate agent Savills as “a worthy buy-to-let investment” and are priced at about £350,000. The price paid by Butterfields E17 to Glasspool remains undisclosed.

In a leaflet distributed to potential buyers outside the auction, residents declared that they would not “leave their homes without resistance.

“Anyone considering buying these homes should know they will be buying into a load of hassle.

“The tenants will call on every housing campaign in London and every trade union in Waltham Forest to come to their assistance.”