ACTIVISTS and trade unionists will lock horns with the super rich today over the housing crisis while developers schmoozed politicians at the world’s largest property fair.

As protesters showed up in Kensington to block London Mayor Boris Johnson from entering the International Fair for Real Estate Professionals — known as Mipim — the number of councils pulling out of the event grew.

The capital’s boroughs of Enfield, Tower Hamlets, Islington, Lewisham and Hammersmith & Fulham are reportedly not sending representatives to the fair after continued pressure from local communities.

The #BlockBoris campaign has been supported by the Radical Housing Network (RHN) and general union Unite.

“London’s Tory mayor Boris Johnson is aiding and abetting property developers in the capital to the detriment of those seeking a home”, said a union spokesman.

“At present, an £80,000 salary is needed to rent an ‘affordable’ two-bedroom home in London.”

The union also argued that while 20 estates across the capital are under threat of demolition, “councils and public bodies are pressurised by a combination of government, developers, and funding cuts to use publicly-owned land for majority-private housing development.”

As previously reported by the Star, the fair has been particularly controversial due to the recent rise in housing costs.

According to a recent report from the National Housing Federation, “England is suffering a catastrophic housing crisis that has been more than a generation in the making.”

The average British home costs seven times more than its owner’s salary — an increase of over 55 per cent in 40 years. 

A statement by the Radical Housing Network read: “Mipim represents the interests of the 1 per cent while groups opposing it range from housing activists to council workers whose lives are made a nightmare by the housing crisis.”

“We believe there is an alternative and that the solutions to the crisis are found in social movements like ours.”

An alternative conference Cities For People Not Profit will be taking place this Thursday and Friday, with Green Party leader Natalie Bennett and journalist Aditya Chakrabortty among the speakers.

“At Mipim, London housing, public space and infrastructure are treated as a way to make money instead of being social necessities. 

"Our attempt to block Boris has support from those being driven out of social housing, private renters whose rents are rocketing and people from across London struggling to keep a roof over their head.” 

Lewis Brook, Radical Housing Network

“Those attending the Mipim conference are responsible for causing a crisis in the supply of decent, genuinely affordable homes.”

Focus E15 mother Jasmin Stone