News & blogs

Our blogs

All our blogs are written by Z2K's staff, trustees and volunteers

October 4, 2019 · Housing & homelessness | Latest News | Private Rented Sector project | Raji Hunjan

UPDATE: London Housing Panel

Z2K CEO and Chair of the London Housing Panel, Raji, provides an update on what has been happening since June

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September 27, 2019 · Blog | Housing & homelessness | Marc Francis | Private Rented Sector project

Westminster Homelessness Strategy: why more ambition is needed

In this piece, Marc reflects on Westminster City Council's Homelessness Strategy 2019 - 2024, Supreme Court judgements and why there must be more ambition to deliver more genuinely affordable social housing

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August 2, 2019 · Bailiff reform | Blog | Disability Rights | Eimear Twomey | ESA & PIP | Housing & homelessness | Private Rented Sector project

The reality of moving from homelessness to the Private Rented Sector

Eimear Twomey, our Tenancy Engagement Officer, on managing what can be an extremely difficult move from homelessness to the Private Rented Sector.

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Latest news

We’re in the news…

Nationwide foundation to spend over £800,000 funding tenants’ unions | The Negotiator

Foundation backed by lender says vulnerable renters lack a voice and is funding three tenants' unions, two housing charities and several housing rights campaign groups

Revised benefits letter still 'misleading' GPs about issuing fit notes | Anviksha Patel writes in Pulse

A benefits letter sent to GPs explaining patients are fit for work is still 'misleading' despite having been revised by the Department for Work and Pensions, family doctors have warned

DWP finally scraps 'misleading' fit-for-work letters to GPs - but faces new row | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror

EXCLUSIVE: Letters which were sent on behalf of more than 150,000 people found 'fit for work' have been withdrawn - but the DWP faces a new row after a charity said their replacement is not good enough either

DWP: Advertising watchdog launches investigation into Universal Credit adverts | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror

Charities demanded the DWP withdraws the ads with immediate effect after the Advertising Standards Authority launched a formal probe

Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign | Inside Housing

An anti-poverty charity has lodged an official complaint over a government-backed Universal Credit ad campaign, claiming the content is “deliberately misleading”

Grenfell and the long wait for a tenants’ watchdog | The Guardian Letters

Campaigners, including the chief executives of major charities, write to demand the creation a consumer regulator for social housing, in the wake of the Grenfell disaster

Watch the full Channel 4 video here

Our CEO Raji slams the DWP for making the wrong decisions on people's lives time and again - stopping them from accessing the benefits they need.

Watch here

Mayor unveils new London Housing Panel | 24 Housing

Raji Hunjan, panel Chair and CEO of Z2K, says: “The 15 organisations represented on this panel work to empower communities and individuals who have faced unacceptable housing problems, which include poor conditions, discrimination and unaffordable rent...”

Sadiq Khan reveals new London Housing Panel | Development Finance Today

Raji Hunjan, CEO at anti-poverty charity Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, has been named chairman of the panel and will also join the mayor’s Homes for Londoners Board to ensure the panel’s views are represented.

Universal Credit under attack as more than 80 charities unite against 'dangerous' adverts | Birmingham Live

A huge consortium of charities says the adverts are "dangerous to the health and financial security of disabled people". The mass fight against the campaign follows an earlier complaint lodged by anti-poverty charity Z2K

DWP's Universal Credit adverts trigger official complaint from anti-poverty charity | Birmingham Live

Z2K writes to Advertising Standards Authority challenging DWP's 'myth-busting' campaign

Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign | Inside Housing

Inside Housing, Z2K has lodged an official complaint over a government-backed Universal Credit ad campaign, claiming the content is “deliberately misleading”

Official complaint made over DWP's controversial Universal Credit adverts | Liverpool Echo

Z2K takes issue with department for work and pension's campaign in the Metro - calling it 'propaganda'

Fury as DWP launches taxpayer-funded 'spin' campaign to defend Universal Credit | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror:

Charities slammed the "shameless and deceptive" campaign - launched on the same day as a searing report by a United Nations Special Rapporteur

'DWP has sent 150,000 of the 'fit for work' letters that 'risk patients' health' | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror

EXCLUSIVE: The scale of the problem is exposed after 146,500 people were found 'fit for work' in the 13 months since the DWP changed the wording of a controversial letter

"Fit notes for benefit claimants: medical bodies “did not agree” advice to GPs" | The British Medical Journal

Raji Hunjan in British Medical Journal: “Patients + claimants are suffering + continue to suffer as long as these letters are sent out. We do not believe any such letter should exist, [they] must be withdrawn with immediate effect.”

'A Culture of Disbelief: why our #ScraptheLetters campaign is emblematic of a much wider problem' | Public Sector Focus

Ella Abraham writes for Public Sector Focus discussing the launch of Z2K's campaign, and highlights the long and arduous disability assessment process

Doctors Tell DWP: We Didn't Approve Wording Of 'Misleading' Benefits Letter | George Bowden writes in Huff Post

"Patients and claimants are suffering and continue to suffer as long as these letters are sent out."

Ministers Plan Multi-Billion Pound Overhaul of 'Demeaning' Disability Benefit Assessments | Emma Youle writes for Huff Post

Charities fear new one-stop process will lead to more people losing payments.

Thousands tell Amber Rudd to #ScraptheLetters | Phil Miller in the Morning Star

67,000 signatories are calling on the Department for Work and Pensions to stop sending GPs letters claiming that their patients do not need a ‘fit note’

Scrap 'misleading' fit-for-work letter to GPs, says Labour | The Guardian

Removal of advice is leaving ill and disabled people destitute, says Marsha de Cordova

'Misleading' DWP letter causing ill and disabled people to lose benefits | Patrick Butler in the Guardian

'Advice removed for GPs to provide notes for patients challenging fit-for-work tests'

DWP accused of 'interfering with GPs' in letters declaring patients fit for work | Dan Bloom for The Mirror

Dan Bloom for The Mirror covering #ScraptheLetters campaign

Don't Give Your Severely Ill Patients Sick Notes For Benefits, DWP Tells GPs | George Bowden for Huff Post

“It is not for the DWP to interfere with the GP and their patient."

Patients risk homelessness after DWP sends GPs misleading benefits letters | Anviksha Patel for Pulse Today

'GPs are being explicitly told not to issue fit notes to patients by the Department of Work and Pensions, even if there is still a chance that the decision could be appealed.'

"Backdoor policies" denying people with mental illnesses access to ESA | Mental Health Today

The government's department for work and pensions (DWP) is sending doctors premature and misleading letters suggesting ill patients no longer need a “fit note” (medical note) after being found fit for work, an influential charity claimed today

Welfare contract worth billions up for grabs | Channel 4 News

Ministers are now looking at overhauling assessments for people applying for health and disability benefits. Outsourced to private companies for multi-million dollar contracts, they’ve long been criticised as” fundamentally flawed’.

Now the government is finally looking to transform them, and this programme has learnt it could mean new opportunities for private companies, with a potential contract worth an estimated £3bn up for grabs.

A Timely Lesson | Fabian Society

Labour must remember the principled stand George Lansbury and his colleagues made during the Poplar rates rebellion and argue for the renationalisation of our social security system, write Raji Hunjan and Marc Francis.

Universal Credit: This Is What It’s Like Surviving On Benefits At A Time Of Huge Change In The System | Emma Youle for Huff Post

'It was only with support from the charity Zacchaeus 2000 Trust and the help of Citizens Advice Bureau and his GP that he was able to appeal the decision at tribunal, where his medical assessment score was increased from nine points to 66. You need 15 points to qualify for PIP and Simon was told his case was so clear cut it should never have reached court.'

Are you Daniel Blake? Here’s a guide to using our nightmarish benefits system | | Matthew Ahluwalia Op Ed The Guardian

Ken Loach’s film shows the spiralling problems faced by welfare claimants. Our charity is just one place where people can go for help

News & blogs

Our blogs

UPDATE: London Housing Panel

Westminster Homelessness Strategy: why more ambition is needed

The reality of moving from homelessness to the Private Rented Sector

Latest news

PRESS RELEASE | Z2K Responds to the announcement that Labour will scrap Universal Credit

Esmee Fairbairn Funding for Z2K

Join us for Z2K’s Labour Conference Fringe Meeting

We’re in the news…

Nationwide foundation to spend over £800,000 funding tenants’ unions | The Negotiator

Revised benefits letter still 'misleading' GPs about issuing fit notes | Anviksha Patel writes in Pulse

DWP finally scraps 'misleading' fit-for-work letters to GPs - but faces new row | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror

DWP: Advertising watchdog launches investigation into Universal Credit adverts | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror

Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign | Inside Housing

Grenfell and the long wait for a tenants’ watchdog | The Guardian Letters

Watch the full Channel 4 video here

Mayor unveils new London Housing Panel | 24 Housing

Sadiq Khan reveals new London Housing Panel | Development Finance Today

Universal Credit under attack as more than 80 charities unite against 'dangerous' adverts | Birmingham Live

DWP's Universal Credit adverts trigger official complaint from anti-poverty charity | Birmingham Live

Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign | Inside Housing

Official complaint made over DWP's controversial Universal Credit adverts | Liverpool Echo

Fury as DWP launches taxpayer-funded 'spin' campaign to defend Universal Credit | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror:

'DWP has sent 150,000 of the 'fit for work' letters that 'risk patients' health' | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror

"Fit notes for benefit claimants: medical bodies “did not agree” advice to GPs" | The British Medical Journal

'A Culture of Disbelief: why our #ScraptheLetters campaign is emblematic of a much wider problem' | Public Sector Focus

Doctors Tell DWP: We Didn't Approve Wording Of 'Misleading' Benefits Letter | George Bowden writes in Huff Post

Ministers Plan Multi-Billion Pound Overhaul of 'Demeaning' Disability Benefit Assessments | Emma Youle writes for Huff Post

Thousands tell Amber Rudd to #ScraptheLetters | Phil Miller in the Morning Star

Scrap 'misleading' fit-for-work letter to GPs, says Labour | The Guardian

'Misleading' DWP letter causing ill and disabled people to lose benefits | Patrick Butler in the Guardian

DWP accused of 'interfering with GPs' in letters declaring patients fit for work | Dan Bloom for The Mirror

Don't Give Your Severely Ill Patients Sick Notes For Benefits, DWP Tells GPs | George Bowden for Huff Post

Patients risk homelessness after DWP sends GPs misleading benefits letters | Anviksha Patel for Pulse Today

"Backdoor policies" denying people with mental illnesses access to ESA | Mental Health Today

Welfare contract worth billions up for grabs | Channel 4 News

A Timely Lesson | Fabian Society

Universal Credit: This Is What It’s Like Surviving On Benefits At A Time Of Huge Change In The System | Emma Youle for Huff Post

Are you Daniel Blake? Here’s a guide to using our nightmarish benefits system | | Matthew Ahluwalia Op Ed The Guardian