There is so much unused space in Birmingham. Just think how many square foot becomes empty and unused at night; all our high rise offices, all of our shops, all of our businesses, and now grand central. At the same time, tens (if not hundreds given the recent explosion we've seen of people sleeping rough in Birmingham) of people have to sleep outside; exposed, cold and often in fear of abuse. Let's stretch out a hand and do a simple thing, which may have a profound impact. Let's utilise our space and create an area in Grand Central where there are beds available to those sleeping on the streets. Let's break down barriers in society, and truly show that we care.

In the last couple of years, through no fault of my own, l became homeless. I am one of the lucky ones in the sense that l have a piece of land. I moved onto it because l had nowhere else to go. During the last 18 months l have been threatened with eviction, surveillance and have suffered abusive and intimidating behaviour from the enforcement officer involved. Plus complaints from various people who, not only have all they need, but also did not even bother to find out anything about me or my situation. Although l have now been given a council bedsit this is shocking and absurd. Someone else who really needed it could have benefited from it if l had been allowed to stay on my field. I am not disturbing anyone and my shepherds hut cannot be seen as it is tucked away behind trees. We have a huge housing problem in this country and the number of homeless people is escalating out of control. While l fully appreciate that, as the housing officer said 'we cannot have the countryside littered with caravans' (who said anything about caravans??), the countryside is already 'littered' with some truly monstrous buildings and, of course if it suits the council they will grant planning for anything. If the planning laws were relaxed and councils worked WITH people instead of AGAINST them, this 'littering' should and can be avoided. Planning restrictions have now been lifted for agricultural barns, but this has meant such an increase in price that most people can't afford to buy them. Once again it is the few rich elite who can. I know many people who want to live on their own piece of land but are unable to do so. This doesn't mean to say that they are unwilling to pay their council tax, as some people are so quick to judge that they are; they are 'normal', resourceful people just wanting a slightly different way of life. What's so wrong with that? Please sign this petition to lobby Brandon Lewis and his colleagues to change planning law to allow people to live on a piece of land if they choose to do so. Thank you.

London and Quadrent over the years have gone from being a caring organisation providing social accommodation to those in need. It seems however that in recent years they have become very much about making profit, investing in redevelopment homes that are part buy/rent. They have been very underhand and lied on several occasions to long term residents of the small estate in Sydenham SE26 and seem to be railroading this development through Lewisham Council.

Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety. Yet our prime minister said ‘we won't take any more refugees’. He thinks that most of us don't care. But 38 Degrees members do care. We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria. So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need. Please sign and share, or start your own petition for your town or city here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/refugees-welcome

Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety. Yet our prime minister has just said ‘we won't take any more refugees’. He thinks that most of us don't care. But 38 Degrees members do care. We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria. So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need. Please sign and share, or start your own petition for your town or city here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/refugees-welcome

Most Leasehold properties are rented by the poorer members of our society; those who can least afford to pay. This charge is placed upon homes that stand on land belonging to THE RICH. It was an ancient charge invented by the Land Barons in Medieval times, as a tax on the poorest of their labourers.

Scotland has the most concentrated land ownership in the developed world. Just 432 people own half of the private land. Land prices are far too high - this is why rents are extortionate, and why young people are leaving when they can't even get a scrap of land for housing. For Scotland to flourish and every community to have a say over their resources and their future, we need a strong land reform bill that really tackles all these issues. We're up against a wealthy landowning lobby who want to water down the Scottish government's proposals - so we must make our voice heard! Tell your MSPs to back the five demands of the #OurLand campaign and make sure we get a bill that can change Scotland for the better. The Our Land Campaign was set up by Common Weal, Women for Independence, the Scottish Land Action Movement and campaigners Andy Wightman and Lesley Riddoch to highlight the way unavailable and unaffordable land blights development in the countryside and cities.

The recent sale of 191-201, Archway Road, London N6 5BN to Investland/ Archway Apartments is threatening the livelihood of a long-standing group of small businesses, entrepreneurs, sole traders and craftsmen, who provide a wide range of services to the local North London community. The proposed development seeks to completely demolish the independent work-units currently used by this diverse collection of small businesses in order to build a new block of luxury flats, also housing a supermarket. The impact of yet another major supermarket would not only destroy the livelihood of the many small independent grocery businesses in the Archway road area, but would also create a major increase in traffic congestion in what is already an overly congested area. A wide range of small independent businesses currently operate from these premises, including highly experienced health and fitness professionals, a media production company, carpenters and joiners, therapists, a painter, and a tailor and clothing designer. Some of these businesses have been providing valuable services to the local Highgate community for decades, and face eviction if these proposals were to go ahead. The proposed new development plans would also mean the eviction of the residential tenants currently living in the block, some of whom have lived here for over thirty years. A report published in 2015 by Sussex Innovation, the business incubation network owned by the University of Sussex, found that two thirds (63%) of small business owners in London and the South East are considering leaving central London due to the lack of affordable business premises in the capital. This is not just a local Highgate issue, but is in fact representative of a growing problem effecting small businesses across the country, where short-sighted and profit-focused property developers are destroying the very heart and soul of local communities in Great Britain. You can watch a short video about the plight of this small business community by clicking the following link: https://vimeo.com/136233275 Please sign this petition and support our cause in defending the livelihood and employment of these small businesses, sole traders and craftsmen working in this building complex, and other small business communities in similar situations throughout the U.K.

UKAR is a company set by the government to get the maximum value from from two banks taken over during the financial crisis. More then 300,000 borrowers have ended up as customers of this company and many of them are in dire financial situation. Few though are as bad off as Rita and Richard Kauffman who are in their late 60's. If they don't repay their 376,000 mortgage UKAR will repossess their home. UKAR is a business without a heart. It has no public share holders and no reputation to protect. Its sole point is to ruthlessly pursue the money it is owed. If that means turning into the street an elderly couple who are the victims of a terrible mis-selling scandal then so be it. In 2006 a financial advisor talked the Kauffmans into a rotten investment. He was part of a group of salesmen who used high pressure tactics and psychological tricks to convince people to take out high risk investments so that he could earn huge commissions. He advised the Kauffmans to take a home loan and invest the money in the high risk deals while they asked for a low risk investment. Bosses at Mortgage Express approved a home loan for the Kauffmans, bringing their total borrowing to £374,925, with hardly a question asked about how this huge sum will be repaid. Bank of Scotland - now a part of Lloyd Banking Group loaned the pensioners a further 194,931 knowing this be used to invest in a package of high risk endowment plans it would also sell them. This sewn together what is now called Frankenstein investment plan has allowed the different businesses involved to wash their hands of any blame because they were just one part of a bigger monster. So although the Financial Ombudsman found in favour of the Kauffmans, none of these businesses have been held to account. Even in 2006, before the financial crash, deals like this were despicable. No bank should ever lend money to allow someone to invest. With compensations awarded by a court following the ombudsman's decision the Kauffmans paid their debt to the Bank of Scotland. However their debt of 376,000 to the now government owned Mortgage Express remains. UKAR has the ability to keep the Kauffmans in their home and ensure they get justice. That would be the best value for the country - not leaving an elderly couple homeless and penniless. UKAR has a net worth of £7 billion!! That is how much they collected for the government. A few thousands will not make a difference to UKAR but mean the roof over the head of two pensioners. Sadly UKAR has shown it doesn't have an ounce of decency. Now it's up to Chancellor George Osborne to show that he does. He is the one man that has the power to keep the Kauffmans in their home. Please sign this petition to urge George Osborne to write- off the Kauffmans' debt and let the Kauffmans keep their home.

The Conservative government have proposed a ‘Right to Buy’ bill which will force Housing Associations to sell off their housing stock at a discount. This policy would decimate the remaining provision of genuinely affordable social housing in the UK, and turn the housing crisis into a catastrophe. Under the current Right to Buy scheme for council housing, only one new house is started for every nine sold. This has resulted in an abject lack of council housing, and forced 100,000s of people onto the private rented sector - sending rents soaring and fuelling the buy-to-let market. Many council tenants who buy their own home are at high risk of losing it due to being unable to afford mortgage repayments. It is estimated that one third of all ex-council homes are now owned by private landlords, who charge rents more than twice the council level. Extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants will make things even worse. In order to recompense Housing Associations for the discounted price at which they are being forced to sell, the government is proposing that councils should be forced to sell off their ‘most expensive’ properties. In a city with inflated house prices such as Brighton and Hove, this could mean that every council house that becomes empty, and every new council house that is built, would be sold off. This would mean the end of all genuinely affordable housing in Brighton and Hove. The Brighton Living Rent campaign call on the city’s MPs to pledge to vote against this catastrophic bill. Please sign below to show your support.

A No Pets policy discriminates against responsible pet owners who are not fortunate enough to own their own homes. It forces tenants to make an impossible choice if they need for whatever reason, to move home. Social Media sites such as Facebook are awash with pets for sale or needing to be rehomed because their owners need to move but are unable to find a home which will allow them to keep their family pets. In many cases, these pets are dogs which have been a member of the family for many years. Pet owners can be tempted to be dishonest when entering into Tenancy Agreements by stating that they do not have pets when in fact, they do. This will render any contract void and puts the tenant at risk of eviction should the landlord or their agent find out that they've lied about pet ownership. In addition to this, there is a human rights issue because the right to a family life and a right to privacy is enshrined in Human Rights Law. If the Right to a Family Life is enough to stop a terrorist from being deported, why should it not prevent landlords from dictating to tenants how they live their lives within reason. After all, the landlord might own the building, but it's the tenant's home.

The A12 is one of London’s most congested and polluted highways. Not only is it a major contributor to ill health among local residents, but it cuts the community of Poplar in half, leaving families and businesses isolated. Cutting the speed limit will allow residents to cross the 6 lane carriageway safely and reduce noise and other pollution.