Brixton Buzz

Lambeth has issued £96,500 worth of fines to landlords operating unlicensed Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMO) since 2020, according to findings seen by Brixton Buzz following a Freedom of Information Request.

In Lambeth, landlords who rent out their properties to at least three tenants forming more than one household who share facilities, such as a toilet, bathroom and kitchen, are legally required to obtain a licence. Landlords who fail to licence a property could face prosecution or financial penalties of up to £30,000.

Lambeth Council’s finances remain in crisis, with the latest Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring Report forecasting a £20.38 million overspend for 2025/26.

The grim figure, due to be signed off by Cabinet on 22nd September, lays bare the scale of the borough’s continuing struggle to balance the books.

A major contributor is the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), which is forecast to overspend by £4.65m.

Former Lambeth Labour councillor Martin Abrams has defected to the Lambeth Green Party in a move that reshapes the political map at Lambeth Town Hall and leaves the Greens as the official opposition to Labour’s overwhelming majority.

Abrams will be formally welcomed to the party later this morning by the newly elected Green Party leader, Zack Polanski, at the Town Hall.

Met Police detectives have launched a murder investigation following a double shooting in Clapham in which one man sadly died.

On Monday, 8 September at 20:50hrs police were called to reports of a shooting on New Park Road, Clapham.

Officers attended alongside the London Ambulance Service who treated two men, aged 20 and 27, for gunshot wounds before taking them to hospital.

Despite the best efforts of medical staff, the 27-year-old sadly died in hospital in the early hours of Tuesday, 9 September.

The Streatham Free Film Festival has announced its 10th-anniversary edition, and is promising an unparalleled cinematic experience that’s “bigger, bolder, and more vibrant than ever before.”

To mark this milestone, the festival is extending its run from two weeks to a full four weeks of free films, events, and community celebration, kicking off on Tuesday, September 9th with the annual Film Quiz at the Rebel Inn.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy is the first confirmed candidate in Labour’s 2025 Deputy Leadership contest, announcing on social media last night that she would stand to give members a genuine left choice.

Condemning the party’s “short and undemocratic” three-day nomination window, her announcement capped a week of sharp interventions on Gaza, poverty and protest rights.

Steve Reed, MP for Streatham and Croydon North, and former Leader of Lambeth Council, has been appointed Labour’s new Housing Minister.

This promotion comes after 14 months as Environment Secretary – a post Reed, a lifelong city-dweller, has always appeared somewhat uncomfortable with.

The new role follows the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and former Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, who admitted failing to pay enough tax on her second home.

Zarah Sultana MP announced last night on her social media, the first Your Party event in Brixton, taking place at Brixton Jamm on Friday 12 September.

The Coventry South MP recently quit the Labour Party to co-found Your Party with Jeremy Corbyn, declaring it “a new kind of political party… one that belongs to you.” Their launch statement on the Your Party website pledges to tax the richest, bring energy, water, rail and mail into public ownership, build council housing, defend the right to protest for Palestine, and campaign for climate justice.

Lambeth is introducing its own landlord licensing scheme in all but two wards of the borough where it says it is unnecessary.

It is Phase 2 of a scheme which began in September 2024 in four wards: Knights Hill, Streatham Common and Vale, Streatham Hill East, and Streatham St. Leonard’s. Only Vauxhall and Waterloo & South Bank wards are excluded from the new requirements for landlords.

The next local elections in Lambeth aren’t until May 2026, but the Labour Party has already started lining up its candidates.

And in true Town Hall fashion, it’s proving to be less about finding the best people for the job and more about who’s in favour, who’s fallen out, and who can be relied upon to clap loudly enough when Council Leader Claire Holland finishes her speeches.