Protesters outside the Ministry of Justice

ACTIVISTS gathered outside the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in protest at the department’s flats lying empty.

The MOJ owns 28 ex-prison officer flats in Wellington Mews, next to Pentonville Prison. The three and four-bedroom flats have been vacant since 2018, and last Friday protesters handed in a petition with 400 signatures to the MOJ demanding action.

“We’re just completely frustrated that the Ministry of Justice isn’t shifting on it,” said Morag Gillie from Islington Homes for All who organised the protest.

“The developers don’t want to progress because they want to have 100 per cent private flats, and the council says it has to be 50 per cent at council rents.”

After handing in the petition, protesters sat outside the MOJ’s offices in Petty France in sleeping bags and holding placards.

“The sleeping bags highlighted the fact that again, there is a rise in street homelessness, due not only to a lack of housing, like council housing, but also because of increasingly unaffordable housing, and people are a pay cheque away from losing their homes because they can’t afford the high rents,” said Ms Gillie.

Deputy council chief Diarmaid Ward said, “The MOJ have a choice here – my door is always open and I’ll talk to them tomorrow morning if they’d like to.

“We’re in the middle of the worst-ever housing crisis and we’ve got three- and four-bed flats there, which would be ideal for the families of Islington.

“We had a deal with the MOJ in 2019… and at the last minute, they said they didn’t want to go through with it.

“And while I’m livid about that still, my door is always open to them. Let’s work together and get this done.”

An MOJ spokesperson said: “An application to turn the site into new housing was turned down by Islington Borough Council in 2021, so we are continuing to look for the best way to use the property.”