Sina

 

‘North Kensington is dominated by 1960’s council estates in Golborne and Notting Dale. Those estates are being gentrified. Replaced by -  what architects call - stylish designer buildings. And with that private accommodation, what were originally Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) or even before then, Greater London council housing are now a mixture of private and social housing but with private really beginning to dominate, ever since the '80s when Thatcher allowed the right of tenants to buy their homes. I think that allows gentrification to exacerbate itself. And then there’s the other definition which is the super-rich coming in and displacing middle class and working class people- that’s also happening. In South Kensington a vast majority of homes, especially around Queens Gate ward, are not occupied for most of the year - they are seasonal homes where rich people come just for holidays or the summer. There’s plenty of developments which are just an investment as opposed to accommodation. So, I would definitely describe Kensington as a massively gentrified place compared to what it was forty or fifty years ago before I was alive.’

​

Sina was elected to represent Golborne ward in 2018 as a Labour Party councillor. He is a lifelong resident of the borough and graduated in Biological Sciences from Imperial College where he specialised in epidemiology.  He plays the organ for a number of churches across the borough and when he can,  loves to ski in the mountains.