Beyond Brix & Mortar Film

Aim

This David vs Goliath story explores how communities like Brixton, facing cultural erasure through property development, can fight back.

WHO WE ARE

We're a team of multi-ethnic, award-winning film makers who would love your help to complete our feature documentary ‘Beyond Brix & Mortar’. 

Co-Directed by Daniyal Harris-Vajda who has grown up and lived in Brixton for the last 30 Years and Charlie Rollins whose grandmother was part of the Windrush generation and lived in Brixton. Executive Produced by Katherine Nathan, Creative Director and Founder of RATCHET, one of the few brown, female-led Indies. 

This is a story that is personal to us, the need to document a community under threat, that has contributed so much to the UK, is vital. 

BACKGROUND

Our film aims to give people historical context for why things work the way they do today. We need help to fund the completion of this film, mainly to pay for the historical archive.

It’s impossible to look at the impact of urban development without understanding national policy choices. The UK is in the grip of a major housing crisis that started over 40 years ago. A pillar of Thatcherism was the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme, supported by all subsequent governments. The stated goal was to boost social mobility and reduce the gap between the classes through home ownership.The actual consequences of this are rarely talked about.

Crucially, money generated from the sale of council houses cannot be used to replace dwindling housing stock, creating the chronic shortage in social housing we see today. In London, one of the places most affected by this crisis, the problem was made worse during Boris Johnson's tenure as Mayor of London. In 2008 he scrapped the 50% target for ‘affordable’ housing on new developments, resulting in fewer homes for people on lower incomes. In 2011 he published a new London Plan that removed compulsory targets. He changed the definition of ‘affordable’ housing from 40% of market value to 80%, doubling the cost, making "affordable" unaffordable for most people in London. Funding was redirected away from social housing towards luxury high cost developments with very few "affordable" family homes being built. In an effort to attract developers to build, they were also allowed to reduce the amount of affordable housing to preserve their profits in a world of rising costs. The current government has further removed regulation, incentivising profit-driven development rather than holding developers to account to ensure they create better towns for all.

THE STATS

Since the Uprisings in the 1980s property prices have increased by over 1700% in Brixton, a countrywide phenomenon. Even when adjusted for inflation, UK house prices have more than trebled since 1980.

In London, reports by the Trust for London in collaboration with University College London analysed 25 years of data. They identified 53 neighbourhoods that have undergone rapid gentrification. The study found that approximately 10,000 black residents have left these neighbourhoods; they experienced a 5% average decrease in households living in social housing - compared to a 1% fall across the rest of the capital. Housing prices in these areas increased by 250% in the last 12 years. 

Over 10% of these hyper gentrified neighbourhoods are in and around Brixton, Elephant and Castle was the model, Brixton was next and Peckham followed. Trust for London warned that the capital was at a “tipping point” risking becoming a “homogenous place” that only the wealthy can afford.  

WHY NOW

A major driver for this film is the sense of urgency the data provides showing that London is becoming less multi-ethnic and socially diverse. Year on year people are priced out of the areas they once called home.

We think it’s critical at a time when many politicians seek to divide us, that we build strong communities and find ways to have a range of voices heard. This film argues that we must hold those who commission public property development to account, to ensure that they build houses for everybody, not just those with deep pockets. This is not an anti-development film, it's a thoughtful and inclusive development film.

THE IDEA

We have created a film that gives younger and future generations the historical context for why Brixton looks like it does today. While this isn't a definitive history of Brixton, our contributors share their personal accounts of hope, traveling to the UK, building a home and forging a community, facing racism from politicians, police and people, building a movement of resistance, prospering and having families and facing new existential threats in each post war decade. 

We want people to use the unique lens of Brixton to examine their own communities in towns across the UK. Many places are facing similar issues due to profit-driven urban development. People are being pushed out by those who have the money to remain.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

We bring to screen a unique mix of contributors, most of whom don't usually get air time. From current shop owners, market traders, town planners, Windrush descendants, ex-councillors, musicians, artists, community activists and youth workers. This multi-generational line up allows audiences to understand what's at stake and how the clock is ticking on this unique British community who have been through decades of struggle, only to finally face erasure.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

It was incredibly important for us to tell a story by the community, for the community, not one of outside interests. For that reason RATCHET Productions has personally funded the majority of this project but unfortunately, the big cost items are beyond us. In particular, commercial archive is critical to telling our history. Sadly, we don't own the archive to tell stories of our lived experience, this belongs in the main to large commercial companies. Where possible we have paid most people who have worked on this film but many have worked for either a reduced rate or for free, as testimony to their belief in the project to document the fight for survival of a unique community.

We believe that our very human story requires a person to effectively explore our humanity. Which is why we also need to pay for a voice over artist.

WHAT YOUR FUNDING SUPPORT WILL BE ALLOCATED TO

• £20,000 for licensing archive. 
• £7,000 allocated for the voice over artist.
• £3,000 towards our final online edit.

We would all be enormously grateful for any assistance you can provide in helping us bring this universal story to the widest possible audience.

This project successfully funded on 13th May 2026