Residents of Hyde’s ‘Five Towers’ estate in Gosport celebrated this week after four years of collective challenge resulted in an apology and a refund of more than £106,000 for ‘erroneous’ service charges. This refund is in addition to £59,000 made to the same group of residents last year, and include a ‘goodwill gesture’ of £35 to… Continue reading Hyde: Tenants Force an Apology and a £106k Service Charge Refund
This week we interviewed Emma, a Hyde shared ownership tenant who will shortly hand back the keys to the Hyde flat she has lived in for 15 years. Emma will then become homeless. Emma has been driven out of her home - not by rising rents, but by extortionate service charges. One example is the… Continue reading Emma’s Story: Made Homeless by Hyde Service Charges
We are delighted to report that the combative tenants and residents association on the Barking Riverside estate in East London have scored a major victory after beginning a collective service charge strike, and following months of campaigning. Construction company Bellway will now pay in full for the remediation of flammable balconies, cladding, and missing and deformed cavity… Continue reading Victory for Bellway Service Charge Strikers!
The UK Housing Awards Protest - 25th November 2021 Housing association executives were unexpectedly forced to do the 'walk of shame' through protestors as they arrived at the UK Housing Awards at the InterContinental Hotel in Greenwich. The protest started outside North Greenwich tube station, with speakers including Clarion campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa, Unite Housing Workers… Continue reading Housing Association Execs’ Walk of Shame
The amount collected by housing associations as service charge income has increased by 2.3% (£33 million) in one year, according to the consolidated returns of housing associations made to the Regulator of Social Housing. It brings the total income generated through this income stream to £1.5 billion in the 2020 financial year. Upward Trend The… Continue reading Associations Enjoy £33 million Service Charge Income Bonanza
Inside Housing Magazine has reported on the rises in housing association chief executive (CEO) pay, noting that on average, basic pay rose by 2.32. There is no figure given to the average pay rises for the non-executive staff in the same organisations. Housing associations have also made substantial contributions to CEO pensions of 8.9%, although… Continue reading Housing Association Exec Pay Leaps Again
When fire ripped through the wooden balconies of Samuel Garside House, Barking Riverside, in June 2019, it forced 79 families to flee their homes. By the time it was out, it had destroyed a total of 10 flats and damaged many more. By sheer luck, no one was hurt, partly because it happened during the… Continue reading Service Charge Strike: Bellway Protestors Refuse to Pay for Remediation
Demi is a single parent with two daughters, one of whom has a disability. Her daughter's disability causes her pain and she regularly wakes in the night, disturbing Demi's youngest child. So now Demi sleeps on the floor of her room while the youngest has the bed. But this is not the worst of it.… Continue reading L&Q: Rats, Roaches, but No Toilet
A group of Hyde residents from an estate in Maidstone have begun withholding service charge payments in despair over their landlord's failure to provide accurate, reasonable, and evidenced accounts. Residents wrote jointly to inform Hyde that they were "withholding the service charge payments" because they have been requesting itemised invoices from the service charge team… Continue reading Hyde Residents Resort to Service Charge Strike
On the 25th November, the social housing sector will hold the UK Housing Awards ceremony to congratulate itself on the great job it has done over the last year. The event is sponsored by Inside Housing Magazine and the Chartered Institute for Housing. Possible winners this year include One Housing Group, Gentoo Group, Peabody, L&Q,… Continue reading UK Housing Awards: L&Q, One Housing and Clarion Make the Shortlist
