By Deborah I was convicted in December 2025 for subletting my social housing - something that is commonplace and legal only after tenants have written permission from their landlord, which I did not obtain. Taking the law into my own hands to keep safe was counter-intuitive and risky but I still cannot say for certain… Continue reading Fear and Subletting in Social Housing
More than 100 activists gathered in person and online on the 11th October to plan a national tenants and residents (housing) union. The event was organised by SHAC as the basis for forming an independent action group that can transform the vision into reality. Attendees included those leading local action on their estates, regional groups… Continue reading Conference Agrees to Build a Housing Union
It started off with a complaint about serious antisocial behaviour (ASB) by a neighbour, and ended up with the resident taking the extraordinary step of sending court bailiffs to one of the largest housing associations in England (L&Q), to recover the compensation awarded to him by a county court. SHAC member and L&Q resident Dean… Continue reading The Resident Who Turned the Tables and Sent the Bailiffs into L&Q’s Head Office
Housing Associations Failing Tenants Despite Ombudsman Rulings By Dean Kennedy Despite falling national statistics in police-reported anti-social behaviour (ASB), social housing tenants continue to suffer disproportionately, and housing associations are persistently failing to act – even in cases where they are found at fault by the Housing Ombudsman. Recent government figures show that while police-recorded… Continue reading Social Housing Antisocial Behaviour Crisis
By Carl Davis The ongoing struggle for reasonable adjustments and the normalisation of adversarial landlord-tenant relations. Securing reasonable adjustments remains an uphill battle for disabled tenants, largely due to landlords’ entrenched resistance. According to the Housing Ombudsman’s Attitudes, Respect, and Rights report, 68% of tenants consulted reported that their landlords had refused to provide reasonable… Continue reading The Ongoing Struggle for Reasonable Adjustments
SHAC has heard many accounts of victimising by landlords when things go wrong. Typically, this arises when tenants and residents report leaks, damp and mould in their homes and are told that their own 'lifestyle choices' lie at fault, and that action may be taken against them for failing to properly maintain their homes. On… Continue reading Clarion’s Victimisation Culture
At the end of October, SHAC published a whistleblower's article on a number of failings by Southern Housing which left tenants and residents without basic facilities in their homes. The revelations came from Mr Brittain and his colleagues from the Kent Regional Resident’s Panel (Kent RRP) scrutiny panel. The SHAC article was soon followed by… Continue reading Coverage on the BBC and a Sudden Flurry of Fixes!
Members of one of Southern Housing Group's own internal scrutiny panels has taken the bold step of blowing the whistle over the landlord's serious failure to fulfil its responsibilities towards tenants and residents. Shockingly, they have exposed cases where the most vulnerable tenants and residents have been housed in appalling conditions and forgotten about. One… Continue reading Scrutiny Panel Blows the Whistle on Southern Housing Group
Beleaguered and battle-weary Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH) residents have been joined by concerned Hyde residents in opposition to a merger between their landlords. Merger talks were prompted by a £90 million black hole in THCH’s accounts. The deficit has thrown the landlord into chaos, prompting changes in leadership, and a grilling by local councillors.… Continue reading THCH and Hyde Merger: The Road to Ruin?
With great fanfare in the dog-days of the last government, Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) were introduced amid claims that they would improve "the transparency, influence and accountability" of social landlords. The TSMs have been around a while now, but where is the promised increase in accountability? Measuring Performance The TSMs require all social landlords to… Continue reading So Housing Association Tenant Satisfaction Scores Are Terrible – Now What?
