A ‘Notice of Service Charge Strike’ has been sent to the Peabody executive, signed by the residents of 42 flats on an estate in central London. The residents are withholding all or part of their service charge payments over concerns that: Some of the charges appear to be opaque, completely unjustified [and] plucked out of… Continue reading Service Charge Strike Notice Served on Peabody
REGISTER DONATE rents pledge Service charge survey Shocking evidence from a whistleblower has confirmed the suspicions of tenants and residents, namely that housing associations (HAs) are not just overcharging them for services, but that the overcharging is deliberate. For almost as long as SHAC has been operating, HA tenants and residents have been reporting problems… Continue reading Whistleblower: Housing Association Overcharging is Deliberate
Residents of an Optivo (now Southern Housing) estate in Putney have written to chief executive Paul Hackett explaining that as of April, they will be withholding their service charge payments. They join a growing group of housing association tenants and residents to resort to this tactic after attempts at resolving issues with their landlord fail.… Continue reading Southern (Optivo) Tenants Declare Service Charge Strike
Hyde Housing has slapped down Michael Gove's department over attempts to improve housing association complaint handling. The 50,000 home landlord has hit back at government pressure by issuing a new, more restrictive, complaints policy. Hyde will no longer investigate complaints about rents or service charges, even if the complainant is highlighting extortionate, inaccurate, or fraudulent… Continue reading Hyde Slaps Gove Down Over Complaints Handling
When we meet Sonya*, the first thing she says is: There is no transparency, actual spend is ending up between 55% and 197% higher than estimates. We’ve experienced on average 109% increase in service charge over the past eight years, and we no clarification why. We have many questions but no answers.” Despite all our… Continue reading Another Service Charge Strike at L&Q
Government has announced that it is to delay limiting the amount in legal costs that can be recovered for housing disrepair cases. The cap was originally introduced following intensive lobbying by housing associations - led by Riverside - as this group of landlords so often fail to make timely and effective repairs. The cap was… Continue reading Riverside Suffers Setback on Cap for Disrepairs Compensation
A Typical Year in the Life of an Onward Tenant In this series of articles, Michael Harrison describes in detail the unnecessary torments of life with a housing association landlord. January 2022 The year began with the continuation of the farce which started on December 4th last year when the front door lock was changed… Continue reading A Tenant’s Lament: January
Optivo Housing Association, now merged with Southern Housing Group, has been accused of racism by community organisation Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL). The allegations were set out in an open letter to the landlord as the group fights the eviction of an Eritrean tenant served with a 'no fault eviction' notice by Optivo. Open… Continue reading Southern-Optivo Race Discrimination Accusation
In August 2022, SHAC began to survey members to capture the range of problems they experience with service charges, and the impact on their physical, emotional, and financial well-being. Our aim is to show the extent of service charge abuse by housing associations, and we have now published an initial report based on the first… Continue reading Trapped, Stressed and Impoverished: SHAC Research on Service Charge Abuse
It’s become a familiar story, but no less devastating for the victims. When Selma was offered a home exchange by her landlord Clarion, she went to visit their prospective new home in Wimbledon, south London. What she saw was a nice property, albeit cluttered and overfull as the sitting tenant clearly had a hoarding problem.… Continue reading Clarion Board and Management Need Serious Repairs
