By George Morris I am a resident of Abbeyfield Chester, a retirement scheme that claims its residents enjoy supported housing with “high standards of accommodation, companionship and a support service designed to promote independence”; at least that’s according to the Abbeyfield website. They also claim to treat residents with dignity and respect. This is all… Continue reading The Great Abbeyfield Illusion
A story of injustice, discrimination against leaseholders, and a broken housing system By Gill Perceval 2008 and Mum was living in a house in Langley. She was active, sociable and hands-on in helping others. After losing her husband and suffering some health issues, she became aware of Extra Care Developments which were to be built… Continue reading Jean’s Story: Life and Death with Shared Ownership
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
SHAC’S Response to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman Housing Report for Disabled People In June 2025, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman published a report aimed at reducing barriers for disabled people accessing council housing and homelessness services. The report is written with recognition of the national housing crisis, which includes the… Continue reading Access Denied – SHAC Responds
By a Twenty-Twenty Resident Twenty-Twenty House A is an attractive, modern apartment block in the trendy Mabgate area of Leeds. Twenty-Twenty A houses 30 apartments, most of which are occupied by homeowners with full or shared ownership leases of (initially) 99 years. On a first take, everything at Twenty-Twenty A looks sharp: it is in… Continue reading A 20-20 Vision of How Social Housing Landlords Fleece Leaseholders
Just one year ago, a community of women from mainly Bengali migrant and refugee backgrounds living in the east end of London would probably not have described themselves as grass-roots housing activists. Yet their substandard housing conditions left them keen to fight for better, and their ESOL (English language) class gave them both the perfect… Continue reading SHAC and English for Action: Empowering Community Housing Action
By Richard Simpson, a registered blind tenant of Riverside Housing If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a crime family decided to take over a housing association, let me introduce you to Riverside Housing Group: a not-so-merry band of landlords with the operational grace of The Sopranos, minus the food and charisma. In fact,… Continue reading The Housing Mafia’s Service Charge Racket
A single day in May has again thrown social housing into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. A damning report has been published on rising disrepairs complaints, and the media reports the death of a baby in a decaying home owned by a housing association. On Thursday, the Housing Ombudsman published a new report… Continue reading Turning Simmering Anger into Social Action
SHAC has received a government response to our petition posted on the Parliamentary website. The petition, which launched in January 2025, asked government to: Create a new body to regulate landlord and freeholder service chargesWe want the Government to create a new body that is empowered to monitor and regulate private, council, and housing association… Continue reading SHAC Reacts: Government Offers Words But No Reassurance
When the new round of service charge demands began to take effect at the start of April, SHAC found itself supporting a host of new tenant and resident groups embarking on service charge strikes. Tenants and residents are often presented as being helpless in the face of superior landlord power, with their bottomless resources, ready… Continue reading Tenants and Residents Turn to Radical Action
