By Lindsay Bush The Post Office Horizon Inquiry has done something that tenants and residents rarely see in housing: it has stepped back from thousands of individual experiences and asked whether they were actually signs of a much bigger system failure. The Inquiry did not just investigate faulty computer software. It examined how complaints were… Continue reading Does Housing Need Its Own Horizon-Style Inquiry?
By SHAC and Lindsay Bush Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP and a cross-party group of MPs have blasted the Government's lack of housing association accountability, writing to the Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook, on the 29th July saying: We strongly believe that residents in housing association (HA) properties across the country are being failed. They are being failed… Continue reading We Can End the Conspiracy of Silence: Join MPs’ Call for Action
By SHAC and Geri Girardi Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) has lost a First Tier Tribunal Case after attempting to recover historic major works costs by raiding the residents' reserve fund. The decision of the First-tier Tribunal raises important questions about how registered social landlords recover the cost of major works from leaseholders. But it also… Continue reading Notting Hill Woes: Residents Win Legal Battle Over Historic Repair Costs
By Boz For all the noise of national politics, Britain is missing the collapse of something more fundamental: the ability of ordinary people to hold local power to account. Westminster, of all places, should be the borough that sets the standard. Instead, it has become a warning of what happens when a council stops expecting… Continue reading Westminster’s Accountability Crisis: A Call to Action
By Rachel I have lived in my home for over 24 years. It is the only home I have known as an adult. I raised my son there, invested my own money and labour into maintaining it, and built my healthcare, support network, and community around it. Today, I am facing possession proceedings and homelessness… Continue reading Ombudsman’s Severe Maladministration Finding Leads to Eviction Not Protection
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
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
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
