A group of leaseholders and shared owners in Brighton have rejected a ‘victim narrative’ and determined they will simply refuse to pay for cladding and other remediation work to their building. City Point Safety Breaches The City Point scheme in Brighton was built by Barrett Homes and incorporates 240 apartments. It was constructed just 20… Continue reading City Point Resident Resistance
In December 2022, SHAC held a public meeting on rent and service charge strikes. Rent Strikes - Then and Now The restrictions and economic hardship prompted by Covid has triggered rent strikes in Spain and amongst students in the UK. However, in Britain, rent strikes go back much further, as our introduction explained. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhKLeAv2RIs Taking… Continue reading Strike On!
By Joe Jenkins The issue of charity chief executive pay has always been a thorny one, but what about organisations that have charitable status but are not charities in the traditional sense, such as housing associations? Figures collated by Housing Today revealed that twelve housing association bosses ‘earned’ in excess of £300k in 2020/21. Save… Continue reading The Magic Charity Trick
Just when you believe you have mapped all the different ways in which social housing tenants and residents are fleeced, along comes news of yet another scandal. SHAC has interviewed members of a London campaign whose activists have won thousands of pounds in refunds for water charges illegally levied by councils and housing associations. But… Continue reading Social Landlords’ Illegal Water Charges
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
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
