Tenants and residents from a wide variety of housing associations have agreed to hold a coordinated service charge 'strike' under SHAC's banner. Action is being taken by residents frustrated at their landlords' failings in relation to extortionate or erroneous service charges, disrepairs, shoddy maintenance, and cladding. No Other Choice Residents described how their problems are… Continue reading Tenants and Residents Hit Back
By Elizabeth Campbell It was a lovely May afternoon and the sun was shining. We stood outside Fortress Clarion, just a small group of protestors in the shadow of the landlord's palatial waterfront head offices. We had gathered under the slogan 'Clarion: See Us, Hear Us'. We had protest flags, cardboard eyes and ears, a… Continue reading Limelight Falls on Fortress Clarion
By James Smith* Two years ago I realised that my landlord, a northern based housing association, was breaking the law by adding an additional charge to the amounts I was paying for gas, electricity and water bills. I challenged this, and although it took me two years and legal action, I was finally successful in… Continue reading Are You Being Overcharged for Utilities?
Residents in some of the poorest areas of the country are being further impoverished by expensive heating systems, or face living in freezing conditions without hot water. Their housing association landlords are claiming that they have no influence with the heating provider companies. "Heat networks are supposed to provide a low cost, and potentially low… Continue reading Peabody Highlighted in Fuel Poverty Report
Leaseholders of Clarion living on an estate in west London are withholding payment of service charge increases after they were sent bills raising costs by up to 382%. The group is being supported by SHAC to take action, and their list of grievances include a sudden and unreasonable increase in service charges, lack of transparency… Continue reading Clarion Leaseholders Hold Service Charge ‘Strike’
Tenants and residents of Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH) have begun a campaign to fight back against appalling service charge rises amounting to 100% on the previous year in some cases. No valid reason has been provided by the landlord as to why such a hike is being threatened. The most recent shock relating to… Continue reading THCH: Drop the Service Charge Hike Now!
Richard Hill became One Housing Group’s (OHG) new chief executive in 2017. Steve Douglas was appointed as Chair of the Board a year later. It took the pair just a couple of years to turn a pre-tax surplus of £82 million as at March 2017 into a deficit of £8.6 million in 2020. This shocking… Continue reading One Housing Passes the Buck for Financial Failings
Clarion Housing Group, the largest housing association in England, has been compelled to review its service charges after publication of SHAC's report into apparent sharp practice across the sector. Resident Involvement Officers have written to tenants and residents saying: Clarion are carrying out a review of our Service Charge management. We want to identify ways;… Continue reading Clarion Compelled to Review Service Charges
What happens when attempts to get your housing association to make your building safe are unresolved after years, and engagement with them is torturous – what do you do? What happens when the helpline promises that someone will ring you back, but no-one ever does? When you are asked to explain your case in detail… Continue reading Clarion Tenants Consider Service Charge Strike
A damning report by the Housing Ombudsman published in October 2020 picked out Hyde Housing as one of five cases featured for gross failings. The Housing Ombudsman declared Hyde guilty of “maladministration regarding the landlord’s communication about service charges, severe maladministration for its formal handling of [a] complaint, and service failure in relation to its… Continue reading Hyde’s Mission: Service Charge Surpluses Not Social Housing
