Tenants and residents from Clare House, a tower block alonside lush parkland in east London, have slammed their landlord, Clarion Housing over woefully mis-managed – and still incomplete – evacuation of their flats. Following checks carried out after the Grenfell fire in 2017, Clarion became aware of risks to the safety of tenants and residents.… Continue reading Clarion’s Shame – Clare House Evacuation
By Carl Davis Your landlord is responsible for most repairs in and the safety of your council or housing association home and also for undertaking the annual gas safety inspection. Your tenancy agreement should spell out all your landlords responsibilities around maintenance and repairs and ensuring the safety of your home. It should cover the… Continue reading Studies in Stigma: No Access Must Mean No Access!
SHAC has supported The Big Issue’s campaign to #StopMassHomelessness as part of its Ride Out the Recession initiative. SHAC co-signed an open letter which was published in 'The I News' national newspaper over the weekend (The Big Issue founder warns Government must step in to pay rent arrears to prevent 'mass homelessness crisis' - inews.co.uk)… Continue reading SHAC Supports Big Issue Homelessness Demands
By Carl Davis The Equality Act 2010 requires that employers and service providers like social landlords make 'reasonable adjustments' that will allow disabled people to access the same opportunities and services as non-disabled people. It also requires employers and providers to consider disability in everything they do and to actively anticipate the need for reasonable… Continue reading The Anatomy of a Reasonable Adjustment
Over the last few weeks, ITV has broadcast a series of articles highlighting terrible social housing conditions from a cluster of tragic cases in both council and housing association properties. ITV's series of Housing Stories has charted disrepairs in many forms. Using the format of a longer documentary, ITV brought many of these stories together… Continue reading Surviving Squalor: ITV’s Conversation Starter
By Carl Davis In December 2020 the social housing sector was rocked by a county court judgement. The court’s findings were scathingly critical of leading G15 housing association L&Q's handling of a case involving serious racial harassment. L&Q's treatment of a young black female resident had breached a code of practice on protecting tenants from… Continue reading Lara Tate: Lessons for the Sector
SHAC's meeting on Service Charges and How to Challenge Them heard from two excellent and informative speakers, with many attendees posting their thanks and appreciation for the contributions. Ed Spencer - SHAC Ed demonstrated a powerful piece of software that he has developed to help analyse service charge statements and receipts. Using the software, he… Continue reading Service Charges: An Informative and Energetic Discussion
Homes England, has announced its list of ‘Strategic Partners’ to receive funding under the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) over the next five years (2021 to 2026). Although the funding is from central government, Homes England is the government body responsible for allocating the funding and monitoring its use across England. The Homes Englad announcement lists… Continue reading Homes England’s Unaffordable Housing Programme
The SHAC Disability Charter Scheme will allow housing associations to bridge a gaping chasm between a landlord's fine words on equalities for disabled tenants and the tenant's own lived experience. The Charter Scheme is published here for consultation. You can leave suggestions in the comments section of this article, or email shac.action@gmail.com. Download the Charter… Continue reading Bridging the Disability Gap
When SHAC attempted to gather evidence for our report on extortionate charges for services, or charges for ‘phantom’ services never delivered, it became clear that there was a strong possibility of fraud in some of the cases that were sent to us (alongside incompetence and mismanagement). Errors are easily made, but if an error is… Continue reading Incompetence or Fraud?
