Optivo Housing Association, now merged with Southern Housing Group, has been accused of racism by community organisation Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL). The allegations were set out in an open letter to the landlord as the group fights the eviction of an Eritrean tenant served with a 'no fault eviction' notice by Optivo. Open… Continue reading Southern-Optivo Race Discrimination Accusation
In August 2022, SHAC began to survey members to capture the range of problems they experience with service charges, and the impact on their physical, emotional, and financial well-being. Our aim is to show the extent of service charge abuse by housing associations, and we have now published an initial report based on the first… Continue reading Trapped, Stressed and Impoverished: SHAC Research on Service Charge Abuse
It’s become a familiar story, but no less devastating for the victims. When Selma was offered a home exchange by her landlord Clarion, she went to visit their prospective new home in Wimbledon, south London. What she saw was a nice property, albeit cluttered and overfull as the sitting tenant clearly had a hoarding problem.… Continue reading Clarion Board and Management Need Serious Repairs
A tenant’s refusal to pay a 60% increase in service charges has forced One Housing Group (OHG, now part of Riverside) to freeze its service charges for 2022/23 on her estate. When Angela* opened a service charge leaflet from her landlord in February 2022, she was angered to find a demand for a payment increase of 60%. The service charge hike did… Continue reading One Housing Tenant’s Non-Payment Forces Service Charge Freeze
Over recent weeks Government has finally taken some action to improve housing associations and their performance. A few of the ideas were already in train, but others have been triggered by recent catastrophic events such as the coroner’s ruling on toddler Awaab Ishak's death. One such initiative comes directly from Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling… Continue reading A Flurry of Reaction
A seasonal satirical offering from Carl Davis It was Christmas Eve and snowing heavily as Capital Quarter housing association boss Briona Arrowsmith-Wright tumbled out of the Bolt taxi and lurched up the steps of her Chelsea town house. She fumbled in the dark with the door keys to let herself in. The journey home from the… Continue reading A Christmas Social Housing Carol
SHAC and FindOthers have teamed up to develop a unique online tool to request and chase service charge packs. It is part of a long term SHAC campaign to end service charge abuse by housing associations. Requests and Complaints Made Easy The platform removes a lot of drudgery from the process with pre-set letters to… Continue reading Mass Action to Tackle Housing Association Service Charge Abuse
Soaring energy costs and the groundswell of anger against energy companies' vast profits forced the Conservative government to announce in April 2022 that it would discount household energy bills. The announcement proclaimed: The Energy Bills Support Scheme provides a £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households to help with their energy bills over winter 2022 to… Continue reading Housing Solutions Tenants’ Long Wait for Energy Rebate
Awaab Ishak died in 2017 in a home infested with mould which had a catastrophic effect on his breathing. His parents complained to their housing association landlord, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), but the landlord repeatedly failed to address the causes. No-one in authority seemed able to force them to make the necessary fixes. Michael Gove… Continue reading Damp and Mould: Gove’s Double Standards
Announcement of the September 'RPI' inflation figure has sealed the rent rises that the majority of shared owners will be expected to pay. The RPI increase was confirmed by government as 12.6%, which translates into rent increases of 13.1% - 14.6%, depending on the formula used in the lease. Worst of Both Worlds Shared owners… Continue reading RPI Inflation Sets Shared Owner Rent Rises at around 14.6%
