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!
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
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
On the 25th November, the social housing sector will hold the UK Housing Awards ceremony to congratulate itself on the great job it has done over the last year. The event is sponsored by Inside Housing Magazine and the Chartered Institute for Housing. Possible winners this year include One Housing Group, Gentoo Group, Peabody, L&Q,… Continue reading UK Housing Awards: L&Q, One Housing and Clarion Make the Shortlist
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
By Tim Smith I recently witnessed surveyors prepping the three-bedroom flat upstairs for auction after the death of my neighbour, a secure tenant. It will be the second Peabody social home sent to private auction in this street in the last six months. The first to go was a ground floor one-bedroom flat converted for… Continue reading Peabody Sells the Family Silver
By Carl Davis In the Islamic tradition there is a saying that when it comes to charity "the left hand shouldn’t know what the right is doing". It means that good deeds and acts of charity should be carried out discreetly for the sole benefit of the intended beneficiaries, not the moral aggrandisement or any… Continue reading Bitter Sweet Charity
On the 25th November, the social housing sector will hold the UK Housing Awards ceremony to congratulate itself on the great job it has done over the last year. The event is sponsored by Inside Housing Magazine and the Chartered Institute for Housing. The Wrong Awards This is the wrong thing to do. The sector… Continue reading The Wrong Awards
