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
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
A group of Hyde residents from an estate in Maidstone have begun withholding service charge payments in despair over their landlord's failure to provide accurate, reasonable, and evidenced accounts. Residents wrote jointly to inform Hyde that they were "withholding the service charge payments" because they have been requesting itemised invoices from the service charge team… Continue reading Hyde Residents Resort to Service Charge Strike
This is not a typing error. On a Hyde Housing estate in Sidcup, Kent, the housing association has charged tenants £140,398.68 for emergency light testing, servicing, and repairs work over a period of four years. All of those in the properties are on social rents. The charge equates to £2,924.97 per day. The work is… Continue reading Hyde Contractor’s 2000+% Profit on Fire Safety Services
SHAC@Hyde has forced Hyde Housing to relocate scaffolding after the danger to children, residents and pedestrians was exposed here. We understand that the landlord is now moving the structure to the rear of the building. A safer and less accessible location. The story was posted on our news feed after concerned residents from the estate… Continue reading SHAC@Hyde Forces Action on Safety
According to Hyde, it is not a worry that children are climbing onto the roof of one of their four-storey tower blocks via scaffolding the landlord was responsible for erecting. Concerned tenants and residents have condemned Hyde for a cavalier and dismissive attitude toward the safety and security of children, residents and pedestrians. The issue… Continue reading Hyde: Kids on Tower Block Roof Not a Worry
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
Oh, the irony. Or is it hypocrisy? An announcement has hit the headlines. Peter Denton, former CEO of Hyde, has been appointed to lead Homes England, the government body responsible for housing investment. Denton quipped: The government has an ambitious agenda of not just more homes but decent, affordable, safe, energy-efficient ones that sit well… Continue reading Hyde: A Very Bad Apple in a Very Rotten Barrell
Hyde Housing association has caved in to a tenant's demand for a service charge reduction after he informed the landlord he had begun a service charge strike. This rapid victory comes just a few short weeks after beginning the strike action. This timescale contrasts favourably against many fruitless years previously spent attempting to challenge unfair… Continue reading Hyde Cracks: Third Strike Group Win!
