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
Category: Safe Homes
Lara Tate: Lessons for the Sector
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
Not One Resident’s Voice
By Carl Davis L&Q chief executive Fiona Fletcher-Smith must be hoping that the long bank holiday weekend has induced collective amnesia over the damning report in Sunday's Observer (here) on the persistence of appalling living conditions in L&Q homes originally exposed by the paper in 2018. The ongoing scandal of disrepair continues, despite L&Q commissioning… Continue reading Not One Resident’s Voice
Hyde: A Very Bad Apple in a Very Rotten Barrell
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
Shepherds Bush Shambles
The executive of Shepherds Bush Housing Association (SBHA) have been condemned as "unfit to govern" by some employees and tenants horrified at the landlord's culture of mismanagement. Examples of failings provided to SHAC include incorrect service charge bills being sent to around 900 leaseholders over the last eight years. Among the estates affected were the… Continue reading Shepherds Bush Shambles
Flooded: A Notting Hill Genesis Tenant’s Soggy Story
By Mary Carter, Notting Hill Genesis tenant My landlord, Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) has published its annual report for the last financial year. The document is full of self-congratulation and positive affirmation about how well the landlord is performing. But read between the lines and you’ll also spot some small pointers to the truth. In… Continue reading Flooded: A Notting Hill Genesis Tenant’s Soggy Story
First Rent Strike Victory Declared!
SHAC members on a Clarion estate are celebrating victory following a partial rent strike. Strikers in north London have successfully secured action to address a number of concerns that had been outstanding for years. The repairs, some of which tenants have been requesting for five years, have been offered just three weeks after strike letters… Continue reading First Rent Strike Victory Declared!
Bridging the Disability Gap
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
Tenants and Residents Hit Back
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
L&Q Exposed
London & Quadrant, one of the largest landlords in London, has been publicly shamed into abject apology after ITV featured the case Junior Jimoh on its news broadcast. SHAC has been running the 'L&Q Fix Our Broken Homes' campaign since early May. The importance of our campaign was tragically reinforced in an ITV news item… Continue reading L&Q Exposed
