By Carl Davis As social landlords face mounting criticism and public opprobrium on social media, sector leaders have just very conveniently held emergency talks with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and senior London Assembly members in a cynical face-saving exercise to discuss what they termed ‘the challenges of disrepair and substandard housing‘. SHAC's campaigns to challenge… Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back
People across the UK will be heading for local polling stations on the 5th May 2022. The seats being contested will include all London councils and local authorities in Wales and Scotland. There may also be elections for seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. With this in mind, SHAC members have collectively identified 25 demands… Continue reading Council Manifesto for People Centred Housing
Trident Point tower block owned by Metropolitan Thames Valley housing association in Harrow has a history of disrepairs, rodent infestations, and broken promises by the landlord. The block has regularly featured on the news pages of Harrow Times, and when the lift broke down yet again just after Christmas 2021, tenants reached the end of… Continue reading Power in Numbers at MTVHA’s Trident Point
Members of the Clarion branch of SHAC are working with Siobhain McDonagh MP and Kwajo Tweneboa to explore the possibility of a new Housing Inspectorate. The discussion will launch at the group's next meeting at 6pm on Monday 21st February. The Old Regime The housing inspection regime resided with the Housing Corporation until around 2011,… Continue reading A New Housing Inspectorate?
SHAC's expose of Riverside's plans to restrict tenants' access to justice has been picked up by Inside Housing Magazine. The article also reveals that Riverside and its co-conspirators have hired a city lobbying firm to help them prevent tenants making disrepairs claims in court. High End Lobbying Firm Connect PA has been commissioned by Riverside… Continue reading Riverside Splashes Out on Lobbying Firm
By Carl Davis Earlier this week SHAC’s Suzanne Muna gave evidence to the opening session of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee’s inquiry into the regulation of social housing. After discussing disrepair more generally, the Committee of MPs turned its attention to what the panel Chair described as ‘ a bit of explosion in… Continue reading Desperation – Not Lawyers – Drives Disrepair Claims Rise
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
The problems experienced by tenants and residents living in housing association properties come in many guises, from extortionate service charging to slum landlordism. From failures to comply with equalities law to a dereliction of their duty of care. All problems have two distinct common threads. The first is the relentless commercialisation of social housing, and… Continue reading SHAC Steps Up The Political Agenda
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
