A Statement from SHAC A massive housing crisis is shaking the Spanish state. It sends a clear warning to our own government. The housing emergency will lead to unrest, and it needs a fundamental plan to end the commercialisation of our homes. As soaring costs push Spanish working-class communities to the brink, a powerful mass… Continue reading Lessons from Spain: Organising to Fight the Housing Emergency
By Lindsay Bush The Post Office Horizon Inquiry has done something that tenants and residents rarely see in housing: it has stepped back from thousands of individual experiences and asked whether they were actually signs of a much bigger system failure. The Inquiry did not just investigate faulty computer software. It examined how complaints were… Continue reading Does Housing Need Its Own Horizon-Style Inquiry?
Housing Campaigners Demand Council Action as Corporate Landlord BMR Group Targets More Than 100 Families Tenants on the St James Estate in the London Borough of Southwark are fighting mass evictions and unaffordable rent rises after corporate landlord BMR Group Ltd began trying to force residents from their homes. Campaigners understand that BMR Group plans… Continue reading A Community Under Threat: Southwark Families Fight Mass Evictions
By Mary Pimm, SHAC member and Victoria Park Community Association Chair In November 2024, the Mayor of London initiated a consultation about devising a Key Worker Living Rent (KWLR) plan. It ended early in the spring last year. The Deputy Mayor for Housing, Tom Copley, has recently reported on its findings to those who, like… Continue reading London Rents A Blow to Key Workers
By Michael Savell Nothing less than total reform will cure the problems with housing. For the last several years I have been involved with SHAC as its Treasurer, and have occasionally contributed to the various Whatsapp groups answering questions and commentating on the problems that tenants and leaseholders have with their landlords. It is very… Continue reading Nothing Less Than Total Reform
More than 100 activists gathered in person and online on the 11th October to plan a national tenants and residents (housing) union. The event was organised by SHAC as the basis for forming an independent action group that can transform the vision into reality. Attendees included those leading local action on their estates, regional groups… Continue reading Conference Agrees to Build a Housing Union
By Arti Dillon My experience tells me that having people shipped off to expensive locations isn't new. As a teenager, we were placed in a hotel room in central London because we couldn't afford a rent deposit after cuts to benefits that would have previously provided rent deposits for low income families. Our new, temporary… Continue reading A Million Empty Homes and a Housing Shortage
By Francesco Guerrieri Housing maintenance issues and service charge disputes are among the most challenging aspects of being a resident in the UK today. Many leaseholders, council tenants, and housing association residents face similar frustrations: steadily increasing service charges with little transparency about how funds are being spent; maintenance requests that go unanswered for months;… Continue reading How We Took Control of our Building: A Resident’s Journey to Acquire the Right to Manage
By Dave Lake, MTVHA Resident and Chair of Royal Mint Court Residents Association My residents' association needs to raise £30,000 to have a fighting chance of success at a public inquiry into the relocation of the Chinese Embassy to our estate. We are fighting to prevent the Chinese government's plans for a super-embassy next to… Continue reading Financial Appeal: MTVHA Residents v Chinese Embassy
By Grace Lally, Housing Rebellion A steady stream of shoppers in Hastings town centre on Saturday stopped to read and take photos of the new ‘Community Notice Board’ with a rather grim theme - the unrelenting misery caused by the housing crisis in the town. Part of the 'Rogue's Gallery' in Hastings The hoardings surrounding… Continue reading Campaigners Create Pop-Up Rogue Landlords Gallery
