| In this edition: – Taking Control & New Resources – SHAC in the Press – Member Actions – Shared Ownership Article – End Service Charge Abuse Legal Project – Next Update Meeting Reminder 22 May |
 View Resources Online Meeting: Taking Control Our meeting last week heard how SHAC member and Hyde leaseholder Francesco acquired the Right To Manage for his building, and the freedom this has given tenants and residents. To help others, he shared the information pack he created and a link to his dedicated (and free to use) online EasyRTM website. This is a specially designed toolkit to make it easier for leaseholders to acquire the Right To Manage. The resources were shared with SHAC and can be accessed here. Francesco was joined by SHAC Committee member Niall Mulholland, who is a housing activist and long-term resident of a housing cooperative. Niall discussed the history, benefits and challenges offered by housing coops. Niall’s presentation coincided with a report published in April by the Greater London Authority entitled Building Community Power: Expanding Cooperative Housing & Community Land Trusts in London. However, Niall cautioned that these are two very different forms of social housing, each with its own strengths and risks. We thank both Francesco and Niall for a highly enjoyable and informative evening which gained excellent feedback. |
 Listen Here SHAC in the PressGreater London Authority Cuts Affordable Homes Programme BBC Radio’s Shay Kaur Grewal invited SHAC to comment on the Greater London Authority’s decision to cut its affordable homes target from just under 24K to around 18K after claiming that the previous target was too high. We discussed the ongoing failure of the government’s housing policy and the need for a holistic, strategic plan to solve the housing crisis. Please like and share: Clip ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
 Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) Action Our NHG tenants and residents meeting on 13th May proved to be a great success. Angry tenants, shared owners and leaseholders met to give voice to their complaints, as well as hearing from Kevin Byrne Unite union activist at Livv Housing. Kevin reported successful union action on the pay disputes by Livv workers and the resignation of Livv’s hated CEO, Leanne Hearne. Unfortunately for NHG tenants and residents, she has recently been appointed to the NHG Board. The meeting agreed to hold a future protest at NHG to vent their disgust at her new appointment and the problems tenants and residents still endure. The action will be organised jointly with the Unite Housing Workers Branch. The date and location will be announced shortly. |
 Watch Here Peabody Action On Thursday 15 May SHAC and London Renters Union Peabody members were featured on BBC London News during a successful protest outside of the National Housing Federation meeting of London housing leaders. As reported on the BBC, the issues highlighted on the Nags Head Estate were the tip of a Peabody disrepairs iceberg. Ten minutes after the protest started Peabody made live the job description for a Retrofit Project Manager for the Nags Head Estate with all the local tenants association’s proposed adjustments. This includes entire estate retrofits, the redesign of some areas, a community laundrette, and a new multipurpose community space. What a coincidence! Watch here. |
Peabody protest on BBC news
 Useful Information The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) has issued a new Rent and Service Charge Fact Sheet, which members might find useful. It includes a section setting out what types of rent and service charge complaints the HOS can and cannot deal with. Sue Phillips, SHAC campaign partner and founder of the Shared Ownership Resources website, has analysed a recent report for Leeds Building Society on whether shared ownership is genuinely more affordable than privately renting. The article was published on the Housing Quality Network site and you can read it here. |
 We have followed up with the National Audit Office to find out if they intend to launch a full investigation into service charge abuse. They replied that they are still going through their intial investigation stage and have yet to decide on next steps, but hope to advise us around early June. More here. |
 SHAC Action Update Meeting Our next monthly SHAC meeting will hear updates on all our campaigns and is open to all members. Please join us. 6.30pm, Thursday 22 May 2025Zoom link ~ ID: 823 4952 0596 ~ Passcode: 656982 Add to calendar The times and dates for all 2025 monthly meetings are all available on our Events page. |
 7 June: Anti-Austerity National Demonstration Housing Bloc SHAC is joining other housing campaign groups to create a housing bloc on the national anti-austerity protest taking place in London on 7th June. Please get along if you can. We will meet at midday at Portland Place and we’ll have the SHAC banner to help make us visible. If you are coming along, you are welcome to join our temporary Anti-Austerity WhatsApp group which has been set up to help us coordinate on the day. |
| Join our themed and landlord WhatsApp groups SHAC Campaigns Tribunals Support | SHAC Leaseholders & Shared Owners | Housing Ombudsman | Payment Strike Clarion | Hyde | MTVHA | Notting Hill Genesis | Riverside / One Housing | L&Q Southern | Peabody | Guinness | Home Group | THCH | A2 Dominion | SNG | Council Housing Tenants & Residents |
 Nextdoor Network – Recruit to SHAC Join Nextdoor Posting a message on the Nextdoor app is one great way to encourage tenants and residents from your landlord (or other housing associations) to join SHAC and build critical strength. It will help to raise awareness of SHAC’s work and to encourage more recruits to lobby the Government and get our voices heard. Nextdoor is a Facebook-style social networking site that links people in the same locality. You can find out more and get set up here. |