| In this issue: > 2025 Protest Dates > Call to Action: Service Charges Strategic Legal Project > Campaign Groups Updates > New Text Reader on Website |
 2025 Protest Dates We have now agreed our main in-person protest dates for 2025, although more may be added.They are both organised by the National Housing Federation (NHF), the body that represents housing associations. The Chartered Institute of Housing is co-sponsor of the Setember event. Housing Community Summit Tuesday 9th September 2025 Liverpool This event is aimed at community-washing the reputation of housing associations. Whilst some are rooted in their communities, this is certainly not true of the large, dominant, and highly commercialised landlords. The organisers claim that the event is open to tenants and residents, but with ticket prices starting at £515 and rising to £1,095 for all-area acccess, it clearly isn’t. Leaseholder and Tenant Service Charges Conference Tuesday 25 November 2025 London Although service charges are not an issue for all, it is a growing problem and an intense target for SHAC campaigning. Their focus will be on how to extract more money from occupants, not on making sure that costs are accurate and fair. This event is therefore a worthy target to highlight the hyper-financial exploitation of tenants and residents. Please put the dates for both in your diary, book the day off work if necessary, and look out for more details! |
 Call to Action:Service Charges Strategic Legal Project We have written to a limited group of MPs asking them to support our request to the National Audit Office (NAO) to launch an investigation into service charge abuse. If your MP is listed, please ask them to sign our letter. If your MP is not listed, they will be contacted slightly later. The final letter will be presented to the NAO in February. Step 1: Click the MP’s name to automatically generate an email. Step 2: Add your name and address so that they know you are a constituent, and ask them to sign the letter. Step 3: Download and attach our letter here. Sheffield Central – Abtisam Mohamed – abtisam.mohamed.mp@parliament.uk Surrey Heath – Al Pinkerton – al.pinkerton.mp@parliament.uk Shipley – Anna Dixon – anna.dixon.mp@parliament.uk Wokingham – Clive Jones – clive.jones.mp@parliament.uk St Albans – Daisy Cooper – daisy.cooper.mp@parliament.uk Milton Keynes Central – Emily Darlington – emily.darlington.mp@parliament.uk Kensington and Bayswater – Joe Powell – joe.powell.mp@parliament.uk Rugby – John Slinger – john.slinger.mp@parliament.uk Liverpool Riverside – Kim Johnson – kim.johnson.mp@parliament.uk Sutton and Cheam – Luke Taylor – luke.taylor.mp@parliament.uk Chelmsford – Marie Goldman – marie.goldman.mp@parliament.uk Peckham – Miatta Fahnbulleh – miatta.fahnbulleh.mp@parliament.uk Northampton South – Mike Reader – mike.reader.mp@parliament.uk Chippenham – Sarah Gibson – sarah.gibson.mp@parliament.uk Banbury – Sean Woodcock – sean.woodcock.mp@parliament.uk Stroud – Simon Opher – simon.opher.mp@parliament.uk Torbay – Steve Darling – steve.darling.mp@parliament.uk Cheadle – Tom Morrison – tom.morrison.mp@parliament.uk North Poole – Vikki Slade – vikki.slade.mp@parliament.uk Earley and Woodley – Yuan Yang – yuan.yang.mp@parliament.uk |
 Campaign Group Updates We have met with a group of Hackney Council tenants and residents who have asked for campaign support over disrepairs and security in their housing. We are working with Clarion members to ask MPs with a Clarion presence in their constituency to get together and hold the giant landlord to account. We were contacted by Greater Manchester Tenants Union who are organising action against Riverside. We hope to hold an online meeting soon to introduce the action to our Riverside members, and discuss how all can get involved. |
 New Text to Speech Reader on Our Website We have installed new text-to-speech reader software on our website. It helps those who have difficulty reading from a page, for example because of visual impairment, dyslexia, or not having English as a first language. It can also be used for those wanting to listen whilst on the go.  A control panel at the top of each page allows you to start the reader. You can also speed it up or slow it down.  Alternatively, block out a piece of text and click the speaker icon on the left of the page. It doesn’t assist with embedded documents, but we’re investigating how to make these accessible too. |
 SHAC Campaign Update Meeting Our monthly SHAC meetings report on progress across all campaigns and allow members to share actions and events: 6.30pm, Thursday 30th January 2025 Zoom 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. |