23rd November 2025
| In this issue: – SHAC Article: Eight Ways That Landlords Subvert Disability Law – SHAC Article: Fear and Subletting in Social Housing – Member Updates – SHAC Annual General Meeting |
 Read Here SHAC Article: Eight Ways That Landlords Subvert Disability Law Carl Davis, who helped launch SHAC’s Disability Visibility campaign, writes about the new tendency for landlords to subvert the Equality Act 2010 by re-labelling disabilites as ‘vulnerabilities’. This broader term is then used in policies to cast duties as optional. He offers L&Q as a case study, but their example is followed by many others. This isn’t an accident or an oversight. It’s a structural shift that changes the legal status of disabled tenants without ever saying so out loud. Read here. Please like and share: Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
 Read Here SHAC Article: Fear and Subletting in Social Housing Our member Deborah explains how antisocial behaviour (ASB) that her landlord allowed to go unchecked ultimately drove her from her home. Deborah sublet the property whilst waiting for landlord approval which she accepts was in breach of her tenancy. However, the penalties and judicial process were unnecessarily punitive. It demonstrates the dilemma that many are thrown into when driven from their homes by ASB. Read here. Please like and share: Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
| Campaigns and Events |
 Listen Here Free Leaseholders – Freeholder Lobby Loses Court Challenge The freeholder lobby recently lost its challenge to the government’s leasehold reforms on every single count. Yet as Harry Scoffin from Free Leaseholders reports, there has been barely a squeak from them about this victory. It’s a missed opportunity for Labour, but it signals that they are not confident on delivering the necessary reforms. Watch here / share on Twitter. |
 Disrepairs: Landlord Silence on Awaab’s Law Awaab’s Law came into force at the end of October, and is meant to force landlords to carry out repairs quickly, especially when the problems concern damp and mould. Although the law is flawed (as highlighted in our article here), it should nonetheless be used when communicating with social landlords over disrepairs. Members have highlighted that too many landlords have not informed tenants or residents of their new rights. If you are affected, see the government guidance here. |
 Shared Ownership Resources: Government Consultation Our partners at Shared Ownership Resources are highlighting a survey by the government’s Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. It concerns affordable home schemes, including shared ownership. The link to the survey is here, and the deadline is the 29th of November. It’s important that shared owners respond to the survey otherwise the Committee might conclude that not many shared owners face problems, or that the problems they face aren’t particularly severe. |
 Member Support on Right to Manage We all know how frustrating it is to fight battles with landlords on their terms. One of the most powerful legal tools we have to change the game is Right to Manage (RTM), but the process can feel quite daunting. Our member Francesco Guerrieri has therefore started EasyRTM – a free Substack newsletter to document his own RTM journey in real-time: the successes, the roadblocks, and the practical, no-nonsense steps. He hopes that this will help other leaseholders to take control of their buildings. |
 SHAC Action General Meeting There is no regular monthly SHAC meeting in December. Instead, we hold our Annual General Meeting to discuss our achievements in 2025, and make plans for the next twelve months. So many of our members have contributed to our successes in 2025, and helped create a powerful community. We hope that you will join us. 6.30pm, Wednesday 10th December 2025Zoom link ~ Passcode: 656982 – Add to calendar The times and dates for all our 2026 monthly meetings are now available on our Events page. |
| More Information |
 Sign Here Please share: Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram Parliamentary Petition: Service Charges SHAC is lobbying MPs asking them to support legal reforms and to highlight service charge abuse in Parliament. As part of this, we have launched a Parliamentary petition demanding legal changes to allow disputed service charges to be paid to the courts and only passed onto landlords if they can prove the legitimacy of the bills. Otherwise, the money is returned to the tenant or resident. To get this in place, it is not enough to just sign the petition, we need everyone to share it in their networks: friends, tenant and resident groups, colleagues at work, within your trade union, and across any social media platforms you use. |
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 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. |