25 April 2026
| In this issue: – National housing demonstration report – SHAC articles and a call to action – Progress update on the National Housing Union – Housing Sector podcast – Manchester housing event – Interviewees wanted |
 See More Here National Housing Demo Report Last weekend we proudly walked the SHAC banner on the national housing demonstration alongside around 6,000 protestors demanding better housing. It was an excellent show of strength with a huge diversity of large and small groups. This unity now needs to be harnassed, and we will continue working with the Homes for All and Homes for Us coalitions to build a broader housing movement. See photos from the demo here. Please like and share: Instagram ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook |
 Read Here SHAC Article: The £300,000 Black Hole: FirstPort’s Mystery Heating Bills What would you do if your management company suddenly demanded up to £2,000 for heating, but refused to show you how the bill was calculated? This is the reality facing around 300 households at West Works in Southall. What started as confusion has become something far more serious. It is now a months-long battle over rising costs, missing information, and a system where accountability appears to vanish just when residents need it most. Read the article here. Please like and share: Instagram ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook |
 Read Here SHAC Article: The Great Housing Benefit Heist SHAC’s new research exposes a systemic lack of checks in the Housing Benefit system that allows landlords to overcharge the taxpayer by millions of pounds while the government looks the other way. SHAC calls on the National Audit Office (NAO) to investigate. Read the article here. A Call to Action Please share the research (here) with your MP and ask them to write to the National Audit Office with an appeal to investigate. A template text is available here. You can find your local MP and their contact details here. Three MPs have already agreed to raise the report in Parliament: John McDonnell of Hayes and Harlington, Meg Hillier of Hackney South and Shoreditch, and Iqbal Mohamed of Dewsbury and Batley. It shows that some MPs can be sympathetic and responsive to constituents. Please like and share: Instagram ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook |
 See More Here Progress on the National Housing Union Project To address all the many and diverse issues that make up the housing emergency, SHAC believes we need a national housing union for all tenants and residents (see more here). Our hardworking workstreams teams each produced a chapter for the ‘blueprint for a national housing’ that are being added to the original vision paper. The final document will be taken to the Trade Union Congress in Brighton (13th-16th September) to ask for the help of trade unions to get it set up. If you’re in the area and able to assist, please email shac.action@gmail.com. |
| Listen Here Housing Sector Podcast #68 – Missing Invoices, Legal Threats and the Housing Playbook Join Ben Jenkins and SHAC Secretary Suzanne Muna as they discuss residents who caught Peabody claiming £500,000 in unsupported service charges while misleading an MP and the Ombudsman. The episode also explores bullying tactics, including legal pressure and “vexatious” labelling, being used to silence residents who speak out across the housing sector. This episode is about more than one case. It’s about patterns, systems, and the reality many residents face when they speak up. Listen here. |
 Manchester Social Housing Commission Event It’s Time for a Social Rent Revolution! 2-3.30pm, Friday 15th May 2026 Council Chamber, Manchester Town Hall Extension, M2 5DB The Commission has taken Manchester as a case study for analysis of the interlocking housing, climate, and cost of living crises in order to make recommendations on how to deliver sustainable social rent homes and promote fairer housing development. The event will include presentation, testimony, panel discussion, and Q&A, concluding with afternoon tea from 3.30-4pm. If you would like to join the organisers for a presentation and discussion of their results, please email s.n.hodkinson@leeds.ac.uk and bishop.ea@manchester.anglican.org to confirm attendance. |
 Interviewees Wanted The Telegraph is reporting on Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions being hurried through ahead of the practice being banned in May, and is keen to speak to affected SHAC members. If you are in this position, please contact Benedict Smith on benedict.smith@telegraph.co.uk by Tuesday 28th April. Zahra Mezenner is a student reporter who is interested in speaking to people who struggle to stay cool or feel unwell because their home traps the heat. If you are affected and able to have a short phone or video interview with Zahra please contact her on s5824205@bournemouth.ac.uk. |
 SHAC Monthly Meeting Our next monthly SHAC meeting will hear updates on all our campaigns and is open to all members. It is an opportunity for you to share any campaigns or actions you are organising to challenge bad practice by your landlord. Please join us: 6.30pm, Thursday 21st May 2026 Zoom Link ~ Passcode: 459809 Add the appointment to your calendar here. |
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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. |