| In this edition: – Freeholders vs Government & Leaseholders: Legal Challenge – SHAC and Partners in the Press – End Service Charge Abuse Parliamentary Petition – The Stigma with Stop Social Housing Stigma |
 Watch Here Freeholders vs Government & Leaseholders: Legal Challenge As many readers will be aware, government introduced new legislation last year (The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024) aimed at strengthening the rights of leaseholders, and reducing the use of the leasehold system. While this law doesn’t fully solve the problems caused by leasehold, it is nonetheless an important first step. However, a group of freeholders (those who own the land) are seeking to stop the legislation being enacted by Parliament. Harry Scoffin of Free Leaseholders campaign group (pictured left) assembled a coalition of housing groups asking for permission to give evidence on behalf of tenants and residents when the judicial review is heard at the High Court in July. On Thursday, the court ruled that they would not be allowed to do so.  Read Here This ruling is a setback but it’s not the end of our challenge. The groups involved in the Free Leaseholders coalition are now planning the next steps, and how members can get involved. Read the full story. Please like and share: Bluesky – Twitter – Facebook – Instagram |
 Read Here SHAC and Partners in the Press Our legal bid to challenge the freeholder narrative was reported in Inside Housing just ahead of the hearing. This gives us important publicity as we plan the next stages in our campaign. The article is behind a paywall but can be read here. Please like and share: Bluesky – Twitter – Facebook – Instagram |
 See Here Government Responds to SHAC Parliamentary Petition Last December, SHAC launched a petition calling on government to introduce a new regulator whose remit covered all those who pay a service charge, whether to a private, council, or housing association landlord. Once a petition on the Parliamentary website reaches 10,000 signatures, government is obliged to respond in writing. After heroic efforts by members, we passed this threshold earlier this month. Government responded in writing, and their response can be read online or downloaded here. The response doesn’t fully address the points made in the petition so we will be writing back to government and appealing for your member support. Please watch this space! |
 Read Here The Stigma with Stop Social Housing Stigma Ben Jenkins’ article on The Housing Sector website is well worth a read. Ben notes the recent wave of publicity around the Stop Social Housing Stigma (SSHS) campaign; a movement said to have been born in the aftermath of Grenfell. He acknowledges that residents are routinely “dismissed, labelled as troublemakers, and ignored when they raise concerns”, and that there is stigma attached to social housing that needs tackling. But goes on to say that “if we’re going to address it, we need to do it properly — not through feel-good optics”. The article captures the feeling of many grass-roots campaigners who are concerned that it is “more like a badge of honour. Stick a logo on your website, drop it into your email footer, and job done — you are a provider who does not stigmatise your tenants!”. Read in full here. |
| Dates For Your Diary |
 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. |
 SHAC Action Update 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. 6.30pm, Thursday 22 May 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. |
| 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. |