| In this issue: – SHAC and Members in Private Eye – ESCA – Open Letter to Government by 15 MPs – SHAC to Meet Baroness Taylor – Ben’s Housing Sector Jargon Buster |
 SHAC and Members in Private Eye We are grateful to Private Eye Magazine for continuing to expose service charge abuse. Their latest piece features comment from SHAC and cases from two of our members. It shows how the abuse carries on, even after death, and even as landlords admit that they are overcharging. Welcome to the wild, wild west of unregulated housing association finances! Our campaign continues. Read it here. Please like and share: Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
 End Service Charge Abuse15 x MPs’ Open Letter to Government Also in relation to service charge abuse, SHAC received support for the fast-track service charge dispute scheme from Rachael Maskell MP and 14 other MPs who signed an open letter to the Government. The letter has now been sent Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, Angela Rayner (for new Housing Secetary Steve Reed MP to pick up), and Matthew Pennycook MP, Minister of State for Housing and Planning. Read it here. Please like and share:Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram Rebecca Long-Bailey MP added further support by Tweeting about it too – please share. Our Parliamentary Petition (currently at 1,500 signatures) is an excellent way to keep the need for a fast-track service charge dispute resolution scheme in front of politicians. Please sign and share as widely as possible. |
 A National Tenants and Residents UnionSHAC to Meet Baroness Taylor In July, Baroness Taylor spoke in the House of Lords about the need for a national tenant body saying: “My Lords, with strong landlord bodies in both the private and social rented sector, we agree that tenants should also have a strong voice in influencing and scrutinising social housing policy. The Government are committed to listening to tenants and acting on what we hear “… our engagement with tenants has shown that they want a national body that is tenant-led and independent of government and landlords. We will continue to work with tenant groups as they explore how best to establish a national tenant voice.” We took the opportunity offered by this statement to write to Baroness Taylor asking her to meet SHAC, especially as we are in the process of discussing the formation of a National Tenants and Residents Union. Baroness Taylor agreed to our request and will meet the SHAC Secretary and Chair on the 10th November. |
 Ben’s Housing Sector Jargon Buster Tired of housing jargon? Ben Jenkins, our campaign partner at the Housing Sector website and podcast series, certainly was! Ben helpfully spent hours researching housing terminology so that we don’t have to. Ben’s ‘jargon buster‘ is easy to use with terms listed alphabetically, or found through the search function. |
| Dates For Your Diary |
 Zoom link https://tinyurl.com/DisVizH SHAC Disability Visibility Meeting with Adam Gabsi of Inclusion London We are delighted to announce details of our next Disability Visibility meeting with Adam Gabsi, a special guest speaker from Inclusion London. Adam says “I feel like I have lived two lives – one standing and one sitting, as a wheelchair user. This experience has shaped my understanding of the profound challenges of extreme lifestyle changes and the persistent barriers Disabled people face daily.” Please join us to discuss disability discrimination in the housing sector, disability benefit cuts, and working together for safe, accessible housing. 6.30pm on Thursday 11th September Zoom link – https://tinyurl.com/DisVizHAdd to my calendar Please like and share: Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram Disability campaign group Disabled People Against Cuts will be protesting at the Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool and are inviting people to join them. Assemble near the Wheel on Keel Wharf at 12 noon on the 29th September, Liverpool L3 4FN. More here. |
 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. Please join us. 6.30pm, Thursday 18 September 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. |
 Register Here Forming a National Tenants & Residents UnionConference Registration Open Whatever aspect of the housing crisis is affecting you, please join us to discuss forming a national, democratic body that will harness the might of the trade unions to genuinely empower tenants and residents. Register here now – places are limited! Time: 11am – 4pm, Saturday 11th October 2025 Venue: The Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 6AQ (map) Zoom option: Select on registration Please like and share: Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
 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. |
| Join our WhatsApp Communities 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 | Sanctuary | SNG Council Housing Tenants & Residents | Private Corporate Landlords |
 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. |