9th November 2025
| In this issue: – SHAC in the Press – Housing Union Meeting – Housing Sector Podcast |
| SHAC in the News The last fortnight has involved a flurry of interviews with SHAC. Below, we summarise the articles which span the political spectrum from the Morning Star to The Telegraph. We’ve provided links to share on social media if you can. Doing so encourages journalists to cover housing issues and helps keep these in the public eye. Please help if you can. |
 Listen Here LBC’s James Hanson and Iain Dale on Awaab’s Law SHAC was invited onto James Hanson’s LBC radio show to discuss the implications of Awaab’s Law, which came into effect on the 27th October 2025, but applies to social housing providers only. Although it introduces timelines for addressing damp, mould, and other disrepairs, it is SHAC’s view that Awaab’s Law will do little to reduce the prevalence of such problems because it fails to address the enforcement gap. It is an abdication of government responsibility to require each affected tenant or resident to challenge disrepairs individually, rather than introducing more effective regulation, inspection and meaningful penalties for landlords. Listen here. The same issue was covered later in the day by Iain Dale. Listen here. Please like and share ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
 Read Here The Morning Star on Housing Targets The Morning Star quoted SHAC’s comment in its front page headline, referring to government housing policy as a numbers game. We made it clear that the housing crisis is primarily one of affordability rather than supply, and that a range of actions are needed to address the causes. Allowing developers an even greater level of autonomy does nothing to deliver the kind of housing solutions needed by the majority of people affected. It just allows developers and landlords to increase their profits. Importantly, they reported our call for an increase in house building through local authorities with directly employed labour, rather than relying on the big corporate developers. Read here. Please like and share ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
 Read Here (behind paywall) Or Download Here The Telegraph on Plus Dane Service Charges The Telegraph reported on SHAC members living in Plus Dane homes who enjoy the use of a small strip of communal land, for which they are charged more than £4,000 per year in maintenance fees. These charges vary from one property to another, and in some cases have jumped dramatically over the last couple of years. The focus on Victoria and her neighbours highlights the variable nature of service charge legislation according to whether a person is designated as a tenant, leaseholder, or freeholder. Those living on Victoria’s Plus Dane estate are considered to be ‘freeholders’, and are therefore excluded from the protection of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, meaning they cannot bring a case to the First Tier Property Tribunal. Download here. Please like and share ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
 Listen Here LBC’s Tom Swarbrick on Service Charges The story on Plus Dane prompted LBC’s Tom Swarbrick to discuss a more generalised problem with service charges. The broadcast captures his incredulity at the lack of regulation and controls over charges and fees, and some of the ways that landlords are effectively extorting money from tenants and residents. We were able to highlight how widespread such financial abuse is, and that SHAC is continuing its campaign to end service charge abuse. We called on everyone to sign our Parliamentary Petition for a scheme whereby disputed charges can be paid to the courts instead of the landlord, with the landlord being required to prove the legitimacy of bills, otherwise the monies are to be returned to the tenant or resident. Listen here. Please like and share ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram |
 A National Housing UnionSteering Group Meeting Date Set The range of campaigns – from the housing affordability crisis to repairs and service charges – underscores the importance of developing a national housing union. We have now set the date for the first meeting of the Steering Group, which will meet quarterly and guide strategy. A further meeting will follow for a smaller and more active taskforce of people able to devote some time to taking on some of the work needed to get the union up and running (please see our Vision Paper for more details). The Steering Group will meet by Zoom at 6.30pm on Thursday 27th November. If you would like to come along, please register here. |
 Listen Here Housing Sector Podcast Evacuations – When Homes Are Declared Unsafe Ben Jenkins’ latest Housing Sector podcast discusses evacuations and the implications for affected tenants and residents. As Ben says, more and more people are forced to leave their homes at short notice as buildings are declared unsafe, triggered by fire risks and other safety failures. In this episode, Ben speaks with Matt Hodges-Long, co-founder of the Building Safety Register and TrackMyRisks, about what really happens when homes are evacuated. They talk about how these decisions are made, where people go, and what support residents actually receive once the cameras move on. Listen here. |
| Dates For Your Diary |
 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 20 November 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. |
 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. |