Just one year ago, a community of women from mainly Bengali migrant and refugee backgrounds living in the east end of London would probably not have described themselves as grass-roots housing activists. Yet their substandard housing conditions left them keen to fight for better, and their ESOL (English language) class gave them both the perfect… Continue reading SHAC and English for Action: Empowering Community Housing Action
During the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, we learned of numerous impending legislative changes for the housing sector. Perhaps most relevant to SHAC’s new antisocial behaviour (ASB) campaign is the Hillsborough Law. This law will place a duty of candour on public servants and authorities. It is expressly designed to ‘address the unacceptable defensive… Continue reading ASB and the AntiSocial Social Landlord
Housing associations have long understood the benefits of drawing political figures into their orbit. Clarion Housing Group snagged ex-housing minister Gavin Barwell when they invited him to join their board in December 2019, where he continues to govern. If the tenants and residents of Clarion, Britain's largest housing association at the time, had been asked… Continue reading Labour Snagged in Golden Web
By Rona Jones* Residents in shared ownership flats in the new Circus Street development, Brighton have found themselves trapped in properties that they can no longer afford due to unexplained service charge increases of up to 170%. The block of flats that I live in are new builds, consisting of a mix of flats that… Continue reading Clarion Housing’s Circus Street: Unaffordable Housing
By Carl Davis The Housing Ombudsman's finding of severe maladministration against Clarion Housing Group, the largest housing association in Britain, over the preventable death of Mark Pearce went almost uncommented upon within the social housing sector. There were no hastily convened press conferences of executives apologising for the mistreatment of Mark. No outpourings of horror… Continue reading No Warning Flags from Disabled Resident’s Death
Around 70 residents have notified their landlord, Clarion, that they will be partially withholding payments in a dispute over rent and service charge levels, plus contested service charge items. The residents have formed a collective of some 60-strong households covering their estate in Southall, West London. Shana, a striking resident has explained that the group… Continue reading Clarion: Over 70 Southall Residents Start Service Charge Strike
More than 400 tenants and residents have pledged to support rent and service charge strikes in protest at rent increases and extortionate service charge rises, which will coincide with further hikes in energy bills. The pledges were made by tenants and residents actively resisting sharp rises in housing costs which are threatening the affordability of… Continue reading Rent & Service Charge Strike Pledges Grow
SHAC has organised a picket of the annual UK Housing Awards after almost 54,600 people signed our petition calling on organisers to cancel the extravaganza. We are encouraging tenants, residents, housing campaigners, and all those opposed to the commercialisation of social housing to join us. The picket will take place from 11am on Friday 25th… Continue reading Protestors to Picket Housing Executives Awards Extravaganza
More than 53,600 people have now signed SHAC's petition calling on organisers to cancel the housing executive's annual extravaganza. Click here to sign In September, once we approached 50,000 signatories, we wrote to Pete Apps, Editor in Chief at Inside Housing, and Gavin Smart, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, the two organisers… Continue reading Nothing to be Proud of: Cancel Your Awards Ceremony
By Carl Davis A lot of the recent shocking media coverage on disrepair in the social housing sector focussed on huge remote and faceless corporate providers like Clarion, L&Q, and Notting Hill Genesis. But this fails to capture the experience of people housed by smaller, rogue and failing social landlords. For example, Chantele – not… Continue reading Little Rogue Landlords
