SHAC has heard many accounts of victimising by landlords when things go wrong. Typically, this arises when tenants and residents report leaks, damp and mould in their homes and are told that their own 'lifestyle choices' lie at fault, and that action may be taken against them for failing to properly maintain their homes. On… Continue reading Clarion’s Victimisation Culture
In the middle of January, an extraordinary meeting was held between tenants and residents of Hyde from the Stockwell Towers estate, the Stockwell MP who helped facilitate the meeting Bell Ribeiro-Addy, and Hyde chief executive Andy Hulme alongside other Hyde staff, plus local councillors. The meeting was extraordinary because Hulme is notoriously shy about engaging… Continue reading Familiar Stories from Hyde’s Meeting with Stockwell Tenants and Residents
By Dave Lake, MTVHA Resident and Chair of Royal Mint Court Residents Association My residents' association needs to raise £30,000 to have a fighting chance of success at a public inquiry into the relocation of the Chinese Embassy to our estate. We are fighting to prevent the Chinese government's plans for a super-embassy next to… Continue reading Financial Appeal: MTVHA Residents v Chinese Embassy
By Gerald Kennedy and Suzanne Muna The 2024 Renters Reform Bill is still making its way through Parliament, with suggested amendments from campaign groups. The new law is often referred to as 'Awaab's Law' after the death of toddler Awaab Ishak from the toxic effects of damp and mould. The new provisions, we understand, have… Continue reading Awaab’s Law and Renters Reform: An Enforcement Crisis
Residents of One Stratford say they are trapped in a system of financial abuse by One Housing Group (OHG), a housing association which merged with Riverside Housing Group last year after falling into financial difficulties. At least 40 residents at One Stratford are now withholding service charges or ‘balancing charges’ after receiving a series of… Continue reading OHG-Riverside Residents Strike Back
By Harold May* I have spent the 47 years of my adult working life employed in social housing. I am therefore well aware of what constitutes best practice, and by the same measure, what evidences bad practice. Due to a change in personal circumstances, I recently moved into a almshouse belonging to a local charity.… Continue reading The Wild and Unregulated World of Britain’s Almhouses
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
SHAC was recently invited to collaborate with English for Action (EfA) in their newly established Tower Hamlets Housing Action Group involving migrant women from Bangladesh, Sudan and Iraq. EfA is a London wide charity that connects English language learning with community organising campaigning and migrants rights. The charity invited SHAC to help with a housing… Continue reading Empowering Tenants: SHAC and English for Action
SHAC activists can be rightly proud of their campaigning on service charges which has forced one of the biggest associations in Britain to change the way they charge tenants (renters) and residents (leaseholders and shared owners) for services. But the battle is not over yet. Voluntary reform is always unstable and easily eroded. We need… Continue reading SHAC Activists Force Southern Housing Service Charge Reform
Carl Davis reviews David Renton's new book ‘Discrimination in Housing Law’ on behalf of SHAC. Mea culpa. I must confess I am a non-legally qualified disability and housing activist. So when I was asked by the Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) to review David Renton’s new book ‘Discrimination in Housing Law’, Legal Action Group (LAG)… Continue reading Book Review: Discrimination in Housing Law
