As many readers will be aware, government introduced a new piece of legislation in May last year - The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 - aimed at strengthening the rights of tenants and residents. The law is part of a programme of government reforms which were prompted by intensive campaigning and lobbying by leaseholder… Continue reading Freeholders’ Cynical Attempt to Torpedo Leasehold Reform
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
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
Beleaguered and battle-weary Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH) residents have been joined by concerned Hyde residents in opposition to a merger between their landlords. Merger talks were prompted by a £90 million black hole in THCH’s accounts. The deficit has thrown the landlord into chaos, prompting changes in leadership, and a grilling by local councillors.… Continue reading THCH and Hyde Merger: The Road to Ruin?
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
All names have been changed Tower Court is a new build development located at Stamford Hill, London. There are four buildings on the estate, which was developed by Countrywide, with Hackney Council taking on the role of managing agent when it was completed. Bella made her home in the Peregrine Court building, and was immediately… Continue reading Our Stories – The Hackney Residents Saga
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
By Anne Jones* Ten years ago I used to catch an evening bus to go from the city to my village. I had this new bus driver for the first time. I had asked him for a single to my destination. It was cash and a paper ticket in those days as opposed to the… Continue reading The Service Charge Scam – An Insider Speaks
A petition launched by the SHAC Secretary calling for measures to end service charge abuse has received a reply from Michael Gove's department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) after exceeding the first target of 10,000. See the Petition and government reply. At the present time, the petition has gathered 16,100 signatures and has… Continue reading Gove’s Lame and Lying Reply to Service Charge Abuse Petition
Residents on The Rise estate have notified their landlord MTVH that they are embarking on a service charge strike over disputed charges and their failure to engage. The Rise estate comprises three blocks near Wembley, west London. Residents had requested a statement of their charges and the invoice pack, and were legally entitled to receive… Continue reading MTVH: Rise Residents on Service Charge Strike
