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Eight years of failure by Notting Hill Genesis – and growing support for service charge strikes elsewhere

A disturbing report from the Social Housing Acton Campaign – as more tenants start withholding their service charges.

Suzie has rented her Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) one-bedroomed flat in Westcliff-on-Sea Essex since February 2016. It is a specialist accommodation for over 55s. 

When she moved in, she believed it would be her forever home, but all-too-soon found herself living in a nightmare of anti-social behaviour (ASB), with her landlord acknowledging the problem but failing to act.

For more than eight years, Suzie urged NHG to address the problem. Things looked hopeful in April 2016 when a new Operations Manager took over, and completed an ASB investigation. However, the landlord failed to progress to the next phase of issuing an injunction against the perpetrator. 

The ASB continued until last Autumn when the perpetrator moved out. However, by that time, Suzie has been left scarred and desperate to move out herself, having lost all confidence in NHG.

Suzie says: “Due to the failings of NHG, I’ve been made ill. Every day for prolonged periods, the neighbours would be shouting and hollering. There was no let-up. I couldn’t have friends round or do normal activities. My nerves are shot. It has affected my mental and spiritual well-being. Even sitting in the garden, there was no peace.”

Suzie’s GP recognised that she was suffering trauma as a result of the ASB, and referred her for therapy 18 months ago, but she is still waiting for an appointment. She was also advised by the Housing Ombudsman Service to issue a Personal Injury claim, but without Legal Aid, she is unable to afford the solicitor’s fees. Suzie has been left feeling stuck and unsupported.

SHAC Secretary and Cofounder Suzanne Muna said: “Despite the legal obligations on landlords to intervene when antisocial behaviour is reported, it is still the case that they find it easier to ignore it. The damage being done to tenants and residents like Suzie is immense, and with service cuts, the problems are exacerbated. This is why SHAC has had to take up the issue of antisocial behaviour as a campaign. Our research shows that landlords are perpetrating the ASB as well as failing to resolve it.”

SHAC has produced substantial reports on antisocial behaviour which can be seen here.

Meanwhile, new groups are joining  SHAC’s Service Charge Strike. SHAC Secretary and Cofounder Suzanne Muna said: “Over the last two months we have been inundated with enquiries from groups who are starting a payment strike, mainly over inaccurate service charges, but all too often this is combined with persistent disrepairs.  Withholding payment is a powerful way to get the landlord’s attention on an issue, but it is depressing and regrettable that people have to go to these lengths when a simple phone call should be enough to resolve a problem.”

Although landlords say they could take legal action in such cases, in five years of supporting service charge strikes, SHAC has rarely been informed of any landlord even beginning the process. Generally this is because landlords know that they would not be able to justify their actions if they had to explain them in court.

Here are some of SHAC’s members’ experiences:

Alice, a Clarion Housing Group tenant, started withholding service charges quite a few years ago. Her tenancy agreement specified that the cost of service delivery was included in her rent. When Clarion asked her to pay a separate service charge on top, she took legal advice that confirmed she was not liable for extra payments. Nonetheless, Clarion continues to badger her to pay extra. Alice cannot afford more: she is on a state pension and doesn’t qualify for pension credit. She adds: “I’ve been asking for 11 years for Clarion to do the cyclical repairs – rotting window frames, all the paint peeled off, the roof needs repair to stop damp coming in to flat, guttering needs clearing, communal carpet in the hall hasn’t been changed for about 30 years. Nothing has been done.”

Barry has been a Guinness Housing Trust tenant since 1990 and felt compelled to withhold some of his service charge payment. Barry acknowledges that some charges are legitimate and says that he and his neighbours are“happy to pay our service charges, as they include important health and safety and essential repairs.” 

However, he also notes: “We’ve had roof leaks since 2010, we’ve had rat infestations since 2014, even though each household has been charged £50 per year for pest control services that didn’t happen … they say they will do repairs and don’t act. I have followed every path open to me but people who raise such concerns using the Guinness complaints procedure become a target. I have been subject to victimisation, harassment, and revenge eviction attempts with false accusations of rent arrears only for the case to be dismissed by the courts because I had receipts for rent payments.”

The majority of those withholding payment are from the larger landlords. Examples include:

• Jen, a Peabody Housing resident living near Stevenage, said “I am withholding my service charge as I am in a shared ownership house. Zero communal areas and the monthly charge has increased from £12 per month to £76. They do not carry out any work in my Close at all. It’s a total scam.”
• Amir is a shared owner with a 25% share of a flat in east London. He recently began withholding payment from his landlord, L&Q, because “my service charge increased from £330 to £530 per month. I have no means to pay such an amount, and I feel I am being forced to leave my flat.”
• Mohammad, a Clarion Housing Group tenant in south London says that he has been withholding payment since 2015. He won his case at Tribunal because Clarion was unable to provide any evidence of the legitimacy of their charges, but the landlord continues to send bills.
• Louise, a resident with Places for Peoplein Yorkshire, said that residents in her block are withholding because “they have increased the service charges from £505 a month to £605 a month. They are trying to charge us over £2,000 per month for the communal lighting on four floors.”
• Simon, an Abri resident living near Portsmouth, said that residents on his estate were withholding their heating charge after it increased by 100%. Abri has admitted that the charge was an error but has still failed to correct it.

However, some are from councils, such as Jade and Mina:

• Jade, a Hackney Council resident, said that she and around 40 others living in her block are withholding half of their service charge each month because of serious disrepairs, including malfunctioning lifts, leaks and mould, a dangerous stairwell which is their only fire exit, fly-tipping, and infestations of ants, rats, mice a cockroaches resulting from a build-up of waste.
• Mina, a Lambeth Councilleaseholder, has been withholding her service charge since the middle of 2023 because they have escalated to a level she considers unreasonable. She notes in particular that the council added “a charge of £2,200 for cutting 3 trees”to their bill.

There are also some residents from smaller associations such as Thomas, a resident of Leeds Jewish Housing Association, who has been withholding payment for some time over irregularities with their service charge accounts, and overcharging on some items.

SHAC provides resources and practical support to groups of tenants and residents withholding payment. Earlier this month as a result of the high demand, SHAC launched a new network to bring strikers together. The network already has more than 150 members from across England, around half of whom are taking action as part of a much wider strike group on their estate.

SHAC is a campaign group linking tenants, renters, shared owners, and leaseholders living in social and private housing. It campaigns to improve the conditions of homes and neighbourhoods, and to reduce the commercialisation of housing. www.shaction.org