Posts

A recipe for social housebuilding
A recipe for social housebuilding
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With more than 270,000 people currently experiencing homelessness in England, we’re undoubtedly seeing the impact of 40 years of failure in housing policy. At the same time, house prices are far out of reach, leaving many young families trapped in expensive and insecure private rentals.

This is why, throughout 2018, Shelter led a Big Conversation to investigate what’s going wrong. We sought the views of the public, experts and social and private renters. Their input was analysed by an independent … Read more

Benefit cap: 'undoubtedly harsh' yet not unlawfully discriminatory
Benefit cap: 'undoubtedly harsh' yet not unlawfully discriminatory
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Today, the Supreme Court has acknowledged that the household benefit cap is not achieving its stated aims and is inflicting poverty on people. However, the judges also declared (by a majority of 5-2) that the cap does not unlawfully discriminate against lone parents or breach the rights of their children.

The appeal this stems from was brought after the High Court found in 2017 that the cap unlawfully discriminated against lone parents with children under two – a decision that … Read more

Passenger donates all profits from his new album to Shelter
Passenger donates all profits from his new album to Shelter
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There are many people who support Shelter in different ways – and among those is multi-award winning and platinum selling singer-songwriter Passenger. In an amazing gesture, 100% of the profits from his new album, Sometimes It’s Something, Sometimes It’s Nothing At All, will be donated to Shelter. At Passenger’s request, the proceeds will be used to help fund our vital Family Support Services.

On the day of release, Passenger – aka Mike Rosenberg – dropped by our flagship charity boutique … Read more

London Renters Union: A campaigning union winning justice for renters
London Renters Union: A campaigning union winning justice for renters
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Among a growing number of organisations campaigning for the rights of private renters is London Renters Union (LRU), a union for people who rent privately, and who work to support members from across the capital.

Like Shelter, LRU come across cases of DSS discrimination every day. In the guest blog written by one of their members, you’ll find just one story of how they helped a member facing this prejudice.

You can join the campaign to tackle this issue across … Read more

Shelter Thames Valley: spotlight on our new Hub
Shelter Thames Valley: spotlight on our new Hub
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Shelter’s Thames Valley office launched as our newest hub on 1 April, and we marked the occasion with a launch party and open day. ‘We threw it open to our service users, who came along and were absolutely fantastic, and to other partner agencies,’ service manager Jackqueline Hauxwell said. ‘We ensured that people could meet and mingle with the team.’

The Thames Valley Hub is located in the Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) Building at 27 Church Street, Slough. This … Read more

Permitted development scandal: homeless families put at risk
Permitted development scandal: homeless families put at risk
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In the last few weeks, the controversial permitted development system has been receiving renewed media attention. This is partly because Labour, in a welcome move, have now pledged to scrap permitted development rights for the delivery of new homes.

This pledge comes off the back of reports last year, which highlighted the small, poor quality homes coming through the permitted development system, and a get-out clause that exempts schemes from providing vital social and affordable housing.

But, recent coverage of … Read more

Why I'm running the London Marathon for Shelter
Why I'm running the London Marathon for Shelter
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Running the London Marathon for Shelter brings together two things that are important to me: running and housing.

Despite hating most exercise as a child, I’ve somehow ended up running half marathons in my 40s. I enjoy the runner’s high, the peace and quiet away from the demands of work and children, and the justification for eating extra cake. I even got the foolish idea that I’d like to run the London Marathon at some point. Then an internal email … Read more

Scrapping Section 21: a victory for every housing campaigner
Scrapping Section 21: a victory for every housing campaigner
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15 April was a cause for big celebration. Renters won an important campaign which will change the way all private tenants are treated in our country. In case you missed it, the government announced plans to scrap Section 21, effectively fixing renting in the private sector by bringing an end to no-fault evictions. It’s a move that could finally give tenants the right to stay in their homes.

If made into law, this will improve renting for every one of … Read more

Run, bake or DJ – there are so many ways to raise money for Shelter
Run, bake or DJ – there are so many ways to raise money for Shelter
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From bake sales to breakdancing, cycling to scaling skyscrapers, there are so many unique ways to fundraise for Shelter. Take DJs Doug, Tom, Charlotte and Jamie, who decided the best way to support us was to put on a night of awesome retro tunes.

The group of friends came up with club night Maneater – 00s Trash Club, a celebration of the turn of the millennium featuring classics like Overload by the Sugababes, the freakily-good Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz, … Read more

Ending unfair evictions will help prevent homelessness
Ending unfair evictions will help prevent homelessness
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This week, the government announced plans to abolish Section 21 evictions, meaning that private renters can no longer be evicted unless their landlord has a legitimate reason to do so. This is a historic change which will offer Britain’s 11 million private renters the security they have too long been denied.

Shelter has long campaigned for greater security for those living in the private rented sector, from families to older people. And this is an outstanding victory for those who … Read more

Not enough of a Rightmove
Not enough of a Rightmove
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More significant progress in Shelter’s fight against housing benefit discrimination this week, as Rightmove signalled their intention to ban all ‘No DSS’ adverts from their website. At least that’s what the headlines say…

Look beyond them and it’s clear that Rightmove still have work to do to end DSS discrimination for good. We commend them for acting, but under their proposed approach, letting agents will still be free to post discriminatory adverts in breach of equality law.

What are … Read more

Our lack of social housing is failing those in desperate need
Our lack of social housing is failing those in desperate need
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At Shelter, we see many people who’ve had bad experiences renting privately, but Tom’s experiences are exceptionally bad. First, his landlord blocked off access to the boiler and left the thermostat set so low that the heating wouldn’t come on unless it was freezing cold. Then he started coming to the property on a daily basis, going into his tenants’ rooms without their permission.

Things got worse when there was a gas leak in the property. When Tom informed his … Read more