Remember when the previous govt capped rent increases for shared owners at 7% as they were set to exceed 13%? Here a Labour minister tells housing associations he won’t do that. Their income streams are protected. You’re not. "Affordable housing," they said.

Our latest update: Remediation Bill, Building Safety Regulator, under-11m buildings, Interim Measures Alarm Fund, and Shared Owners’ Network. Change won’t happen without you. Take action now 👇 endourcladdingscandal.org/posts/act-no...

🚨 UPDATE: Shared owners contacted us this week to say they were not notified about extra requirements that apply only to them. We warned MHCLG. Repeatedly. How many are now at risk of losing key protections under the Renters’ Rights Act?

📈 30 shared owners facing a 21× increase in buildings insurance. Service charges have surged from £205 to £614 a month. And this is what the Government calls "affordable housing."

🚨 For shared owners, annual above-inflation rent increases are the norm. Will the Chancellor step in with a one-year rent freeze for them as well? @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social

"Getting mortgages for flats in buildings that need fire safety repairs has been a challenge, while there is understandable reluctance to buy flats where there may be future repair costs. ... Some existing owners have been trapped in unsellable flats for years" ⏳⏳⏳ www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...

🚨 Subletting & Renters’ Rights Act We’ve seen housing association letters to shared owners on required action regarding subletting under the Renters’ Rights Act. We’re gathering evidence. If you’ve received a similar letter, please forward it to: ✉️ [email protected]

Buildings Insurance of £14.5k skyrockets to... 3️⃣1️⃣1️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ POUNDS! Each leaseholder now being forced to pay £4k. 16+ months since MHCLG said they’re working (with insurers) to maybe possibly perhaps consider action. Working at their usual "pace".

More leasehold nightmares: Earl's Court residents challenging drastic hike to insurance costs over flammable cladding www.mylondon.news/news/west-lo...

Housing is by far the biggest issue in my casework inbox. I know @lewisham.gov.uk are working incredibly hard to make sure everyone has a decent home. With strong support from the Gov, we can extend that progress to leaseholders and those with cladding issues.

Apparently, the Prime Minister is "determined that everyone should have a safe and secure home" and Labour is "fixing building safety." Has anyone told the Housing Secretary and MHCLG? 👀

My housing association still hasn’t implemented changes to the Capital Funding Guide made 2 years ago, but sure, emailing all shared owners before May 1st sounds totally realistic. #UKhousing #SharedOwnership

Did you also cover this last-minute government guidance for shared owners who are accidental landlords? It affects thousands of Londoners caught in the building safety crisis, now at risk of losing protections because their housing provider hasn’t notified them. www.gov.uk/guidance/the...

The Grenfell Inquiry blamed “dishonesty and greed” among developers and installers, as well as “incompetence” by regulatory authorities. Since then, you don’t hear so much from laissez-faire types about “health and safety gone mad.” Except at HM treasury 😬 www.thetimes.com/money/mortga...

The Renters Rights Act makes changes to shared ownership. 🆕 @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social has urged registered providers to “take action now”. ⚠️ But will shared owners, especially those who sublet, get the information they need in time?

🆕 Subletting update: New Government guidance has finally been issued on the Renters Rights Act for shared owners who sublet (or plan to). The timing is very last-minute, giving limited time to act and potentially affecting key protections. 🔗 www.gov.uk/guidance/the...

📢 Important update for shared owners who are accidental landlords because of the building safety crisis 👇

"Even harder than selling a leasehold is trying to sell a flat with potentially combustible cladding. Changes introduced after the Grenfell tragedy have left tens of thousands of owners across Britain stuck in buildings that are considered unsafe." spectator.com/article/flat...

It's particularly bad for shared owners, who must sell at a price determined by a RICS surveyor, who will overvalue. ⚠️ Don't buy a shared ownership flat. ⚠️ Don't buy a newbuild.

2.5 years since leaseholders fought for a Remediation Order, with a deadline of June 2024, work is yet to start. ⬇️ Unsafe homes, enormous financial harm, lives and life choices completely ruined. Labour still light years away from getting anywhere close to a grip. www.bbc.com/news/article...

106 months on from Grenfell, we are still fighting for truth and justice, as the Hillsborough families had to for decades. Hillsborough Law must be delivered with those families at its heart. Their lived experience is vital to ending coverups and delivering real accountability.

Fire alarms had been deactivated for eight months in the Hong Kong building which suffered a devastating fire last year. A fire safety professional noticed, but said 'it didn't have to do with our work' open.substack.com/pub/peteapps...

Don't miss important news and updates. Follow our WhatsApp channel 🖇️ whatsapp.com/channel/0029...

"Fire safety issues were identified, including fire alarms not working properly and problems with fire doors. (...) Service charges shot up to reflect the extra costs." inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

We have a very similar situation but at least our housing association is the freeholder - it is certainly another level of hell if the freeholder is a third party, such as the developer. I feel for Yusrah and her family.

This. Section 106 blocks are the worst for shared owners. I know, I live in one.

£500,000 in service charges… with no invoices. In Podcast #68, I speak with Muna_Suz from @shacaction.bsky.social about #Peabody, service charge overcharging, and the legal tactics used to silence residents. This isn’t one case—it’s a pattern. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO5r...

We’re trapped in a £275,000 shared ownership home – it’s unsellable inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

🗨️ "We have had enough of this nightmare" Many shared owners are trapped, unable to sell, facing spiralling costs they can't afford. The Government must act urgently and fund a buyback scheme so shared owners can finally move on with their lives. 🖇️ Link in next post.

It's the London Home Show next week. 🚫 Don't buy a shared ownership flat. This is what happens to those who trust the Government's "affordable housing" scheme. 👀

@matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social's response is clear: ❌ Buybacks are still a lottery ❌ The Labour govt still doesn't have a plan to fix this Thousands remain trapped. We need a statutory right to buybacks for unaffordable & unmortgageable homes. questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-ques...

Most shared owners trapped in unmortgageable and unaffordable homes are saying the same thing: they need a way out. They want buybacks. Thank you @jessbrownfullermp.bsky.social for asking this question👇 🖇️ Minister response in next post

⚠️ On a Heat Network? The London Assembly Environment Committee has written to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband over rising costs and future upgrade charges. ❗This isn’t just a London issue. Details & next steps on our WhatsApp channel 👇 whatsapp.com/channel/0029...

Shared owners are paying the price for a crisis they did not create, and for trusting a government-backed scheme that promised an affordable home. This is why we are calling on the Government to fund a national buyback scheme for shared ownership homes. inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

In response to Simon Dudley's (Reform UK) comments on Grenfell:

A ‘generation is being trapped’ in shared ownership properties they can’t sell, according to The Telegraph this morning. It’s a story we know all too well here at The Mill. Today, our writer and editor Jack Walton recounts his own shared ownership story... manchestermill.co.uk/help-im-trap...

Thousands of shared owners are trapped in potentially unsafe blocks, facing escalating costs they cannot afford and unable to sell or even remortgage. They are left in limbo, with little to no meaningful support from their housing associations. inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

🗨️ "My net income is about £2,998 a month, and my housing costs are now over 50% of that. It's just not sustainable." "I knew there would be service charges,... but shared ownership was advertised as affordable housing." www.bbc.com/news/article...

The National Audit Office "warned that high service charges coupled with mortgage costs, building safety bills and the cost of rent ... posed long-term “financial risks” which could ultimately affect the buyer’s ability to sell up." #SharedOwnership www.telegraph.co.uk/money/proper...

“We’re really angry, we’re scared, we’re upset - it’s now the Government that’s our biggest challenge. I feel betrayed." The worst residential fire since Grenfell. Leaseholders lost their homes. Now @UKLabour wants to claim £6m at the victims' expense. youtu.be/oCi4cSHImF4?...

"When you have Angela Rayner, the day after the fire... promising to do everything she can for the residents... and then 18 months later, the Govt and the GLA saying ‘actually we need the money back’, that’s outrageous. It’s absolutely outrageous." www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

In other words, the Regulator of Social Housing mark their homework.

I genuinely believe we will now see deflation in London housing market & negative equity in some spaces - especially new developments/build to rent schemes

📆 This Friday at 12pm We’re joining journalist @peteapps.bsky.social for a live Substack chat on the building safety crisis. We’ll discuss what’s going wrong and how Labour could fix it. 🔗 Link and how to join in next post.

Shared ownership: too expensive to buy, hard to sell… and the solution is to let more people into the same broken scheme a select committee called “an unbearable reality” 2 years ago? Make it make sense.

Sales in our block keep falling through because of the service charge, and I can’t see that improving.

Nearly 8 months since Labour promised funding for buildings under 11m. Details due last September. Still missing. ⏳ Meanwhile leaseholders in “low-rise” blocks are getting life-changing bills for problems they didn’t cause. History repeating itself. Change? What change?

How many shared owners are trapped in blocks under 11m, facing life-changing bills @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social @samanthadixonmp.bsky.social? #SharedOwnership #BuildingSafetyCrisis

We joined leaseholders, policymakers and sector experts at a recent LEASE event to discuss the ongoing building safety crisis. From remediation delays to the reality facing residents still trapped in unsafe homes, here are the key takeaways. 👇 endourcladdingscandal.org/posts/lease-...

❗37% of flats now have annual service charges exceeding 1% of their value, with real consequences for lending. Nearly 1 in 5 flat sellers sold at a loss in 2025. Leaseholders are paying the price for soaring insurance premiums and building safety costs.