Your community, your updates

Welcome to the heart of Sittingbourne & Sheppey Residents Association. This is where you'll find the latest news, essential information, and upcoming events designed to keep you connected and empowered. We believe that an informed community is a strong community, and this page is dedicated to ensuring your voice is heard and your participation is valued.

SHAC Publish Draft Blueprint for a National Housing Union – Have Your Say

The Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) have released a draft blueprint setting out proposals for the creation of a National Housing Union – and they are actively inviting feedback from tenants, leaseholders, and resident groups across the country.

👉 You can view the draft and submit your comments here:

https://shaction.org/housing-union-draft-blueprint-comments-page/

Read the draft blueprint and comment

Why this matters

Across the UK, many residents continue to face ongoing issues with housing providers – from disrepair and poor maintenance to rising service charges and lack of accountability. SHAC argue that tenants and residents are often at a disadvantage when dealing with large landlords and managing agents, who have significantly more resources and influence.

The proposed National Housing Union aims to change that by creating a collective, democratic voice for residents, bringing together:

Social housing tenants
Private renters
Leaseholders and shared owners

The goal is simple: build real power for residents to challenge poor practice and influence housing policy at a national level.

What is being proposed?

The draft blueprint outlines a vision for a union that would:

Support residents with individual housing issues
Help organise collective action on estates
Campaign for stronger rights and legal protections
Unite residents across different tenures and landlord types

Unlike previous “top-down” approaches, the intention is for the union to be run by and for tenants and residents themselves, ensuring independence and accountability.

Why SSRA is sharing this

At the Sittingbourne and Sheppey Residents Association (SSRA), we regularly see first-hand the challenges residents face locally — particularly around managing agents, service charges, and accountability.

This initiative aligns closely with our core aim: giving residents a stronger, collective voice.

We’re proud to support conversations that could lead to meaningful, long-term change across the housing sector.

Have your say

This is still a draft, and SHAC are keen to hear from as many residents and groups as possible before finalising the blueprint.

If you have experience, views, or ideas on how a housing union should work, we strongly encourage you to take a look and submit your feedback.

👉 Access the draft and share your views

https://shaction.org/housing-union-draft-blueprint-comments-page/

Our Next Meeting

We’re holding our next Sittingbourne & Sheppey Residents Association (SSRA) meeting and you’re invited.

This is your opportunity to raise local concerns, hear updates on ongoing issues, and find out what action is being taken on behalf of residents. Whether it’s estate charges, planning matters, local services or wider community concerns — your voice matters.

Everyone is welcome.
If you care about our area, we’d love to see you there.

📍 Location: Castle Connections, Queenborough, ME11 5AY
📅 Date: Friday 12th June 2026
⏰ Time: 19:00

If you can’t attend but have something you’d like raised, please get in touch via our contact form.

Together, we’re stronger — and better informed.

Leasehold Reform in England & Wales – What SSRA Supports (and What Still Needs Fixing)

The UK Government has set out proposals to reform the leasehold system in England and Wales. The aim is to move away from what many campaigners describe as an outdated and unfair system where homeowners do not fully own the buildings they live in.

The proposals include measures such as capping ground rents, banning new leasehold flats, and encouraging the move to commonhold ownership. While these reforms are a step in the right direction, they do not yet go far enough to address the issues many residents face today.

Below is our summary of what we welcome and what still needs improvement.

What SSRA Supports

Ending new leasehold flats

The proposed reforms would ban most new flats being sold as leasehold, with commonhold becoming the default system instead.

Commonhold allows flat owners to own their property outright and collectively manage the building, removing the need for a separate freeholder.

SSRA supports this change. The leasehold system has long allowed third-party freeholders to profit from homes they do not live in, often with little accountability to residents.

Capping ground rents

The government has proposed capping ground rents at £250 per year, reducing to a peppercorn (effectively zero) after 40 years.

This would provide relief for many leaseholders currently paying escalating ground rents written into historic leases.

SSRA supports the principle of limiting these charges, as ground rent often provides no service or benefit to residents.

CONSULTATION RECOMMENDATIONS

Ending forfeiture

Current leasehold law allows a freeholder to ultimately forfeit a lease (take the home back) if charges remain unpaid.

The proposed reforms would abolish forfeiture and replace it with a fairer enforcement system.

SSRA strongly supports this change. Losing a home over relatively small debts is widely seen as disproportionate.

Greater regulation of managing agents

The government is also consulting on introducing mandatory qualifications for property managing agents.

For many residents, the managing agent – rather than the freeholder – is the source of the day-to-day problems around service charges, maintenance, and accountability.

Professional standards and stronger regulation are essential.

We completley support this, however we would also like to see a regulatory body for managing agents with proper powers to act if managing agents fall short in providing services to residents.

Where SSRA Believes Reform Falls Short

Existing leaseholders are still trapped

While new developments may move to commonhold, most existing leaseholders will remain in the leasehold system unless they collectively purchase the freehold or convert to commonhold.

In practice this can be expensive and complex, leaving millions of current leaseholders with limited benefit from reforms.

Ground rent cap still allows unfair charges

Although a £250 cap is an improvement, SSRA believes ground rent should ultimately be abolished entirely, not simply limited.

Ground rent is widely criticised because it is a charge paid without any service being provided.

Service charges remain largely unregulated

Service charges are often the largest financial burden on leaseholders, yet the reforms do not introduce a direct cap on them.

While transparency measures are planned, residents still face significant challenges in challenging excessive or poorly justified charges.

Timescales are slow

Many of the proposed changes could take years to come into force, with some measures expected around the end of the decade.

For residents already struggling with costs, this delay is deeply frustrating.

SSRA’s Position

The proposed reforms represent progress, but they are not the final solution.

SSRA believes the long-term goal should be:

🔹️The complete transition away from leasehold

🔹️Stronger rights for residents to control their buildings

🔹️Full transparency and accountability for managing agents

🔹️A fair and affordable route for existing leaseholders to convert to commonhold

Residents deserve genuine ownership of their homes and meaningful control over how their buildings are run.

SSRA will continue to campaign for reforms that put residents first rather than investors and freeholders.

PLEASE CLICK THE CONSULTATION RECOMMENDATIONS BUTTON FOR RECOMMENDATIONS PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNEMENT FOLLOWING THEIR CONSULTATION WHICH ENDED IN SEPTEMBER 2026