Not Shared Not Ownership

@tomcopley @mtpennycook When you KNOW how awful L&Q are to anyone who lives in one of their properties, why on earth do you keep handing them £millions in public money? Explain it like I’m 5 or something.

It was good to visit Greenwich Peninsula to see progress in one of City Hall’s biggest land holdings. The L&Q development I visited with @mtpennycook last year is nearly complete - with 70% affordable housing. Construction is also underway on 300 homes for rent by the river.

@WillForster Without effective regulation you should assume that First Port will ignore you and carry on fleecing people, just as they have always done.

I’ve questioned Firstport’s Managing Director about his company’s appalling bad and slow responses to issues in #Woking buildings managed by them. He shouldn’t celebrate fewer problems being reported as a success - it’s down to people giving up reporting them!

@1joharrington @EOCS_Official @tomcopley @Estates_Gazette They don’t care about the market for flats. Not when there’s “build to rent” and “shared ownership” making up the house building numbers.

@tomcopley @Estates_Gazette Can you explain how 2026 is going to be a turnaround year for housing in London, when the majority of housing in London is flats? Flats are currently toxic due to Building Safety Issues and Leasehold. Those issues need to be resolved to fix the market for flats.

I spoke to @Estates_Gazette about how 2026 is going to be a turnaround year for housing in London. We’ve got a government, a Mayor and the whole housing sector pulling together to get more spades in the ground. estatesgazette.co.uk/news/copley-pr…

Well done @UKLabour @Keir_Starmer Survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes start to have benefits cut in UK after accepting compensation theguardian.com/world/2026/mar…

@PippaCrerar Stable doors and bolting horses comes to mind.

EXCL: Senior Labour politicians across London warning govt not to take progressive voters for granted amid concerns they face “political earthquake” in May after surge for Greens. They have been privately circulating new data that suggests Labour could drop from first to fourth place in London – losing control of all but two of their councils – with the Greens soaring into first place to take nine. New modelling indicates Labour, which holds 21 boroughs, could lose flagship authorities like Hackney and Lambeth, although the Greens would struggle to field 1800 + candidates across capital. Reform could take one: Barking and Dagenham. However, Nigel Farage’s party could win 132 seats and be largest party in Havering. theguardian.com/politics/2026/…

@insidehousing @HousingOmbuds “business plan” is to turn complaints handling into a growth industry. They have no interest in outcomes and resolutions, because they’re fully funded by donations from housing associations - so we can’t expect anything better from them.

Housing Ombudsman consults on business plan as landlord fees set to rise dlvr.it/TRJd4g #ukhousing

@tomcopley @Estates_Gazette This confederation of repugnance is not the win for Londoners you think it is.

The current rate of inflation is about 3%. My rent has increased by 5.76% and my service charge by 8.98%. Talk to me again about how shared ownership is affordable housing. @mtpennycook @MayorofLondon @tomcopley

@jessicahelloo1 Ideally, no-one who pays rent should pay service charges as well.

My thing is if it is shared ownership. Why are they paying the FULL amount of service charge. As it is a shared ownership they should pay the amount they own? Like if it’s 30% then they pay that? (Serious question)

@mtpennycook @SKinnock @steveracemp That aged like milk

Lots of warmth for Angeliki Stogia on the doorsteps of Gorton and Denton today. For unity not division. Vote Labour to stop Reform.

@LostInSW19 @MayorofLondon @tomcopley Of course not.

Do the @MayorofLondon and @TomCopley also oppose section 21 notices when these are issued by housing associations or local councils, for example when private tenants are made homeless as a direct result of the Right To Buy Back scheme they fund?

@mtpennycook Unless and until you have robust regulation and a regulator with teeth, there’s homes will be run into the ground by housing associations, just like all the rest of our social housing.

Everyone deserves a decent, safe, secure and affordable home in which to live. Today, our new £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme opens for bids. At least 60% of homes delivered through the programme will be for Social Rent.

@tomcopley @MayorofLondon It’s no wonder housing associations routinely break the law. They are given billions of pounds of public money regardless of how they treat their tenants. And you can this a policy triumph…. 🤦‍♀️

Today bidding opens for the @MayorofLondon’s new Social & Affordable Homes Programme 2026-36. Nearly £12bn over 10 years - the largest and longest-term settlement we’ve ever had. We encourage ambitious bids from councils and housing associations. 🔗 london.gov.uk/programmes-str…

@tomcopley @haringeycouncil It’s great that they’re building new social housing. But it’s a pity that they can’t maintain their existing housing stock. Which means that all they are doing is storing up problems for the future.

A very fine new council housing development. I visited two years ago. @haringeycouncil are one of the top boroughs in London and the country for new council home delivery.

@tomcopley @OnLondon @SadiqKhan Ugly tower blocks of “luxury” flats getting thrown up cheek by jowl on every scrap of land, and being sold to institutional landlords for the latest iteration of buy-to-let, and local councils calling it “placemaking” while current stock is left to rot, unoccupied.

The last govt’s botched introduction of new regulations and the BSR, and soaring interest rates post-Truss budget hit homebuilding in London hard. I’ve written for @OnLondon about how @SadiqKhan is taking the tough decisions to get London building again. www-onlondon-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.onlond…

Our comment in this @insidehousing feature: “There is a paucity of data on long-term outcomes... fewer than 50% of all shared owners have staircased to 100% since the inception of the scheme in the 1970s [and] 1980s... possibly far fewer....100% staircasing stats are overstated”.

Just wondering - if we’re in a “no one is above the law” frame of mind, does this mean someone will be in the dock for Grenfell any time soon?

@insidehousing Any improvements this govt comes up with will never be enough to fix SO for existing buyers, because to do that would be to the detriment of housing association landlords.

MHCLG ‘considering improvements’ to shared owner model after less than 1% staircased to 100% in 2024-25 dlvr.it/TR2r3f #ukhousing

@tomcopley You don’t take on board feedback from tenants though, do you? Private renters, social housing tenants, and shared ownership tenants, are routinely thrown to the dogs by neoliberal politicians of all stripes - including you, Mr Copley.

The claims in this article are simply wrong. The package of measures announced in October were unashamedly pro-house building. No extra measures have been “inserted” by City Hall. We continue to take on board all feedback from the housing sector so we can accelerate delivery.

@MrCladding Complex lease arrangements are common in shared ownership. In my flat there’s the freeholder, the first tenant (Clarion) the second tenant (MTVH) and the third tenant (me). I haven’t had any actual accounts in over a decade.

I’ve surprisingly had this response from a few people. If you’re paying for services in a shared ownership model that is this imbalanced, you should have every right to view invoices and challenge them. Otherwise, this is open to severe abuse by managing agents. This must change.