{"id":958652,"date":"2026-05-14T05:54:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/958652\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T05:54:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:54:32","slug":"controversial-exempt-housing-provider-ash-shahada-quits-birmingham-with-3000-tenants-affected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/958652\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversial exempt housing provider Ash Shahada quits Birmingham with 3,000 tenants affected"},"content":{"rendered":"

A controversial supported exempt housing <\/a>provider in Birmingham is quitting the city.<\/p>\n

Ash-Shahada, a London based provider, operates hundreds of properties across the city under the ‘exempt housing’ model and currently has up to 3,000 tenants.<\/p>\n

It has been under investigation for its financial affairs and governance for five years.<\/p>\n

The firm has confirmed it is now exiting the city. Affected properties and tenants will be ‘transitioned’ to new providers, they said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Last year, 2025, the housing association claimed a total of \u00a325.5 million in ‘enhanced’ housing benefits for thousands of people in Birmingham, most placed in former family homes converted into four or six unit properties.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Exposed – Birmingham ‘HMO’ landlords who bag \u00a3400 a week of public money for every room they fill<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

It said: “Ash-Shahada Housing Association has taken the decision to exit the Supported Exempt Accommodation project in Birmingham<\/a> following a comprehensive, independent strategic review commissioned by its board.<\/p>\n

“The decision is intended to protect the association\u2019s long\u2011term sustainability and reduce regulatory exposure associated with lease\u2011based supported housing models.<\/p>\n

“Ash-Shahada is proud of its legacy in Birmingham, having supported over 50,000 vulnerable residents over the years.<\/p>\n

“The association will work closely with Birmingham City Council<\/a> and all relevant stakeholders to manage a structured transition focused on minimising disruption and safeguarding residents.”<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One of the many streets in Birmingham where Ash Shahada operates exempt properties – this is Markby Road in Winson Green(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

Birmingham City Council said: “We are aware of the decision by Ash Shahada to no longer operate within the city and understand this may cause concern for their partners and for residents living in their accommodation.<\/p>\n

“Safeguarding vulnerable people remains our highest priority, and we will work with all relevant organisations involved to ensure that all individuals affected continue to receive the support and accommodation they need.”<\/p>\n

The firm has a mission statement pledging to help Muslims and people of colour especially to find safe and secure housing.<\/p>\n

In 2021 the firm was deemed non compliant by the Regulator for Social Housing. The regulator found several failures relating to its governance and financial viability.<\/p>\n

The watchdog has been working with the firm since to ‘address the weaknesses’ but it remains non compliant.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Birmingham ‘abandoned by government’ and ‘let down’ as it battles exempt housing crisis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ash Shahada’s chief executive Toaha Qureshi, and his son Umar Mahmood, deputy CE, are currently embroiled in high court action relating to allegations of impropriety over their financial affairs. They deny any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

The firm failed to achieve the minimum standards required under the city council’s voluntary Quality Standards scheme, launched in 2023, to be an approved provider.<\/p>\n

The supported exempt sector has been described as a ‘cash cow’ and a state sanctioned scandal by MPs and activists, with Birmingham its epicentre.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year we found major providers in Birmingham like Reliance, the biggest in the city, were able to command \u00a3400 a week or more of public money<\/a> for every needy benefit claimant they housed.<\/p>\n

In three small streets in Winson Green, Ash Shahada operated 11 terraced properties, housing 28 claimants, and received \u00a3253.69 per tenant per week – a return of around \u00a330,000 a month.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Winson Green taken over by HMOs and exempt hostels \u2018and nobody cares about this place’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The vast majority of this money then finds its way into private hands, through a network of managing agents, property owners and investors, completely legally.<\/p>\n

The \u00a3300 million annual industry in Birmingham has been blamed for driving up crime rates and led to more family homes being ‘flipped’ into shared HMO-style properties.<\/p>\n

There are now over 32,000 people housed in exempt properties across the city, mostly former family homes in deprived areas. Many have mental health issues or are deemed highly vulnerable and share homes with ex prisoners, addicts and those in recovery.<\/p>\n

We have sought further information from the Regulator of Social Housing and the company about its reasons for quitting the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A controversial supported exempt housing provider in Birmingham is quitting the city. Ash-Shahada, a London based provider, operates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":958653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,984,748,393,4884,81756,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-958652","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-council","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-hmo","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116571385553446909","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=958652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/958653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=958652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=958652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=958652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}