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Cyclical Works Financial Housing ILA Information Islington Islington Council Lands Tribunal Leaseholders Leases Major Works Meetings Partners Service Charges

ILA Meeting in October

Monthly Meet

on

Wednesday 9th October 2024

in

Islington Town Hall

at

7pm – 9pm

Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month

Islington Leaseholders, Please bring a copy of all your correspondence on the issues you wish to refer to…….e.g. s20 estimate. etc,

Hosting the Meet – Dr Brian Potter

All Islington council leaseholders are welcome.

The ILA is the organisation, recognised by the Council, as the body representing some 11,000 leaseholders in the borough.

X (FKA “Twitter”) @ilaorguk

Face Book www.facebook.com/IslingtonLeaseholdersAssociation

Please join or renew your membership via our website ww.ila.org.uk . You can obtain the appropriate membership forms from the “Support” tab in menu

Categories
Financial Housing ILA Islington Council Leaseholders Leases Service Charges

LEASE Buildings Insurance Survey

LEASE have launched a survey about the costs of buildings insurance. It will help ministers and officials create better policies to address these costs.

A big thank you to those who’ve already contributed to the survey!

Your contribution is greatly appreciated and will play a key role in our efforts to improve the availability and cost of buildings insurance in the future.

If you haven’t had a chance yet, there’s still time to participate.

Please click here to complete the survey

This survey has been created with help from End our Cladding Scandal (EOCS) and a number of managing agents, as well as with support from officials in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

This survey is the first of many that LEASE is planning for the next year.

What information will you need to complete this survey?

To fill out the survey, you will need:

  • Details about your building, like the number of flats and the total value of the buildings insurance.
  • The cost of your insurance from 2017 to now. You don’t need to have all the information for all the years, but the more details you can provide, the better.
  • Information about any insurance claims for fire, flood, or water damage.

Only one leaseholder per site needs to complete the survey. It would be best if a director from the Resident Management Company (RMC); Right to Manage (RTM) company, or someone from the residents’ association, completes the survey.

Confidentiality and data sharing

The personal information you provide will be kept confidential, and only anonymized results will be shared.

The closing date of the survey is Friday 27 September.

Categories
Cyclical Works Financial Housing ILA Information Islington Islington Council Lands Tribunal Leaseholders Leases Major Works Meetings Partners Service Charges

ILA Meeting in September

Monthly Meet

on

Wednesday 11th September 2024

in

Islington Town Hall

at

7pm – 9pm

Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month

Islington Leaseholders, Please bring a copy of all your correspondence on the issues you wish to refer to…….e.g. s20 estimate. etc,

Hosting the Meet – Dr Brian Potter

All Islington council leaseholders are welcome.

The ILA is the organisation, recognised by the Council, as the body representing some 11,000 leaseholders in the borough.

X (FKA “Twitter”) @ilaorguk

Face Book www.facebook.com/IslingtonLeaseholdersAssociation

Please join or renew your membership via our website ww.ila.org.uk . You can obtain the appropriate membership forms from the “Support” tab in menu

Categories
Cyclical Works Financial Housing ILA Information Islington Islington Council Lands Tribunal Leaseholders Leases Major Works Meetings Partners Service Charges

ILA Meeting in August

Monthly Meet

on

Wednesday 14th August 2024

in

Islington Town Hall

at

7pm – 9pm

Islington Leaseholders, Please bring a copy of all your correspondence on the issues you wish to refer to…….e.g. s20 estimate. etc,

Hosting the Meet – Dr Brian Potter

All Islington council leaseholders are welcome.

The ILA is the organisation, recognised by the Council, as the body representing some 11,000 leaseholders in the borough.

X (FKA “Twitter”) @ilaorguk

Face Book www.facebook.com/IslingtonLeaseholdersAssociation

Please join or renew your membership via our website ww.ila.org.uk . You can obtain the appropriate membership forms from the “Support” tab in menu

Categories
Cyclical Works Financial Housing ILA Information Islington Islington Council Lands Tribunal Leaseholders Leases Major Works Meetings Partners Service Charges

ILA Meeting in July

Monthly Meet

on

Wednesday 10th July 2024

in

Islington Town Hall

at

7pm – 9pm

Islington Leaseholders, Please bring a copy of all your correspondence on the issues you wish to refer to…….e.g. s20 estimate. etc,

Hosting the Meet – Dr Brian Potter

All Islington council leaseholders are welcome.

The ILA is the organisation, recognised by the Council, as the body representing some 11,000 leaseholders in the borough.

X (FKA “Twitter”) @ilaorguk

Face Book www.facebook.com/IslingtonLeaseholdersAssociation

Please join or renew your membership via our website ww.ila.org.uk . You can obtain the appropriate membership forms from the “Support” tab in menu

Categories
Cyclical Works Financial Housing ILA Information Islington Islington Council Lands Tribunal Leaseholders Leases Major Works Partners Service Charges

ILA Meeting in June

Monthly Meet

on

Wednesday 12th June 2024

in

Islington Town Hall

at

7pm – 9pm

ILA meet in Town Hall

Islington Leaseholders, Please bring a copy of all your correspondence on the issues you wish to refer to…….e.g. s20 estimate. etc,

Hosting the Meet – Dr Brian Potter

All Islington council leaseholders are welcome.

The ILA is the organisation, recognised by the Council, as the body representing some 11,000 leaseholders in the borough.

X (FKA “Twitter”) @ilaorguk

Face Book www.facebook.com/IslingtonLeaseholdersAssociation

Please join or renew your membership via our website ww.ila.org.uk . You can obtain the appropriate membership forms from the “Support” tab in menu

Categories
Cyclical Works Financial Housing ILA Information Islington Islington Council Lands Tribunal Leaseholders Leases Major Works Partners Service Charges

ILA Meeting in May

Monthly Meet

on

Wednesday 8th May 2024

in

Islington Town Hall

at

7pm – 9pm

Please bring a copy of all your correspondence on the issues you wish to refer to…….e.g. s20 estimate. etc,

Hosting the Meet – Dr Brian Potter

All Islington council leaseholders are welcome.

The ILA is the organisation, recognised by the Council, as the body representing some 11,000 leaseholders in the borough.

X (FKA “Twitter”) @ilaorguk

Face Book www.facebook.com/IslingtonLeaseholdersAssociation

Please join or renew your membership via our website ww.ila.org.uk where you can obtain the appropriate membership forms from the “Support” tab in menu

Categories
Financial Housing Information Leaseholders Leases Major Works Repairs Service Charges

THE LAW

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

sets out the basic rules for service charges. It defines what is considered a service charge, and sets out requirements for making sure costs are reasonable. Landlords should consult leaseholders before entering into any agreement for work or services which would lead to a service charge.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 also applies to payments of service charge under a lease whilst a management order is in place under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.

Section 18 (1) of the act defines a service charge as ‘an amount payable by a tenant of a dwelling as part of or in addition to the rent

  • which is payable, directly or indirectly, for services, repairs, maintenance, improvements or insurance or the landlord’s costs of management; and
  • the whole or part of which varies or may vary according to the relevant costs.’

The costs of the services, repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance and management must be reasonable, and the tribunal may decide whether they are.

Please note: the definition in section 18 (1) does not overrule the lease. The item or service must still be included in the lease for your landlord to be able to charge for it.”

Categories
Councillors Financial Housing ILA Information Islington Islington Council LBI Leaseholders Leases Major Works Service Charges

Massive Rent Increases

Islington Councils latest budget, as usual, is all “Doom and Glum” and continually pointed at the great hole in the  borough’s finances. 

Nevertheless, since the councils main funding stream is basically through council rents and Maintenance bills, their obvious solution is to raise the average Council rents by a whopping great £9.71p per week. This is in order to replenish the Housing Revenue account, and facilitate further mis-running of the borough. 

However, strange though it may seem, whilst the borough is financially struggling to survive, the Council have also re-purchased 389 ex Council flats. It’s not to move islington tenants out of temporary accommodation, such as bed and breakfast, which costs the borough a fortune, but to be used as further…short term accommodation..!

Question, if this borough is having financial problems : – Just how/and from where, did they acquire the money to finance such a massive purchase?

Using a broad brush approach, approximately 389 flats at an average cost of £400.000 each? (and we all know, that in this borough you can’t buy a shoe box for that, much less 2, 3, and 4 bedroom flats) comes to approximately £155.6 million pounds!

Question, If the purchase of these flats involved a grant…how much was it in total?… if a loan, just how much undisclosed debt are we now jointly carrying?…and what % interest are we going to be paying?, to whom, and for how many years to come?. Which of course will be solved, once again, by simply, raising the RENTS and MAINTENANCE bills …Again and Again…

It “Beggars Believe” what both Tenants and Leaseholders of this borough are forking out in order to cover financial mismanagement…

Hopefully, the usual “Smoke and Mirrors” won’t be enough this time around.!!!

Dr Potter

Chairman ILA www.ila.org.uk

Categories
Leaseholders

Scaffolding Vs Cherry Pickers

scaff crop vs

Leaseholders often wonder why vast amounts of scaffolding, erected on council property, never appears to be in use. Why it remains so for months, and some times for years even? 

Understandable, on high rise blocks, perhaps, but on low rise and street properties the costs can’t be justified, surely? Since the use of modern “Cherry Pickers” and Tetra systems, can vastly reduce costs. They also cut the time required to do the job.

The council usually argue that regardless of time on site, cost of scaffolding remains fixed at a set price by their contract…So whether it remains up for a week or six months is totally irrelevant…!!!

Arguably, I would assume that if this is such, the council might be accepting “Front loading” of the contracts to justify such fixed priced arrangements, since builders do not work for free.

Recently I witnessed (photographed) replacement of tiles on a four floor block of flats, using a cherry picker…workmen arrived at approximately 8am the repair completed by 9am, while I watched…no scaffolding used, and only three workmen…job done…!!!

Furthermore, I have pictures of a similar machine being used on higher council blocks adjacent to the Town Hall…So, given scaffolding is extremely expensive, damages buildings, is unsightly, encourages crime, and requires netting, why does the council continue to use it.

The leaseholders theory is generally, that it profits the contractors by allowing them to store their materials for free, thereby removing the necessity for expensive “striking” and costly storage, until required elsewhere, the council however would argue that it greatly facilitates future “on going” works, and actually saves leaseholders money…!!!

Leaseholders pay the bill…You decide…!!!

Dr Potter…

Chairman ILA                      

Categories
Councillors Financial Housing ILA Islington LBI Leaseholders Leases Major Works Repairs Service Charges

Follow the money!

A simplistic explanation of why we pay so much…!!!

Why are council Rents and Maintenance bills, so inexplicably high? …simple,  …Just follow the money!

The council state that their main funding stream is basically via council rents, and maintenance billing. This is paid into the Housing Revenue Account by tenants, leaseholders, and 4000 absentee landlords…So…

1/ Islington Council issue contracts to maintain the borough’s estates.

2/ The Contractor scopes out the work, price the job, and bill’s the Council for work completed.

3/ The Council (using 33% of the housing Revenue account) pays the tenants contribution. It apportions the remainder between their leaseholders and absentee landlords.

4/ The absentee landlords then recover their cash by raising their rentals.

Who gets this public money?

1/ Builders get paid directly by the council, come what may.

2/ The council simply raise the tenants rents, and present Home owners with a massive bill.

3/ Landlords increase their rental charges to cover their liabilities.

Where does the money wind up!

1/ Contractors reinvest their massive profits in new projects.

2/ Builders simply “rack it in” by piecemeal subbing-out of the fractionated contracts.

3/ Council reduces its gross over spending to appear efficient.

4/ Landlords pay off their Mortgages.

5/ Private tenants reduce their renting costs by flat sharing.

6/ Mortgage lenders always win in the long run, since their investment is inevitably founded in “Bricks and Mortar”. 

All financed from the constant uncontrolled wastage of public money.!

Solution…

1/ Council reduces contract sizes

2/ Council stops issuing astronomical bills to pay contracts

3/ Council controls Building and Maintenance costs by bringing building projects “Back in House”…

4/ Council demands total accountability

5/ Council demands value for money

6/ Council accepts “Individual Corporate Responsibility”, as the norm. 

Which is no more than what they’re already being handsomely paid for doing…!!!

Dr Potter…

Chairman ILA… (www.ila.org.uk) 

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