New research suggests some social landlords are perceived to be silencing tenants’ groups they disagree with, leaving residents feeling marginalised and disempowered. Martin Hilditch of Inside Housing investigates more
Category: LBI
Decent Homes works carried out by Mulalley [Area 3 Phase C]
Leaseholders who received a letter from the Council in July, asking them to notify the Council of any defects with the works by the 23rd of August, should be aware that the deadline given in the letter for rectifying any defective work is incorrect. more
For the convenience of its members the ILA has persuaded the council to provide a simple schematic outline (see below) of their current managment structure…
…It should be noted however that council employees occupying these positionsfrequently change without prior warning…Therefore since only the titles can be relied upon at any given point in time, identification of officers currently in posthas been deliberately ommitted… Islington Council Housing Staff Structure
For a flat fee of £380 it is now possible to own every part of your windows through a deed of variation. Under our leases the window frames remain part of the structure of the building and therefore are subject to the vagaries of whatever Islington Council fancies doing to them. However with a deed of variation, you stay in charge. Even if the windows have to be replaced, you can choose who does the work and you therefore control the cost.
If you’re interested, write to your leasehold officer – their name appears on letters regarding service charges. Tell them you would like to own your windows through a deed of variation, enclose a cheque for £380 and within a couple of weeks it could be sorted.
Vicki Leonard (ILA)
Gazette reports more than £20million could be raised for new homes if Islington Council take up Dr Brian Potter ( ILA chair) suggestion and offers leaseholders a one-off chance to extend their leases by 99 years at a knock-down price. more
Islington Gazette reported that Homeowners have declared victory after Islington council announced it will not contest a ruling that it blew £1million overpaying on repair work more
From: Dr Brian Potter ILA
To: Catherine West (catherine.west@islington.gov.uk), james.murray@islington.gov.uk, paul.convery@islingtonlabour.org.uk, richard.greening@islington.gov.uk, richard.watts@islington.gov.uk
Dear Catherine.
Since the ILA’s last proposal to raise cash for Islington (99 year Lease Extensions) appears to have drawn so much attention (including from other borough’s!) we hope that you will also consider another of our schemes, which although not as lucrative as the first, will potentially raise a great deal of much needed cash, very quickly.
Very briefly…
A/ In Islington’s leases, Leaseholders only own the glass, not the window frames!
B/ A major source of problems has been due to window repairs/replacement for which contractorsgrossly over charge. (Most windows have under gone extensive work through the Decent Homes Project already)
C/ So..When contacting leaseholders re a 99 year lease Extension…also offer to sell them their windows…at a discount…as a one off offer…in the same time frame as the lease extension?
Back ground…
Formally, to buy your windows through HFI you were required to seek planning permission and alicense…all of which cost money and involved administrative costs to the order of approximately £1000-2000 per property.
The ILA has finally convinced HFI that both the planning permission and license were an unnecessary cash burden, which prevented leaseholders from buying their windows via a “Deed of Variation”. However, as a result of years of negotiations with HFI, leaseholders can now purchase the DOV within a couple of weeks, at a total cost of £380. (I purchased mine last month).
If this sum was reduced to £180 in a one off promotion, I am sure that the majority of Islington’s leaseholders would be happy to take part.
Peripheral advantages to this scheme…
1/ Many more leaseholders would be inclined to use the small local builders…thereby generating bothcash and employment in the borough, and reduce both the council’s responsibility and contractual work load!
2/ The large contracts currently being allocated cost the borough a fortune, and are totally un-manageable and impossible to monitor…and, invariably uses sub-contracted labour from…who knows where?
3/ If the leaseholders are satisfied with this arrangement they will have no need to challenge the billing at law (LVT), so saving the borough a great deal of cash during the course of the year in defending issues related to cost and quality of works by employing very expensive external firms of solicitors. See Tremlett Grove…!!!
Legal safe guards…
In order to ensure that the leaseholders comply with council requirements in regard to conservation areas etc…Caveats can be included, if and when required…
Possible income of…non-ring fenced cash…
Math…11,000 x £180 = £??????????
Brian.
For those of you unable to obtain last weeks Islington Gazette dated 6 September 2012.
Please click here IslingtonGazetteLetters06.09.12
The Islington Gazette – Thursday 6 September 2012 , Page 18 – Letters
1) Letter of the week – ‘Legalised money laundering’ by Council
By Dr Brian Potter, Islington Leaseholders Association/
Federation of Islington Tenants Association
2) Leaseholders – A silence that is far from golden
By Kay Newsom, Islington Leaseholders Association member
3) Democracy – Champions must not be chumps
By Richard Rosser Highbury New Park. N5
Send your letters to islingtongazette.letters@archant.co.uk
Islington Gazette reports calls for investigation into Islington Coucil “…Islington council had a vested interest in overcharging by contractors …… The message being sent out to contractors by Islington council is ” if you get caught overcharging, don’t worry we will pay the legal cost with public money to defend your actions…..”
Full Islington Gazette articles here
This is a precis of the ruling earlier this year by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal regarding work that took pace on the Tremlett Grove Estate. The case featured on the Dispatches programme broadcast on Monday 20th August 2012.
It is written by a layperson, not a lawyer, and should not be relied upon for legal use or to encourage you to take legal action. It is written for your information.
If you wish to dispute your bill in any courts or at the LVT, the ILA strongly suggest you should always seek legal advice from lawyers experienced in UK leasehold contracts. You can find the original decision at the Lands Tribunal website.
Summary of Tremlett Grove findings
The actual costs involved are detailed in Appendix 1 on page 27 of the actual LVT ruling