Category: Major Works

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ILA Information Islington Leaseholders Major Works Service Charges

Woman saves Islington taxpayers a fortune after spotting council window blunder

By JON DEAN Thursday, May 10, 2012
A woman was horrified when she found the council planned to charge her to replace the windows in her home – even though they were still covered under guarantee.

Vicki Leonard, 55, of Haslam Close, Islington, says the council had no idea about the warranty and was set to charge all the block’s residents for the work.

She called to protest, and says the council officer knew nothing about the 10-year-promise.

A spokesman for the council said: “The council retains guarantees for major works and we apologise that in this case there was an unacceptable delay in dealing with this request.” more

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Financial ILA Information Islington Leaseholders Major Works Service Charges

LVT refuse Islington council appeal against poor works and overcharging decision – Tremlett Grove vs LBI

The LVT recently confirmed that it considers Islington council Major Works charges were not reasonably incurred, and that one roof had been replaced & charged for without any clear evidence of inspection by the council, and that leaseholders were entitled to expect that blocks were inspected before substantial costs were incurred.

The LVT upheld it original decision of Merryweather & Brennand court vs LBI 29.3.12

The leaseholders concerned saved 10’s of thousands of pounds off their bills.

The council may still appeal again, but the real questions are why is the council wasting taxpayers money in making appeals rather than investigating its contractor(s) and staff responsible for the issues pointed out by the LVT ? and Is the Council going to obtain a full refund for the overcharging from its contractors so all tenants affected can benefit from the LVT decision , or are LBI to pass the cost back onto tenants and leaseholders in increased service charges in future bills ?

You can read the refusal statement LVT Refusal statement 26 April 2012

The LVT upheld it original decision of  Merryweather & Brennand court vs LBI 29.3.12 see below post LVT – Merryweather & Brennand court vs LBI 29.3.12

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ILA Information Islington Leaseholders Major Works Service Charges

Islington Local press letters on Tremlett Grove vs LBI LVT & LBI waste April 2012

Islington Local press letters on Tremlett Grove vs LBI LVT & LBI waste April 2012
in “campaign” section of site here

 
 

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ILA Information Islington Leaseholders Major Works Newsletter Partners PFI Service Charges

ILA spring 2012 Newsletter Download

You can download a pdf of the ILA spring 2012 newsletter here ILA newsletter Spring 12 Final

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Financial ILA Information Islington Leaseholders Listed Buildings Major Works Service Charges

Leaseholders get massive bill reduction at LVT for extremely poor major works, and massive overcharging.

One of the most important Leasehold Valuation Tribunal LVT decisions to date, from an Islington leaseholder’s perspective, was announced last week, (Merryweather court and Brennand court vs the mayor & burgess of Islington 29.3.12).

Please see the downloadable LVT decision pdf for details on the bill reductions, and to see how Islington leaseholders supported their claims before the LVT, plus the degree of detail they provide in evidence of shoddy workmanship, overcharging and gross mismanagement.   LVT – Merryweather & Brennand court vs LBI 29.3.12

Examples of the council overcharging identified by the LVT include roof works charges of £208,661 which were reduced to  £50,000, i.e. £25,000 per block. and asbestos removal charges of £157,371 that the Tribunal reduced to reasonable expenditure of £15,737.

This is one example, where the Council has authorised expenditure without satisfying itself that the expenditure is really necessary, and it demonstrates what can be achieved when leaseholders have the courage to challenge the bills they are sent, and demand that council officers ,  councillors and their contractors  are made accountable for their actions.”

Since the ILA can only supply ‘useful information’ on our web site, and not “advice”, as always, we suggest that you should obtain ‘professional independent legal advice’ before considering issuing such a challenge.

The Islington Gazette  has reported that millions of pounds of public money could have been wasted.

The ILA has already lobbied Islington Council, and, both the leader of the council, and the chair of housing, in regard to applying the reductions obtained by Merryweather/Brennard Courts leaseholders to all leaseholders in the same contract, and insisted that the council also reclaim, on behalf of the public purse, all monies related to tenanted properties in the same contract.   LVT – Merryweather & Brennand court vs LBI 29.3.12

 

Please feel free to pass on to other leaseholders you think may be interested

 

Late News:  The ILA  understand that LBI intends to appeal the decision.

 

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Financial ILA Information Islington Lands Tribunal LBI Leaseholders Major Works Service Charges

Leaseholders’ massive victory over repair costs at Tremlett Grove estate opens door for more challenges

Published: 13 April, 2012  by PETER GRUNER  IN an historic decision, a tribunal has cut repair bills for seven Archway leaseholders by a massive 60 per cent because much of the £2million remedial work on their estate was unnecessary.
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ILA Information Islington Leaseholders Major Works

Resident improvement task force – Leaseholders may be excluded from key posts confirms Cllr James Murray

James Murray ( head housing honcho @ Islington Council) yesterday confirmed that although there would be 4 or 5  councillors advising him as part of the new housing consultation process, he would not confirm that any of them would be Leaseholders.

…unfortunately seems like more  anti-leaseholder politics

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Financial ILA Islington Leaseholders Major Works PFI Service Charges

Leaseholder fact of the week

 Since the start of the PFI 2 contract 926 Final accounts have been issued to leaseholders as part of the Major Works program. Of these 326 have been challenged, about 35%, with an average charge of nearly £7,000 and a total charge of £1.4m. 285 of these challenges have been resolved.
Of these resolved cases 207 have received some form of adjustment to their account, with the majority of these being adjustments of less than £1000 (120 cases).