Leaseholders of Islington ex-local authority properties and our aim is to to ensure that Islington Council, its managing agent(s) and Partners, provide leaseholders with a better service and value for money
The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) is part of the building safety legislation that was introduced in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster.
The government set this legislation to help protect leaseholders from the burden of remediation costs for historical safety defects.
The protection under the BSA only applies to “relevant defects “ in “relevant buildings”.
A relevant defect, broadly covers historical building safety defects, which cause a building safety risk from the spread of fire or collapse of the building or part of it, such as combustible cladding, or defective foundations, and must have created in the 30 years prior to the leaseholder protections coming into force, (meaning the defect had to be created from 28 June 1992 to 27 June 2022).
The definition of a relevant building is one that contains at least two dwellings and is at least 11 metres in height, or has at least 5 storeys, (whichever criteria is met first).
Leaseholders in 5 storey blocks may request a landlords certificate from LBI, however a certificate is only required if a landlord seeks to recover remediation costs relating to “relevant defects”, within the meaning of section 120 of the Building Safety Act 2022, from leaseholders in “relevant buildings”, defined in s117 of the Act.
If a property is in a “relevant building”, and any remediation costs relating to “relevant defects” are now not legally chargeable to the leaseholder of the property, given that any “relevant defects” would have arisen from “relevant works”, either undertaken or commissioned by the council.
Of course any other costs unrelated to “relevant defects” will still be chargeable, as per the terms of the lease.
I hope this helps. You can read further information here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-building-safety-act
For Leaseholders when dealing with Islington Council
Those of you who have regularly attend the Associations monthly meetings over the last 17 years,
ILA meet at St Marys after being excluded from the TownHall
will be aware of the importance of the following list of Do’s & Don’ts in dealing with Housing based problems. (Many of which whilst appearing to be very obvious, need to be repeated continuously to be effective) So for those who do not know, and are new to these meetings…
Please be aware that the ILA Never gives or Offers any form of LEGAL ADVICE, or Recommendation…If you require legal advice we suggest you consult a professional such as, a SOLICITOR, SURVEYOR, BUILDER, LEASE. Etc..
However…
The following list of Do’s and Don’ts are simply observations drawn from 25 years of personal experience whilst dealing with Islington Council, as Chairman of both the ILA & FITA…and as a LEASEHOLDER…!!!
1 / never TALK to the council…Verbal promises, assurances, sympathy, are very easily forgotten, disputed, ambiguous, devious…also, staff leave, Die. Etc…So, PUT IT ALL ON PAPER…Letters, or/and Emails. THEN YOU CAN RELY ON THE CONTENT AND CONTEXT OF THE INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM ANY “CONVERSATION” and insist on acknowledgement to all email traffic. Never send originals bills Etc, always send photocopy’s…
2 / PHOTO’s are invaluable, there is no arguing with photographic evidence. If you haven’t already done so…photograph ALL available parts of your property, in as much detail as possible, ideally showing before and after repairs.Etc. Courts and Tribunals love photos…(I have hundreds of my property, both internal and external, and from a selection of angles)…
3 / When contacting the Council, alway’s start at the VERY top…The ILA can supply a list of all senior Council officers if required. Complaints and answers always reach their logically effective level while traveling Down from the Top…rather than Up from the bottom…
4 / Remember The Council only charge you what they pay out on your behalf, SO they do not charge you…They Re-Charge you…and you are therefore entitled to demand to see ALL the bills that they pay on your behalf…
5 / Do not shout at Council staff…they are usually just doing as they are told, and do so to retain their jobs. If you experience problems, email a senior employee and stress your disappointment with the service..Remember write NOT talk…
6 / Having unsolvable problems with Council Work, Staff, Policy, Including complaints procedure. Next step is an Official Complaint. Make sure you state at the top of your email/letter in large letters…“OFFICIAL STAGE ONE COMPLAINT”
7 / Still unhappy/not satisfied with the Council’s response to your complaint? Contact the HOUSING OMBUDSMAN and escalate your complaint…It cost you NOTHING and usually expedites the councils response to you complaint…
8 / Un-satisfied with the results of your complaint?… a/ Contact the ILA and see if we can assist in solving your problem. b/ Contact the LEASE organisation, this is completely FREE advice supported by government funding… c/ Still unhappy, book a hearing and decision at the First Tier Tribunal, they do charge a small application fee, but you can attend with or without a solicitor or surveyor and simply represent yourself and present information and argument from anyone you please…d/ Lastly you may decide to take the council to Court…However, the main problem here is that the courts do have, and often do award costs…Remember when defending leaseholders challenges at court, the council are using council funds to pay for terribly expensive legal representation, SO THEIR COSTS NEVER SEEM TO BE A PROBLEm, for them…!!!
9 / I have frequently found that highlighting the councils short comings in the local press…WORKS WONDERS. Even better still the National press and magazine coverage tends to provoke an instant action on many subjects, as does a quick statement on one of the news Channels but Massive viral coverage on the WEB is best of all…
10 / The simple secret to solving a housing problem, I have discovered, is to make One Individual totally responsible for the issue. When such a person is selected the problem remains attached to them personally, and in order to be seen to be doing their job property, they process the problem until its resolved to the leaseholders satisfaction…
11 / Another piece of information which is of extreme importance, is that frequently leaseholders emails /letters appear to disappear into the “wide blue yonder”, the way to counteract this effect is to ask questions under the Freedom of Information Act…this will always ensure that your questions are answered…and you can rely on the veracity of the content.
12 / Finally, a real instant money saver…Check your new service charge bill against all previous bills…we have found that the Councils accountancy and billing leaves much to be desired, so check all the “job numbers” for repairs on the bill…as you may have been charged for the same repair repeatedly for any number of years…However, this form of over charging can be re-claimed retrospectively by simply informing the COUNCIL that you have been OVER CHARGED…So…Do this NOW…
As stated this SHORT LIST is simply to assist leaseholders in their dealings with Islington Council, but I am quite sure that it is applicable to most, if not all Councils…
Please stay connected and attend our meetings every month… If you would like to be kept updated on events effecting leaseholders we will need your email address…
REMEMBER…You ARE the Islington Leaseholders Association…One of 11000 Islington leaseholders…!!!
Start a file of Council documents correlated by date. Keep ALL documentation with and from the Council Find and become familiar with your existing lease Obtain a copy of the OLD law on Leasehold Obtain a copy of the NEW Leasehold Law Check your s20’s
Knowledge is Power So defend yourself by acquiring information by attending our meetings.
Housing Scrutiny-Information on Partners Resident Scrutiny Arrangements Meeting Tuesday 6th February 2018.
In advance of next week’s Housing Scrutiny meeting which will be considering the performance of Partners, please find attached a note submitted by a Partners tenant on the organisation’s resident scrutiny arrangements. This may inform discussions at the meeting.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday 6th February, 2018, at 7.30pm in Committee Room 4. The pre-meeting will be held from 7-pm in Committee Room 3, at Islington Town Hall.
Dear Islington Leaseholders,
Overview and scrutiny in local government inquiry
Dr Potter has asked me to forward this onto you all and has kindly suggested that everybody should reply to this by sending in a written submission….. A.S.A.P…. Deadline = Friday, 10 March 2017
Please click on the link below in BLUE to submit your written submissions.
MPs launch inquiry into overview and scrutiny in local government
Tuesday, 24 January 2017 14:58
The Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee has launched a “long-overdue” inquiry into overview and scrutiny in local government.
The committee said it would “consider whether overview and scrutiny arrangements in England are working effectively and whether local communities are able to contribute to and monitor the work of their councils”.
Written evidence is invited on:
Whether scrutiny committees in local authorities in England are effective in holding decision-makers to account
The extent to which scrutiny committees operate with political impartiality and independence from executives
Whether scrutiny officers are independent of and separate from those being scrutinised
How chairs and members are selected
Whether powers to summon witnesses are adequate
The potential for local authority scrutiny to act as a voice for local service users
How topics for scrutiny are selected
The support given to the scrutiny function by political leaders and senior officers, including the resources allocated (for example whether there is a designated officer team)
What use is made of specialist external advisers
The effectiveness and importance of local authority scrutiny of external organisations
The role of scrutiny in devolution deals and the scrutiny models used in combined authorities
Examples where scrutiny has worked well and not so well
The deadline for written submissions is Friday 10 March 2017.
Clive Betts MP, chair of the committee, said: “This inquiry is long overdue. Local authority executives have more powers than ever before but there has not been any review about how effectively the current overview and scrutiny arrangements are working since they were introduced in 2000.
“Local authorities have a considerable degree of discretion when it comes to overview and scrutiny. We will examine these arrangements and consider what changes may be needed to ensure decision-makers in councils and local services are better held to account.”
Overview and scrutiny arrangements were introduced by the Local Government Act in 2000 as a counterweight to increasing decision-making powers of Leaders and Cabinets or directly elected mayors.
The committee said that shortcomings had been exposed, however, following a number of high profile cases, including child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, poor care and high mortality rates at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and governance failings in Tower Hamlets.
Hosting the meeting: Dr Brian Potter Chairman (ILA)
Guest Speaker: To be advised
Website www.ila.org.uk
Twitter @ilaorguk
Face Book www.facebook.com/IslingtonLeaseholdersAssociation
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