|
|
You are here: Southwark \ News \ LEASEHOLDERS' COURT BATTLE
News
LEASEHOLDERS' COURT BATTLE
26 January 2008
Leaseholders across Southwark will wait with bated breath for the outcome of a tribunal hearing this week, taken against the council for repairs on a Bermondsey estate.
Sixty leaseholders on the Rouel Road Estate have taken Southwark Council to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal, after they were hit with bills totalling tens of thousands of pounds for major works.
The group and over one hundred other leaseholders on the sprawling 1970s estate, off Southwark Park Road, have been told that all windows and doors, plus walkway and balcony surfaces need to be replaced. They have been given estimated bills, which come to around £20,000 for those who bought two-bedroom properties, and up to £10,000 to £15,000 more for those leasing large properties.
The Rouel Road Leaseholders’ Association (RRLA) is taking the case to tribunal, arguing that only a small amount of the entire properties on the estate (over 90 per cent of which are occupied by council tenants) need new windows and doors. They are also questioning why they should have to foot the bill for the walkways and balconies, after they claim work carried out by council contractors just less than fifteen years ago was botched up.
The independent tribunal, which is completely unconnected with the council, is expected to finish at the end of the week and if the ruling goes in RRLA’s favour, it could set a precedent for thousands of other leaseholders across the borough fighting mammoth bills for major works on their estates.
Chris Thomas, who is leading the fight for the leaseholders, told the ‘News’: “We have been battling with the council for over two years on this. Just imagine being hit with a bill like that on windows and doors in your home that are in perfectly good order. The windows are Douglas Fir windows and have a life-span of 40 to 70 years. Those that need repairing need repairing because of neglect. That does not and should not mean that every window on the estate needs replacing.”
And he added: “The whole cost of replacing them is another matter again. Despite asking Southwark Council for itemised bills for the price of all the works, we never get it. They can only supply us with a bill of quantities – just a guesstimate. How can you properly challenge the cost of something when it is not given to you?”
The RRLA claim that work carried out on the estate’s walkways and balconies were done in 1994 by the contractors employed by the council, which ended up going bankrupt. “Another contractor was brought in,” Chris told the ‘News’ “as they obviously did not get the job done properly and now we are being charged for a botched up job.”
David Clark, Chairman of Southwark Leasehold Council, said that he and over 14,000 leaseholders in the borough would be waiting to hear the outcome of the tribunal. “This will certainly set a precedent,” he said. “The contractors who did the walkways and balconies and even those who fitted the windows - even if that was way back when the estate was built - should have given guarantees for the work done. We have asked time and time again for guarantees from the council. If Rouel Road wins the case it will set a precedent for us.
“It will also set a strong argument for clear billing. Leaseholders should be entitled to a proper breakdown of costs. A lot of time we are given a global figure, which often means that contractors guess the amount of doors and windows and we pay for more doors and windows than are even in any given block.”
The ‘News’ contacted the council but they refused to comment while the case was in the process of being heard at tribunal.
Social Bookmarks:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Wikipedia: social bookmarking
Comments (1)
1. At 09:51 PM on 01 Apr 2009, john wrote:
this quote from the above article NEEDS URGENT RECTIFICATION.
"“It will also set a strong argument for clear billing. Leaseholders should be entitled to a proper breakdown of costs. A lot of time we are given a global figure, which often means that contractors guess the amount of doors and windows and we pay for more doors and windows than are even in any given block.”"
landlords that includes all local councils are LEGALLY obliged to give accurate and clear accounts with full breakdowns to THE BLOCK (that is each block individually even if its after work was completed when the final Bills of quantity etc are received from the contractors and approved BY SOMEBODY FOR THE COUNCIL). pursue this vigorously and if need be request an ADJOURNMENT until you get these and have had time to fully scrutinise them. and if it's two years since work was completed or even I8 months later that is sufficient time for a local to know the final figures. MAKE THIS POINT LOUD AND CLEAR TO THE TRIBUNAL.
kind regards a leaseholder who forced a london council to do an out of court settlement on the day before the tribunal because they didn't want PRECEDENT SET. and now they are saying 3 years after work was finished they don't yet know final costs to leaseholders who did not take legal action. YET THEY PRODUCED A FINAL ACCOUNT to the Tribunal, mystery remains are they still in a mess unable to know the final figures, or did they produce final figure to TRIBUNAL as part of a TACTIC to hide their incompetence ?
Report this Comment
Post a Comment
More in this Section
Latest Properties
BERMONDSEY SE1,
£330 ,
pw, To Let
RAILTON ROAD SE24,
£202,500 ,
Leasehold, For Sale
