A Lambeth leaseholder has criticised a council report, arguing it fails to capture the full reality of being a leaseholder in the borough, during a meeting of the council's Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee on Wednesday, September 30.
Tracey Gregory, a leaseholder, told committee members that the report on the Homeownership Service and Leaseholder Experience had "little reflection" of the actual leaseholder experience and services provided. She also noted the absence of background detail on the "serious impacts" of errors in the calculation, distribution, and administration of service charges.
Specific errors highlighted
Ms Gregory cited a recent First Tier Tribunal case where leaseholders on an estate were charged for maintenance of 10,000 square metres of grounds, when the actual grounds were only 1,400 square metres. This meant leaseholders were charged for an area seven times larger than the real size. She added that they had also been charged over £100,000 for a door entry system that did not work, and that similar errors were being replicated across the borough.
She attributed these errors partly to deficiencies in systems for cost assessment and allocation, often by other departments such as estate management and capital works, stating that simply improving leaseholder services alone was not enough.
Association echoes concerns
Antony Wynne, from the Lambeth Homeowners' Association, said that none of the "minor changes" to the service outlined in the report would make much difference unless the "fundamental issues" of contract management were addressed. He described instances of "spectacular overcharging" and charging for work not done at all or not necessary, which only became apparent when leaseholders challenged them. The council has had to refund those leaseholders, but Mr Wynne said the association had asked multiple times how much the council had recouped from contractors, without receiving an answer.
Lambeth has around 30,000 council properties, of which approximately 9,500 are leasehold properties.
Working group established
Following the discussion, the Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee agreed to set up a working group consisting of three leaseholders and three committee members. The committee also moved forward with a recommendation to establish Lambeth Homeowners' Association as a recognised body representing leaseholders, subject to necessary governance arrangements.
