Council Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

(asked on 17th December 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to protect leaseholders charged with excessive charges for repairs levied before the new cap for council house repairs came into force in August 2014.


Answered by
Brandon Lewis Portrait
Brandon Lewis
This question was answered on 19th March 2015

There were Directions, dating back to 1997, for the mandatory reduction of service charges to social landlords that cap leaseholder charges to £10,000 for specific programmes where Government has funded repair or regeneration. They were last extended in 1999 to take account of funding available through the Private Finance Initiative. They only relate to specific, named, programmes.

The new Mandatory Directions, which came into force in August 2014, extended the cap to £15,000 in London and covered the Decent Homes Grant announced in the 2013 Spending Review.

The law provides all leaseholders with a wide range of rights and protections where service charges and the management of their property is concerned. Service charges are only payable to the extent that they are reasonable, although what may be reasonable will depend on each property, the work required, and other services that the landlord is required to provide. Furthermore, leaseholders have the right to challenge the service charges they are being asked to pay by applying to an independent tribunal to determine the payability of the charges on the grounds of reasonableness.

Leaseholders can seek free initial legal advice about their own particular circumstances from the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), a specialist advisory body funded by this Department, at Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London, EC4 8YX; by telephone on 020 7832 2500; or by e-mail at: info@lease-advice.org . LEASE’s website is at: www.lease-advice.org

Noting the hon. Member’s constituency interest, I would add that my Department has recently received a number of letters from leaseholders complaining about how much they are being charged by Tower Hamlets Homes (an arms length management organisation for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets) in relation to major improvements and repair works to their homes. Examples have been given of service charges of around £35,000. Some of the complaints have also asserted that the commissioning of the works is flawed or even corrupt. We are carefully looking into these concerns and considering options.

In addition, Tower Hamlets, like all London councils receiving Decent Homes funding, has been required to appoint someone to independently verify their claims for decent homes funding. Tower Hamlets has appointed Mazars using an established procurement framework and the Greater London Authority believes that, to the best of their knowledge, this provides the necessary degree of independence.

Notwithstanding my Department’s review, I am disappointed with the aggressive and unsympathetic approach of the council, which is yet another sign of how the actions of the Tower Hamlets administration have harmed the good reputation of local government.

Reticulating Splines