Estate residents in Southwark hit by £8.5m repair bill
BY JAMES TWOMEY
james@slpmedia.co.uk
Leaseholders on an estate say they are “furious” after a town hall lumped them with an £8.5million maintenance and repair bill.
Southwark council has told residents in 220 homes on the Acorn estate in Carlton Grove, Peckham that they must pay their share for repair work on the building, with some residents facing a bill of nearly £40,000.
This latest repair work comes three years after residents on the estate had to fork out £12,000 each to repair the central heating system as well as the £2,500 service charge they must pay each year.
The council said the residents will be invoiced in March 2020, but many of them feel the bill is too high for the work that will take place.
Tim Wilson, 34, a resident who owns his the property with his sister, said: “It’s totally crazy. I’m furious, angry and so hurt. We worked so hard to get a deposit on this place. This is our retirement gone.
“I’ve never heard of such a gross contravention of the idea that people in councils work for the public good. They don’t.
“It feels like we’re being criminalised for living there by criminals. Southwark council offer these mortgages to offset the cost which have much worse rates than the banks. They are ruinous.”
Some of the repairs that will take place and form the bulk of the costs include renewing parts of the roof, replacing hanging tiles and asphalt repairs to communal walkways.
A resident who did not want to be named and who works in the construction industry as a quantity surveyor, believes the council has overestimated their costs.
He said: “It’s a nightmare for us. We have to pay £35,000 on top of the £12,000 for the heating.
“They have not released the tender contract for this work but the one for the heating had no rigorous scrutiny and should not have been so expensive.
“In my experience as a quantity surveyor contractors always quote high. They buy the most expensive items to make a profit.
“I’m not happy. I will get my own roof specialist and I’m going to fight this to the end.”
Councillor Kieron Williams, cabinet member for housing management and modernisation, said: “We always strive to achieve the best value for the works we need to do to keep our homes in good condition.
“Leaseholders are responsible for a portion of these costs.
“They are legally entitled to review the detail, price and procurement process and we always invite and encourage them to do so.
“Consultation on these works on the Acorn estate has just started, with the costs being estimates, not bills, and we very much welcome detailed scrutiny from leaseholders, as well as tenants.
“Sadly, the cost of necessary works can be high – that’s why we have put in place some of the best payment plan and options in the country to support leaseholders who are faced with these bills and we will support the residents of the Acorn estate as much as we can.”
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I honestly think Southwark council are out of order the way they are treating leaseholders, is it because they know they can approach our mortgage providers to demand for this money or they are just very heartless and very insensitive, how can any sane council scheduled two huge and expensive work so close to each other, last year or so was about £12,000 and next year about £40,000.
Many of the leaseholders on this estate are hard working people as in many other areas up and down the country, we were glad and happy to have been able to go on the property ladder when we took advantage of the right to buy , but right now ,Southwark council are turning this to a nightmare experience. I honestly hope they will have a rethink and move the work to some years later as even now people are still struggling to pay the £12,000 bill from the previous work done .
I pray that our hard working MP , Harriet Harman will look into this as many of us have made a complaint to her office.
Thank you.
I am facing a huge bill with my major works charge payed monthly £307 and the usual annual charge £153 and now Southwark’s estimated charge was undercharged me hugely by £500 and want me to pay this actual now. I am paying Southwark monthly over £500 just on service charge. I feel really stressed. I have family and I am struggling financially because of all this.