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Be Independent. Vote Rosser on May 4th.
When it comes to leaseholder charges we all know what the problem is and we all know what the solution is. Leaseholder re-charging has become bogged down in a lot of side issues and arguments. The initial answer is simple. I'm calling for a £10,000 Cap to be extended to cover a 10 year period. And it should be backdated to cover any works carried out under the Decent Homes Standard. 1) A Cap on the leaseholder re-charge. The most common argument against capping is that any cap will reduce the money available for tenants. This need not be the case if the Government will pay the balance from the £45 billion it has received from the sale of council houses. (See the Rowntree Trust's site for this figure http://www.jrf.org.uk/pressroom/releases/011205.asp) Despite it's refusal to consider capping for most leaseholders, especially those in the EC1 New Deal where the funding was in the form of a grant, the LibDems want to take credit for introducing capping into the disastrous PFI deal. At a Council meeting this March, the LibDems amended a Labour motion to read (in part) "...... Congratulates the council for being the first to introduce a cap for the PFI scheme" …… Talk about being sensitive to the issue! especially when it's being so vigorously denied to others. Looking at the Partners for Islington fiasco, where they are taking the leaseholders to the LVT, it's clear that the 5 year Cap will very easily become a charter to charge leaseholders £10,000 every 5 years. This means that the annual service charge will effectively go up by £2,000 a year, while very little is actually spent on repairs. Hence my call for capping to be extended to 10 years. PFI shows that Capping can be done and we should ask Councillors, of all parties, to support it. 2) Waive charges for pensioners or those with chronic illness. There are provisions in the legislation that allow the Council to use discretion in levying these charges in cases where they would cause hardship. The Council must announce that it will waive these bills for pensioners or those with long term health problems. Quite apart from anything else, the elderly on fixed incomes, the long term ill and the unemployed will not be able to get a mortgage to cover the bills. 3) Appeal against your bill and go to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) A recent ruling at the Lands Tribunal has said that Leaseholders can refuse to pay for repairs when the landlords' neglect has pushed up the cost of the repairs. Landlords cannot charge for 'improvements'. This is a grey area but could cover installing double glazing where the windows were previously serviceable. Another example could be installing CCTV systems. My own view about going to the LVT is that it's a must. My fear is that we will end up talking about this, that and the other for years, in the vain hope that the Council or the Government will listen to us. By the time they do, it'll be too late and we'll all be saddled with huge bills. 4) Create proper leaseholder consultation. We have the Islington Leaseholder Forum but it doesn't have any money and it can't contact leaseholders in the borough. For years the Forum has asked for funding for it's own newsletter so that it can keep leaseholders in touch. But neither the Council nor HFI will consider it. How can the Forum be representative if no-one knows anything about it? 5) Lobby for the £10,000 Cap. Write to Emily Thornberry, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, and Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey. Emily has taken up the call to lobby on behalf of leaseholders and will pass reasonable and detailed submissions to Baroness Andrews. She says "The council are full of excuses, and they not doing enough to help leaseholders ……. I've been speaking to Government ministers and they've agreed to look at the particular difficulties faced by leaseholders in Islington" Contact Emily at: emilythornberrymp@parliament.uk I believe that Simon Hughes is preparing a Bill to introduce capping for all leaseholders. I'm not sure how far this has gone and have written to his office for an update. In the meantime you may be able to add your support Contact Simon Hughes at: simon@simonhughes.org.uk 6) London Leaseholders Network You may be able to support the embryonic London Leaseholders Network who will be campaigning on behalf of all London Leaseholders. They are orgainsing a big event for: The Social Sector Leaseholders' Local Elections 2006 Rally York Hall, 5-15 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PJ Wednesday 26th April 2006 at: 7.45 pm. For more, visit their site at http://www.londonleaseholders.org.uk |
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