southwark council service charge

[fredbear]

letter dated 30-01-2014 for service carges 2014/2015

[fredbear]

when people have had their credit for the electrical testing have you been able to get the money back or has it been credited to another bill?

[ontheedge]

Has anyone received their actual service charge bill today, mine shows I owe a further ?358 which they want within the month. I for the life of me can not think of what responsive repairs were carried out to amount to this amount for each flat. Have asked for an exact breakdown of work carried out. I think their contractors are having a laugh

[James Barber]

Hi ontheedge,

Such charges will be estate based.

If you'd like to email me I could help obtain a detailed calculation for you.

[fredbear]

still waiting,i am sure we are in for a long fight again.Will post when we get it.

[Otta]

ontheedge Wrote:

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> Has anyone received their actual service charge

> bill today, mine shows I owe a further ?358 which

> they want within the month. I for the life of me

> can not think of what responsive repairs were

> carried out to amount to this amount for each

> flat. Have asked for an exact breakdown of work

> carried out. I think their contractors are having

> a laugh

I'm not Southwark, but this did ring a bell. Our estate is getting a lick of paint at the moment, and the painters seem to turn up for an hour or so in the morning then they're not seen again, their little crane thing just sits there on the grass doing nothing. Yet I'm sure they're putting in hefty bills for full days work.

[helenmct21]

Hi there

I received my actual service charge letter yesterday for my one bed flat in Peckam Rye. They have stated an actual service charge of ?1.949 against an estimated charge of ?821, therefore are asking for an extra ?1,128 payable in one month. I can't believe it. Really really hoping it is a mistake. The increase is shown as due to responsive repairs - I have had no responsive repairs to my flat in the past year or indeed since I moved in. I have written to them but no response yet.

Has anyone else had this happen? Would really like to know if others have received similarly huge bills?

Thanks

[reetpetite]

I got mine yesterday and was surprised and pleased that it is less than the estimate.I have got credit of 92.70 so happy bunny ..

[James Barber]

Hi helenmct21,

you should ask for an itemised bill. You should also check what actions you can take see:

https://www.gov.uk/leasehold-property/service-charges-and-other-expenses

[fredbear]

got a refund well actually a credit on next bill

[PeckhamRose]

helenmct21 you absolutely must challenge this and get together with LAS who I am sure you are a member, and also Leaseholder CAB and get advice to challenge it. I have been sent an Actual with just a ?2 deficit. I am wondering if they will take me to court if I do not pay the ?2 till January when I go along and pay my three months in advance. (Council made such a screw up when I organised Direct Debit that I pay at the cash office now!)

[stress_head]

Is anyone here still battling with the electrical charges earlier in the thread?

[fredbear]

No but i am still battling over Major Works completed in 2009 but no final account produced only an interim one,stil being charged for work not done.Also fighting against Estate repair charges that are on sevice charge bill in april but we are not on an estate,they agree but put it on every year and then we have difficulty in getting it removed

[helenmct21]

Hello,

Thanks to those that replied to my post. What a nightmare! I now have an itemised bill, totalling ?3,100K, for which I'm asked to contribute ?1.5K (all works relate to the one bed, single occupant, flat above mine - none related to my flat). The itemisation shows it includes items relating to Jan and March 2013 which are presumably out of scope for the 2013/2014 invoice which should only relate to 1st April 2013 to 31st March? Secondly, it includes window renewal way above the ?250 mark where I should be consulted - they may well come back saying consultation only applies to major works not responsive repairs - but what is to stop them chalking things up as responsive repairs when they should be major works? Also what's to stop them itemising charges on different ledger lines so each item is a smaller charge beneath ?250, but they still add up to ?1000s?

The flat above me has called up a total of 15 window repairs in the last two years, amounting to ?3673, of which I'm asked to pay half. This is in a one bed flat with 6 windows, or ?621 per window, and only two of these repairs have been replacements. Is it just me or is this a crazy amount of charges for such a small flat - a number of them seems to be repairs on the original jobs - ie it hasn't been done properly and then they've charged to go and revisit. And overheads on the whole lot - even though some are the same items raised on the same day (ie repairs to two different windows) where surely economies of scale on overheads kick in?

Anyway, I have relayed all this to the council in an email yesterday, I am hoping I get a good response back before too long. There is a good post here on support for Leaseholders and I'll perhaps follow up with these organisations http://www.london-se1.co.uk/forum/read/8/178495 If anyone has up to date contact details (other than postal address) for LAS that would be handy, as well as any other tips for dealing with these matters.

Thanks in advance!

[fredbear]

Has anyone had a new Major Works Estimate For 2014/15.We have just had one for nearly ?4,600 and its for virtually the same repairs as they did in 2009.So are they saying repairs done 5 years ago need doing again.New guttering and repairs to windows etc must last longer than that.

[first mate]

Thus would make a great news piece, eager journos need to get out and investigate re the recent scandal about corruption in housing depts.

[fredbear]

Asked for a breakdown of what they intend to do.Alot of the repaires are exactly what they did in 2009.Do they realise that Major Works are expensive and people cannot find ?4500 just like that.I hope everyone asks for a brakedown of work involved.

[PoisonIvy]

Fredbear, I have had this same notice, with an amount of over ?7k. My partner and I bought in 2012, and my flat has new windows (although downstairs hasn't - we're in a converted victorian terrace with 2 flats). AFAIK there's been no inspection, and we seem to have been sent a proposed bill for the entire property - no mention of splitting costs with downstairs (also leaseholder, though it is rented out to a private tenant - ie not a council tenant).

The proposed works pricing seems fairly reasonable, if it actually needs to be done. However, they're talking about a lot of work that doesn't seem necessary - eg, repointing, repairing and replacing windows, etc. None of this came up in the Homebuyers survey we had done in mid 2012.

Not a nice letter to come home to this evening, and as you can see by the time stamp on this post, I am definitely losing sleep over it!

It says we have 30 days to respond. Does anyone know what we should say? Do we need to seek professional advice when drafting a response? This is our first flat and I've never had to deal with this kind of thing. A google search brings up loads of Southwark council leaseholder horror stories.

[fredbear]

At last some help for leaseholders see Florrie's Law

[helenmct21]

Hello

I have continued to correspond with Southwark regarding the charges (over 1K actual on top of ?800 estimate already paid for a one bed flat) above but to no avail. I had a meeting with them on Friday where the member of staff I spoke to basically said that they sympathised and understood my frustration, personally didn't think it was fair, and would feel aggrieved in my shoes, but the Council had followed their procedures and they didn't think based on previous cases that I would be successful at a tribunal.

Frustrating! I have submitted a formal complaint which I'm waiting to hear back from, although I have been told that my complaint will be referred back to the team I have been dealing with, so I'm unlikely to get a different response. However at least my frustration will be formally recorded.

I have spoken to the national CAB (who couldn't offer much advice) but not yet to Southwark CAB (I have been trying to get in touch but difficult over the Christmas period - I'll try again this week). I've not had any luck getting i touch with the Leaseholders Advisory Service - any tips?

Meanwhile I am told Southwark will contact my mortgage company this week which is a headache.

Also, any tips on how I can get involved to lobby for longer terms changes in the system? My situation is a converted Victorian terrace with myself as a leaseholder on the ground floor and council tenant on the first floor, council tenant rings up lots of responsive repairs which are not chargeable in their rent but are 50% chargable by me therefore I feel frustrated that I am being charged for responsive repairs that I have no control over (and unlike a larger block of flats is not diluted between many properties). The person I spoke to at the Council implied that this was a common complaint from leaseholders. I like the proposal that was communicated recently about a 'fixed service charge' but don't imagine that is coming to play at great speed...

Thanks and Happy New Year.

Helen

[spider69]

Inform your mortgage company you are in dispute and they will not pay.

Southwark will then have to take you to court to get a court judgement to force them to pay.

Southwark cannot do anything until this has been undertaken.

If you are in dispute ask for a fully itemised breakdown of all repairs. Remember if any are over ?250 per flat they need to serve a S20.

Southwark may seem cheap but you will pay in the long run. More so if there is Council tenant in residence.

Southwark needs money and all legal action will be paid by the Council Tax.

Maybe people will listen to others stories in the future.

If you have submitted a formal complaint it will be looked at by the complaints team. Stage 1 and then stage 2 if you still disagree. The Service charge collection team will not be involved apart from supplying all details that the compaints team require for them to make a judgement. Then if all else fails Southwark can then take legal action.

Before legal action then you can take the matter to the leasehold tribunial, or what ever it is called now

Do not be threatened.

[fredbear]

At last we have had a final account for the Major Works completed in 2009.We have overpaid by a large amount on their estimated bill but although they have had this money for 6 years they will not pay interest.It has taken a lot of emails since 2006 to get to this stage the work done by the contractor was of a poor standard as we told Southwark but it was not monitored.We have now had the schedule for 2014/15 a lot of it work that was done back in 2009.Another long process i expect is in store.

[Errol]

I used to work for Southwark Council. I may be of assistance to people who have questions on this issue. Thank you.

[Errol]

fredbear Wrote:

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> Has anyone had their service charge for 2012/13

> which includes a charge for block lighting and

> electricity ?.This is really a charge for

> electrical testing and inspection of electrics in

> the communal areas.The council are insisting that

> this is a charge for leaseholders but at present

> are unable to tell me what was tested,the area

> involved is about 10'by 5' in a terraced house the

> charge is half of ?452 i.e.?226. Could anyone also

> tell me if it is easy to go to the Leaseholders

> Valuation Tribunal.

> Thanks

Getting to the LVT is easy enough per se, provided you can raise some issue with regard to the "reasonableness" {or lack thereof} of the charge in question.

[Errol]

buddug Wrote:

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> So, I've just been through Stage 1 complaints

> about this block lighting nonsense, to no avail,

> obviously. Lizzie Bean at Southwark Council

> Service Charges looked into it and said on top of

> the test and changing of the earthing wire, 'other

> elements' were included in the cost, such as

> 'resident liaison, including letters for access'.

> I reminded her that we were never liaised with, no

> letters, nothing. Electrician just turned up

> unannounced. Equally there was no need for access

> as our electricity box is in the porch outside the

> property. I concluded in my reply, escalating my

> complaint to Stage 2, by saying:

>

> "That's a total of ?244.25 for a 10-minute visit

> to quickly test the box and change an earthing

> wire! That works out at ?1,465.50 an hour! Is this

> really what Swann are charging you these days?

>

> "The only possible explanation would be that the

> earthing wire fittings were made of solid gold and

> the wire itself was diamond-encrusted.

>

> "I am sure you would agree that the amount you are

> charging us is extortionate, whichever way you

> look at it."

>

> Go figure. I shall update as to result of Stage 2.

> Here's hoping! How are the rest of you getting on?

Did Miss Bean insist that a letter had been sent out....can you find a neighbour that had a copy of this letter....Southwark, in particular the Collections Office, does not send out half of what it claims it does.

The Collections Team in Rotherhithe is where the figures for the service charges {inc Major Works} are turned into a paper-demand for payment.

The head of the Collections team is a guy called Chris Flynn. Underneath him are three "Team Leaders", each of whom heads up a small team.

Each memeber of that team has a PATCH and are supposed to attend to the every need and requirement of that patch with regard to sending out letters of demand, liaising with the individual leaseholders and freeholders, putting payment plans in place etc.

Any questions, just ask.