Supplementary memorandum by the London
Leaseholder Network
Please accept this as a response to the request
for further information sent by you to me, on behalf of Elizabeth
Hunt, Joint Clerk of the Committee.
1. QQ 5 to 9:
On the Chalcott Estate which is in the London
Borough of Camden there are 100 leaseholders among the 750 properties.
The Council is proposing to carry out substantial
major works with the purpose of extending the life of the properties
by 15 years, currently the Council proposes to spend an average
of £154,000 per flat, some of this will be funded via a PFI
agreement and will be subject to a cap, more of the works will
be funded by other means and will not be subject to capping.
This information is based on statements of truth
submitted by council officers to an LVT Tribunal in 2005, supplemented
by further updates of meetings between the Council and leaseholders.
City West Homes in LB Westminster has confirmed
to me that currently 192 leaseholders will be subject to bills
of £58,000 for major works.
An officer of City West Homes represents the
Association of ALMOs on the Social Sector Working Party, chaired
by LEASE, he commented that this level of bills, if funded by
Capital Funding would have no adverse effect on the Community
Charge.
2. At Q23, Bullsmoor Way in LB Enfield was built
circa 1966 using Bison large panel construction methods
In 1998 there was serious disrepair to the extent
that all properties required to be decanted, the cost of the repairs
were around £80,000 per property and the issues were aired
by means of a Public Enquiry. in 1998.
3. QQ29 to 31
The most obvious example where leaseholders
did not have enough equity in their properties has to be the Rowner
Estate in Gosport, which has been in the public eye since 1992
and where 300 leaseholders have remained trapped in properties
they could not sell, because they were red-lined and because the
landlords claimed that they could not afford the costs of demolishing
the estate, the preferred option. Following protracted negotiations
between the Local Authority and Government officers a plan is
due to be announced next month which will allow the 300 leaseholders
to be compulsory purchased. Leaseholders expect to achieve £40-£50,000
which will not clear the existing obligations of most of them
nor allow any of them to purchase another property.
Broadwater Farm Estate in the LB Haringey is
another of the estates which are red-lined and mortgages unobtainable
by most regular means.
Mrs Wiltshire who described herself as a retired
person is typical of the leaseholders on estates such as this.
On receipt of major works bills for £30,000 she felt she
could no longer afford to pay her obligations. She was forced
to sell to a cash buyer for much less than the price of similar
properties in her area. This allowed her to clear her debts but
left her homeless and without the means to purchase another property.
I am also aware that there is a growing problem
among first time buyers who have over-extended to buy. A number
have borrowed further sums in addition to their mortgage and have
failed to notify their mortgage companies. They are reluctant
to publicise their problems because of this. But for this group
the arrival of a major works bill is the last straw and they have
no option but to default.
I am happy for any of this information to be
published.
John Paterson
for the London Leaseholder Network
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