Labor council hits flat owners with £23,000 bill each for new lifts after years of work delays

VaselineJune 13, 2024

0 2 minutes read

Labor council hits flat owners with £23,000 bill each for new lifts after years of work delays

A Labour-led council is charging flat owners £23,000 each for new lifts after delaying repair work for years.

Residents of Normanton House – a 1930s council block in Lambeth, London – were told six years ago they would have to fork out a hefty sum to replace broken lifts.

The original cost of the repair would be £8,500 each, but as the years passed and the lifts were left unattended, this figure almost stopped.

Matthew Denby, 29, along with the other four tenants of Normanton House, has been given an ultimatum by Lambeth council – either pay the full amount now and get a five per cent discount or pay a further £365 per month in the next five years.

Normanton House residents to pay £23,000 each for new liftsGoogle Street View

It means the 29-year-old will now have to send almost £700 a month to the Labor local authority.

Some of the other tenants on the Oaklands estate, which includes the Normanton house, could be forced to pay up to £25,000 because of the value of their properties.

Denby told The Telegraph: “It feels like a daylight robbery. Although it feels less like walking into Disneyland’s Tower of Terror, I’m being asked to pay £23,000 – for that price, you’d expect to be spoken to or served a drink on the way. up.

“Normally I’d be in favor of a Labor council but it’s all a disaster. We have emails going back over six years complaining about the roof leaking down the hall. When I open the front door, it’s a swimming pool. It seems they (the council) have abandoned us.”

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$\u200bA protest took place outside the council's headquarters in Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton$

Lambeth Council has delayed work on the lifts by six years

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As well as broken lifts and long-standing leaks in his roof, Denby also spoke of broken windows with the council taped up for sale. He also said the estate’s bike shed was recently broken into but not repaired.

The council is well-known for approving out-of-court discounts to flat owners contesting major bills, but only if they agree to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), according to campaign group Lambeth Homeowners Association.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) revealed that between 2019 and 2023, the borough shelled out £1.8m on 119 NDAs.

Antony Wynn, chairman of the group of more than 100 tenants, said: “The overbilling comes from a lack of proper contractor management, cost control and auditing.”

The lifts have been broken into in Normanton House for six years

Google Street View

Martin Boyd, chair of trustees at campaign group Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, said it was important for tenants to check their contract because, while many would assume these costs can be passed on to the landlord, they are often borne by them.

A spokesman for Lambeth Council said under the terms of their leases the tenants and the council themselves are required to pay part of the costs of any repairs.

They added: “We work hard to ensure that all work is carried out as professionally and economically as possible. The contract to install the two new lifts at Normanton House was awarded to the lowest bidder.

“All tenants were sent a notice of the proposed works in July 2020 and then confirmation of their estimated contribution in April 2021, although the council paid most of the cost.

“As part of our commitment to helping residents meet the costs of this work, we have offered tenants the option to spread their repayments over a longer period of time.”

VaselineJune 13, 2024
0 2 minutes read

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