The Council's Obligation to Leaseholders

The Council’s Obligations to Leaseholders: A Review by the Public Accounts Select Committee

Last year, after a great number of complaints, there was a Lewisham Council Scrutiny Committee review of the leaseholder situation in the borough. It surveyed a small sample of Lewisham Homes and Regenter B3 leaseholders and published its report in early 2010. Before any of its recommendations can be implemented it must first be passed by the Mayor in Cabinet. Some of the recommendations are paraphrased here. Contact us for full text and report. Download the Recommendations with timelines here.

• The Council’s clienting procedures be reviewed, eg particular attention given to how the Council monitors how Lewisham Homes check the quality of repairs, maintenance and major works and whether the bills issued are accurate.

• A system to be implemented whereby Lewisham Homes are required to make a reduction to the annual service charge bill if performance targets fall below a certain level with a mechanism whereby leaseholder input can help drive forward this change.

• Service charge instalment arrangements to be reviewed; consideration given to extending the time allowed for the service charge to be paid from 10 to 12 months.

• the target to respond to letters, emails and phone calls from leaseholders within ten working days should mean that a meaningful response is received, and not just an acknowledgement.

• a strategy is developed to raise awareness of the complaints procedure.

• the way in which information on costs is communicated to leaseholders is changed to allow a clear and complete breakdown of costs (what work took place, when and how much it cost) to be provided with every service charge so that leaseholders can more fully understand what they are being asked to pay for. If feasible, service charge and major works files, including redacted invoices, should be made available on the Lewisham Homes website.

• Separate service charges for Anti-Social Behaviour, Customer Services and Resident Consultation should not be levied on top of the existing service charge as these services should be funded from within the standard service charge.