As Lambeth leaseholders tough it out in difficult economic times Lambeth Labour has done nothing to help as many service charges are doubled. At the same time, the National Audit Office slammed the council for “significant weaknesses” in the services it provides.
“As a leaseholder myself I am so angry that the service charge has been doubled,” says Hamish Badenoch. “We get terrible service for our money. Last year I complained about a leaking roof and it took over 9 months before someone came to fix it. I try to complain but nobody EVER does anything. And now they are doubling our charges”
This problem has been caused by Labour Lambeth’s complete mismanagement of housing policy. As the Audit report states, “Housing management costs are higher than average but there is no evidence to show this is the result of providing better services than other authorities.”
The housing repairs system comes in for heavy criticism—appointments are broken, non-essential repairs have been stopped and tenants frequently have to go to court before action is taken.
The local Conservative Action Team wants to end incompetence and rip-off service charges. They will:
If you have a leaseholder horror story let us know and we will take your complaint to the council, or just sign our petition for a freeze in leaseholder charges (see campaign’s page)
[13th August Update: The South London Press has an update on the story. Please click here for more details.]
For a summary of the Audit commission report on the state of housing service in Lambeth see:
You can sign our petition on this issue here: http://www.myhernehill.com/campaigns/leaseholders/