'Devastating': Haringey residents get notice of repair bills up to £118k

[ticket2ride]

'Devastating': Haringey residents get notice of repair bills up to £118k

Seventy-six leaseholders on the Noel Park estate received letters from Haringey council, which owns the freehold on their homes, with notice of major works costing from £56,277 to £118,000 for works including new bathrooms.

Kirsten Lowe, a social worker facing an estimate of £107,000 on a property she bought for £211,000 in 2013, sought to remortgage her home but was told it was not worth anything.

[PeanutButter]

Ah the famous Right To Whinge 

[dontknowwhy]

There's so much in this article I don't understand, can someone explain to a simpleton?

[Si1]

 

There's so much in this article I don't understand, can someone explain to a simpleton?

House prices always go up init.

[captainb]

 

There's so much in this article I don't understand, can someone explain to a simpleton?

They bought a leasehold. Council owns the freehold which allows them to pass on repair costs to structure onto the leaseholder. 

Councils are totally incompetent at cost control as you know its just taxpayers money. Builders bidding for work know this so overcharge a criminal amount - see £110k per flat for grenfell cladding. 

Old Janice at the council doesn't care as its not her money. 

Private leaseholders get passed on the absurd costs. Council tenants have their cost covered by taxpayers. 

Private leaseholders have little to no comeback as they are typically in the minority. So they are stuck with the 100k bill or lose the lease. 

[ticket2ride]

 

There's so much in this article I don't understand, can someone explain to a simpleton?

Doesn't make sense to me either. Replacing temporary bathrooms with temporary structures that cost over £100k. What are they doing, making them look like Temporary Trump Towers?

[regprentice]

Been like this for years. Back in 2008 a friend was hit for £25k ish for repairs to the roof of his flats. Someone had been killed by falling masonry elsewhere in Edinburgh so there was a clampdown on repairing the roofs of older buildings. 

He was trying to sell his flat, but as he had been advised of future works of £25k this had to be declared to buyers and no one would buy it. The work didn't end up being done for another 18 months. 

[dryrot]

 

There's so much in this article I don't understand, can someone explain to a simpleton?

Fellow posters have explained some of the issues. I'm still perplexed by:

"Sarah, who was on maternity leave when coronavirus hit, said she was “absolutely floored” by the news.  She said her freelance income as a sustainable fashion consultant and educator has dried up during lockdown."

What on earth is that?

Edited October 6, 2020 by dryrot

[scottbeard]

 

Fellow posters have explained some of the issues. I'm still perplexed by:

"Sarah, who was on maternity leave when coronavirus hit, said she was “absolutely floored” by the news.  She said her freelance income as a sustainable fashion consultant and educator has dried up during lockdown."

What on earth is that?

For a long time people were having trouble with fashion consultants who started OK but just couldn't keep it up.

Thanks goodness for sustainable fashion consultants.

(No idea).

[Fromage Frais]

Cest la vie,

All buildings have a lifespan did the folks building large estates (esp concrete towers) in London think they where going to last 200 years+?

"Early 20th-century engineers thought reinforced concrete structures would last a very long time – perhaps 1,000 years. In reality, their life span is more like 50-100 years, and sometimes less. Building codes and policies generally require buildings to survive for several decades, but deterioration can begin in as little as 10 years."

https://theconversation.com/the-problem-with-reinforced-concrete-56078#:~:text=Early 20th-century engineers thought,100 years%2C and sometimes less.

Noel Park 1890s or so so old houses + conservation area = bills

Oh well looks like the houses are "worth" quite a bit and not worthless.

2 bed terraced house for sale

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/56437953?search_identifier=8b2fd0d211b522d935b86767d9d7c836

Its not nice having a 50k+ bill but replacing bathrooms entirely on victorian houses in a London conservation area is not going to be cheap let alone if the council do it.  Predictable though especially if they are pods like structures on the back of the houses that have been flagged as being 20 years past life span.

If I had a victorian £550K house I would expect a large bill aver few decades.

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

Suppose the question is, was priced appropriately at 211k bought in 2013 ?

I paid a fortune for my property and now I've been hit with a massive repair bill reads a bit different from I paid the square root of f**k all for my property and now I've been hit with a massive repair bill.

[Roman Roady]

 

Fellow posters have explained some of the issues. I'm still perplexed by:

"Sarah, who was on maternity leave when coronavirus hit, said she was “absolutely floored” by the news.  She said her freelance income as a sustainable fashion consultant and educator has dried up during lockdown."

What on earth is that?

One of the stupid non-jobs that are only just about viable in the good times when folks arent nervously counting their money.

Naked swimmers...tide going out etc.

[Roman Roady]

I was watching a vid (forget where) about some low income guy who "owned" his ex council flat (right to buy) who received a 120k bill. Had to sell back to the council.

I guess the pension pot at the council was running low...what a racket.

[GeneCernan]

"Make it from ethically produced cotton in a factory powered by solar panels. Sell it on a website that boasts green credentials and uses a handwriting font"

Hey look, I'm a sustainable fashion consultant too.

[Riedquat]

 

Cest la vie,

All buildings have a lifespan did the folks building large estates (esp concrete towers) in London think they where going to last 200 years+

Any decently-built building should, with routine maintenance. Modern preference is for "we won't have to do anything to it for a few years after building it, and we couldn't care less after that, that's someone else's problem. We've saved on those annoying maintenance bills for now  so that's all that counts." Not that they'd have been any better in the past, they just didn't have the means (well it was either something that was fundamentally sound indefinitely with ongoing maintenance or would only last a year or two at best no matter what you did).

[Huggy]

 

 She said her freelance income as a sustainable fashion consultant and educator has dried up during lockdown."

Not that sustainable then. Just like HPI 😉

[Pop321]

 

'Devastating': Haringey residents get notice of repair bills up to £118k

Seventy-six leaseholders on the Noel Park estate received letters from Haringey council, which owns the freehold on their homes, with notice of major works costing from £56,277 to £118,000 for works including new bathrooms.

Kirsten Lowe, a social worker facing an estimate of £107,000 on a property she bought for £211,000 in 2013, sought to remortgage her home but was told it was not worth anything.

I wouldn't have thought the bathrooms were now the freeholders responsibility. Obviously I am wrong but the story doesn't clarify why. Pods or no pods. 

I would love to know what £118K bill covers but I guess that's not fully included because its factual whereas the story reads better with couples with babies are pictured with sad faces. 

I wish the news would give facts and not tell us all how to feel.  It might well be with all the facts I actually feel very sorry for these people. 

[dontknowwhy]

 

They bought a leasehold. Council owns the freehold which allows them to pass on repair costs to structure onto the leaseholder. 

Councils are totally incompetent at cost control as you know its just taxpayers money. Builders bidding for work know this so overcharge a criminal amount - see £110k per flat for grenfell cladding. 

Old Janice at the council doesn't care as its not her money. 

Private leaseholders get passed on the absurd costs. Council tenants have their cost covered by taxpayers. 

Private leaseholders have little to no comeback as they are typically in the minority. So they are stuck with the 100k bill or lose the lease. 

Thanks for explaining. Still don't get the red section.

 

Private leaseholders, did they buy the house and own the leasehold, but not the freehold? This crap is confusing. i get the council tenants bits.

Never heard of a council keeping the freehold this way.

 

Either way, leasehold system sucks.

[captainb]

 

Thanks for explaining. Still don't get the red section.

 

Private leaseholders, did they buy the house and own the leasehold, but not the freehold? This crap is confusing. i get the council tenants bits.

Never heard of a council keeping the freehold this way.

 

Either way, leasehold system sucks.

No they didn't buy the house/flat. They bought a long term lease of usually greater than 80 years which needs to be extended at some point, at a formulaic cost. Council owns the freehold.

Virtually every private council flat will have the same situation. Private long term lease, council freeholder.

Edited October 6, 2020 by captainb

[dontknowwhy]

So if an ex council flat tenant decides to buy, this is what happens? They own the flat, council owns the freehold but the leasehold is managed by whom?

 

[captainb]

 

So if an ex council flat tenant decides to buy, this is what happens? They own the flat, council owns the freehold but the leasehold is managed by whom?

 

Leasehold is managed by the council as well.

So you get cases such as this. For example, flat block of 10 flats. 2 bought out their leases so now private.

As the council has no cost control and builders know this. Refurbishment cost of £1,000,000 for 10 flats.

Council recharges the two private flats £100k each as their share of the work.

[Fromage Frais]

 

Leasehold is managed by the council as well.

So you get cases such as this. For example, flat block of 10 flats. 2 bought out their leases so now private.

As the council has no cost control and builders know this. Refurbishment cost of £1,000,000 for 10 flats.

Council recharges the two private flats £100k each as their share of the work.

You can imagine the horrors inside some higher rise blocks.

I see the logic of councils RTB blocks after xx years as the buildings become maintenance liabilities.

 

[captainb]

 

You can imagine the horrors inside some higher rise blocks.

I see the logic of councils RTB blocks after xx years as the buildings become maintenance liabilities.

 

Well yes. Anything council and over 6 stories you would really struggle to get a mortgage on.. should be enough warning to people.

Sad is those that do it are often lived here as a tenant for 30 years and think they are buying security... little do they know

[24gray24]

Don't think the council can charge for improvements. Only for repairs. 

They'd probably have to mount a legal challenge on some such basis. 

No guarantees. But if they delay it a bit, the whole thing may get shelved.