News
Lambeth leaseholders billed twice
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Leaseholders were left out of pocket
ANGRY leaseholders are demanding refunds after they were billed twice for work carried out on their estates.
Lambeth Living, Labour-run Lambeth Council’s housing management firm, has admitted overcharging hundreds of leaseholders up to £400,000 in total.
The blunder saw charges for window and door-entry system repairs in 2006/07 billed to some residents again the following year.
Leaseholders on Kennington’s China Walk Estate, Ethelred Estate and the Notre Dame Estate in Clapham were left out of pocket.
One resident from Worsopp Drive on the Notre Dame Estate, who asked to remain anonymous, said he’d been charged for work carried out on other blocks on the estate.
The 79-year-old, who lives in Mandeville House, said: “When I got the bill for 2007/08 I knew that I had already paid some of it the year before.
“But not everyone will have noticed. You assume the council knows what it’s doing.
“Every leaseholder must be affected by this. I’m annoyed. Someone’s obviously not done their job properly.”
Steve Rice, North Lambeth Leaseholders group chairman, said the council had been denying the blunder for months.
He said: “There have been categoric duplications of bills despite Lambeth Living saying in the past that there haven’t been.
“I expect that this has affected thousands of households.
“I would encourage every leaseholder to double-check charges on their bills in future and to ask the council for evidence of all work carried out.
“The council seems very quick to charge residents but when residents are owed a refund it seems to take forever to get it sorted out.”
A Lambeth Living spokeswoman said: “Lambeth Living identified the duplicate billing and is currently rectifying the problem.
“All affected leaseholders have been identified and will be notified in writing of any necessary adjustment when the calculations have been made.”
Email: nadia.gilani@slp.co.uk
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