NEWS UPDATE EMAILED TO SUBSCRIBERS LINKED HERE

NEWS UPDATE EMAILED TO SUBSCRIBERS LINKED HERE

NEWS UPDATE TO EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS LINKED HERE

Will you join us?

Forum membership vacancies in Kentish Town, Hampstead, Holborn

As a Camden Council leaseholder, we invite you to join the Camden Leaseholders’ Forum (CLF) as a Representative for your district.

We have 4 formal meetings in the year and interim online meetings to progress business.  As a Representative, you should expect to take part in a working group (some meetings – in person or online – and exchange of emails).  These groups actively engage Camden officers and Councillors on issues that are important to leaseholders.  You can find more about the CLF on our website (link here) and in our Constitution here.

Your postcode will reveal your district (District Management Committee) if you use this link and search for Ward: https://www.camden.gov.uk/find-your-ward-and-ward-map

If you wish to join us and get involved, or just want more information, please email us at Camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk.

CLF Annual Meeting on 30 May 2023

Election of Officers

At the annual meeting on 30 May, Representatives voted to elect the following Officers for the municipal year 2023-24:
Chair: Isabella Luger
Vice-chair: Patrick Hagopian
Communications Member: David Hart

The hybrid meeting was attended, in person and online, by 17 CLF Representatives and 27 leaseholders.

Meeting Minutes

The minutes of the meeting are available on this link.

The next CLF meeting will be at 7pm on Tuesday 19 September 2023.

Some participants engaged in online chats. These include questions put to Geraldine Littlechild (acting Head of Leaseholder Services) and her responses. A record of the chats may be found on this link.

Individual Heat Meters

Patrick gave a very helpful presentation on heat meters, under agenda item ‘Energy Costs Update – Energy working group’. This was visually supported by slides and the handout for these may be found on this link.

The CLF working group arranged to meet with Cllr. Meric Apak and Gavin Haynes (Director of Property Management) to look into speeding up the roll-out of individual heat meters across the Borough.

Energy Costs

Geraldine Littlechild reported that the Energy Costs page on the Council’s website (linked here) would continue to be kept updated. It includes information about the Government’s Energy Bill Discount Scheme which operated from April 2023 to March 2024.

A new page, specifically relating to the 2023/24 estimated service charge, has been added (linked here).  This includes information about the calculation of heating charges and a list of advice agencies. In September, a page explaining the 2022/23 actual charges will be added.

The Council has introduced measures to assist leaseholders with the payment of their 2023/24 heating bills, including extending payment plans and delaying payment of major works invoices for up to 12 months.  Requests are being considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Management charge for leaseholders on communal heating systems has been capped at £187.57 for the 2023/24 estimates, rather than applying a 10% charge which many leases require.  This cap will be reviewed in September 2024 when the actual costs are known.  The Council is considering extending a similar cap to the year 2022/23, recognising that when the actual costs are billed this September they are likely to significantly exceed the estimated charges which leaseholders have already paid.

With regard to the Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) operating from April 2023 to March 2024, the price Camden is paying for energy is below the Government cap, so the Council is not eligible for a discount.

Changes in Camden Heads of department

The new Head of Leaseholder Services and Income is Sean Scott.  He will take up his role on 24 July.

Danny Waite, Head of Repairs, has left Camden and Darren Smith has stepped in as interim Head.

A message from the new CLF Chair

Firstly, I wish to thank Carolyn Morgan for her service to leaseholders as Chair during the last year.  She has generated a momentum upon which I wish to build, so the Forum continues effectively to represent leaseholders.

Next, I list some of the concrete achievements

1. Camden has agreed to run a leaseholder satisfaction survey in Autumn 2023 using an independent research company and with comparisons to other local authorities. The survey will allow us to have an understanding of the satisfaction of leaseholders and will identify any items Camden needs to address.
2. Camden has agreed to set up a correspondence management system to track enquiries to Leaseholder Services. Performance statistics are now being shared with the Forum.
3. Camden has added more leaseholder information to the main LH page on the website, and made it easier for a leaseholder to use the Camden Account to look up information about works on their property.
4. Camden has agreed to cap management charges in 2023-24 for leaseholders who would otherwise be charged a 10% rate in accordance with their lease. This in recognition of the impact of increased energy costs.
5. Camden was persuaded to consult with CLF and CASP over its proposed introduction of master keys to street properties.
6. Camden has agreed to offer extended payment plans for leaseholders in financial difficulty paying service charge heating bills as well as concurrent major works bills.
7. Camden is looking at speeding up the process of installing heat meters in estates with heat networks and moving to billing leaseholders on their individual usage, not an averaged bill.
8. Leaseholder Services has agreed to pilot online surgery sessions in October, where leaseholders with a complex problem can book a slot in advance.
9. Leaseholder Services has agreed to pilot email and text reminders for late payments before they move to “legal” letters.

These achievements have been brought about by the CLF working groups.

The Forum is not just a passive body. As noted elsewhere in this News Update, we are looking for new members – leaseholders who will play an active part in the working groups so that more can be achieved.

I am aware that other work has been going on behind the scenes and we will maintain a focus on this to promote the delivery of further achievements during this year.

Isabella Luger

How do I get attention for the issues that are affecting me personally?

CLF Representatives are volunteers with day jobs.  So, the CLF cannot act as an advice service for leaseholders’ individual issues.  If you have not got the result you want from Camden then try the following:

• post on the website Discussion Board to seek advice from other leaseholders (linked here)
• submit an online complaint (linked here)
• ask your Councillor to take up your issue (linked here)
• take a complaint response to the Housing Ombusdman (linked here)

CLF tracks topics on the Discussion Board and will take up with Camden any issues of a generic nature.

To keep updated or to post yourself…

Register for our Discussion Board

Subscribe to occasional email…

Sign up to keep updated

NEWS UPDATE EMAILED TO SUBSCRIBERS LINKED HERE

Next Forum meeting

The Leaseholders’ Forum Annual Meeting will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 30 May. It will be a hybrid meeting, so leaseholders may join the meeting online as observers. To receive login details, please email us before Noon on Tuesday 30th: camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk

The agenda papers for the meeting will be available on Monday 22 May on the Camden website linked here.

The minutes of the last meeting on 14 March may be found on the Council website linked here.

Energy Costs

Communal Gas and Electricity price increases

This topic doesn’t apply to you if you have your own heating (mainly in street properties) and you are not supplied with heating by Camden.

A quick reminder of what it’s all about.
A building may require bulk gas for the communal systems supplying heating, hot water or cooking gas or combinations of these. It may also require electricity to power lifts, door entry, lighting to common areas, boiler controls and pumps. This is communal energy and is quite separate from the domestic gas and electricity.

Bulk gas has seen a huge price hike for the contract period October 2022 to September 2023. The gas price increased by 318% (from 2.04 to 8.53 pence per kilowatt hour – that’s four times more expensive!). The daily standing charge increased by 76%. The Government’s EBRS support scheme does appear to shave 1.5p/kWh off this figure, from October to March. But the new EBDS support package from April 2023 is less generous and does not appear to offer us any price reduction as the price Camden has secured is already lower than the EBDS cap.

Electricity prices have also increased for the same period. Typically the new unit price per kilowatt hour is up by 69% and the daily standing charge up by 23%.

As a result the day-to day service charge for the year 2023/24 has also significantly increased. Unlike its suggested title, energy provision is not a Council service. It is a utility cost, which Camden merely passes on. It is a ringfenced account which sits next to the Housing Revenue Account and it cannot be subsidised.

To ease the financial burden, Camden has invited applications to extend payment terms for the heating charge and for any concurrent major works charge. For more details, please see the Forum Update published at the end of March 2023 – linked here

The Guardian newspaper featured an article on this very subject on 19 May “UK households with communal heating facing 350% rise in energy costs” linked here.

Leaseholder Services reports that “approximately 4,300 of Camden’s leases state management costs should be equal to 10% of all other items included in the service charge. The remainder require Camden to charge the actual costs in managing its leasehold portfolio and these leaseholders pay a fixed management charge which is recalculated each year.

“Of the 4,300 leases requiring calculation of the management charge at 10% of the service charge, 1,300 are connected to Camden’s communal heating/hot water/bulk gas networks and of these, 1,282 are paying more than the fixed management charge.”

The Forum raised concerns about windfall gains where the management charge is inflated by the increase in energy costs.  Camden has agreed to cap the charge at the flat rate for this year. This is currently estimated to be £187.57 but may change when actual costs are calculated in September 2024. Camden has written to all affected leaseholders.

As a heads-up, it appears likely that that leaseholders may have additional energy costs to pay for the year 2022/23, once Camden has completed its accounts and sends the actual costs demands in September 2023.

Heat meters

Understandably, leaseholders with communal heating want more control over their energy costs. One solution, supported by legislation*, is the installation of individual heat meters. The Camden Service Charge Guide says this about heat meters:

“*The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 require all homes on a district heating network to have a heat meter where it is possible. We have been rolling out a long-term programme to install heat meters in our homes in line with these Regulations and our Camden Plan to reduce carbon emissions in the borough. A heat meter accurately measures the energy you use to heat your home and the hot water you use. It means we can charge you accurately for the energy you use and you can monitor how much energy you are using.”

Camden reports that 202 buildings are programmed to have individual heat meters installed. One quarter of these are already installed and activated. The full list is linked here.

In summary, Camden’s progress with heat meters installation is:
50 – Installed
4 – In progress (compliance)
68 – In progress
84 – Programmed
202 buildings in Total

Camden says that it still has plans to meter as many other homes on its heat network as possible, including those it is not legally required to meter. However, the speed of the rest of the programme will depend on budget, resource, supplier constraints and resident access issues.

A leaseholder has submitted two Freedom of Information requests to obtain information about heat meters for their building. The responses are published on the Camden website. (1st) is linked here; (2nd) is linked here.

The Forum meeting on 30 May will be exploring energy issues – in particular heat meter issues.

Camden Repairs team

Danny Waite, Head of Repairs and Operations, left Camden Council on 12 May.
Darren Smith has been appointed interim Head of Repairs whilst recruitment options are explored.

Camden is developing a repairs tracking/workflow system. This was anticipated to be launched in May but has been pushed back to November 2023, as Camden has “made some operational changes to the original scope of the project”.

About CLF
The CLF focuses on generic issues – those that affect lots of leaseholders – and we do not take on individual cases.
We have no funding from Camden and are a group of volunteers, all of us leaseholders and many with day jobs. If you have a question, email us at  camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk and we will try to point you in the right direction.

Camden Leaseholders Forum

CLF website Discussion Board – To keep updated or to post yourself…REGISTER HERE

CLF website: www.leaseholdersforum.org.uk

NEWS UPDATE EMAILED TO SUBSCRIBERS LINKED HERE

Leaseholders have recently received from Camden a service charge demand for the estimated costs of day-to-day services in the year to 31 March 2024. For some, there is also a charge for major works. For many, the increased charges are alarming.

Energy and Major Works Costs – help from Camden

At the Leaseholders’ Forum meeting on 14 March, Geraldine Littlechild (acting Head of Leaseholder Services) spoke about the assistance which Camden is offering to leaseholders to support them with the payment of the estimated heating charge and major works charge. In summary:

1. Leaseholders may pay the charge by 12 monthly instalments (extended from the usual 10 monthly payments).
2. Leaseholders may apply to have payment of the heating element of the estimated charge extended to a longer period, tailored to specific needs. Camden will require the leaseholder to provide details of their income and expenditure for review before deciding whether a longer repayment period will be offered.
3. Leaseholders who are on a communal heating system and who are also required to pay major works bills may apply to have the major works bill frozen, to be paid at a later time. Camden will require the leaseholder to provide details of their income and expenditure for review before deciding whether freezing a major works bill will be offered.
4. Camden will conduct a mid-year review of heating costs to see if payments might be reduced.
5. Any leaseholder who wishes to seek this support should apply to leaseholderservices@camden.gov.uk as soon as possible.

A leaseholder does not need to be residing in their property to benefit from this support.

Gas and electricity prices

A building may require bulk gas for the communal heating boiler and electricity to power lifts, door entry, lighting to common areas, boiler controls and pumps.

This is communal energy and is quite separate from the domestic gas and electricity which a leaseholder might use and pay for themselves.

Camden has various types of communal systems supplying heating, hot water or cooking gas or combinations of these.

Bulk gas has seen a huge price hike for the contract period October 2022 to September 2023. The new gas price increased by 318% (from 2.04 to 8.53 pence per kilowatt hour – that’s four times more expensive). The daily standing charge increased by 76%. The Government’s EBRS support scheme does appear to shave 1.5p/kWh off this figure, from October to March. But the new EBDS support package from April 2023 is less generous and does not appear to offer us any price reduction.

Electricity prices have also increased for the same period. Typically the new unit price per kilowatt hour is up by 69% and the daily standing charge up by 23%. Camden has explained that delivered p/kWh unit rates for electricity are made up of the cost of the energy itself (wholesale costs), plus the pass through of third-party costs, such as regulated network charges (the cost of transporting energy) and green levies. The capped element of the Government’s Energy Business Relief Scheme (EBRS) applies only to the energy component of delivered prices and not the third-party costs (the cap also doesn’t apply to any standing charge elements of the bill). Camden’s purchased electricity rate for the current period is approximately 17p/kWh, which is below the Government cap of 21.1 p/kWh, so is not eligible for relief under EBRS. Third-party costs make up the remaining 10 p/kWh.

Year ending 31 March 2024 (estimated charges recently billed)
Camden only knows the energy unit prices for the first 6 months and Laser has provided no estimate for October 2023 to March 2024. Camden says it has estimated the energy cost for year ending March 2024 based on the expected 2022/23 outturn and adding 50%. Someone has commented on the Discussion Board that having modelled the prices it appears that Camden has got its estimated charge about right – unless Laser manages to buy the fuel under the new contracts from October 2023 at significantly lower prices.

Year ending 31 March 2023 (estimated charges billed in March 2022)
For year ending 31 March 2023 the energy price was partly set in October 2021 (for March 2022 – September 2022) and partly set in October 2022 (October 2022 to March 2023). Camden knew the unit prices for the first 6 months but had to estimate those for the second period. Camden now knows the likely actual cost and has used this as a basis for estimating the charge from April 2023 to March 2024. Working these numbers back, it appears likely that many leaseholders will face a hefty additional charge for heating when in September this year Camden bills the actual costs for year ending 31 March 2023.

Heat meters

Understandably, leaseholders with communal heating want more control over their energy costs. At the CLF meeting on 14 March, Geraldine Littlechild said that some estates are due to move from communal heating to individual meters. A list and timescale will be made available.

The Camden Service Charge Guide says about heat meters:
“The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 requires all homes on a district heating network to have a heat meter where it is possible. We have been rolling out a long-term programme to install heat meters in our homes in line with these Regulations and our Camden Plan to reduce carbon emissions in the borough. A heat meter accurately measures the energy you use to heat your home and the hot water you use. It means we can charge you accurately for the energy you use and you can monitor how much energy you are using.”

CLF Guide to Gas Pricing

The Forum published in 2016 a Guide (updated February 2017) which looks at gas supply and transmission history in Camden and explains why making costs comparisons is tricky. Worth a read, if you have the time.

Service Charge Guide

Camden has a helpful Service Charge Guide on its website.

There is a section on heating.

Camden Energy Costs

Camden has a website page about Energy Costs on this link:

Discussion Board Posts

Camden’s recent service charge demand – in particular high energy costs –  has been a hot topic on our website Discussion Board (runs to 2 pages already – open the link below).

Register to keep updated or to post yourself (see the link at the bottom).

Leaseholder Services

There are a number of teams in Leaseholder Services, carrying out a wide range of tasks relating to the management of Camden’s leasehold properties.

Recently improved website information is here on this link: Leaseholder Services pages on Camden website.

CLF Meeting 14 March

CLF Representatives met on 14 March for the quarterly meeting and 28 leaseholders joined online. See below for the link to the online chat screenshots.

The meeting received a presentation from the acting Head of Leaseholder Services and from the Head of Repairs Operations. Minutes were taken by the Committee Officer and will be published soon (see link below).

For your diary/planner:

The next CLF meeting (Annual) will be a hybrid at 7pm on Tuesday 30 May 2023.

Camden Resident Account

Leaseholder Services has published a Camden Account Guide for leaseholders. See the link below. In their personal account, leaseholders can see a breakdown of day-to-day charges and cost details for major works/ major repairs.

To keep updated or to post yourself…

Subscribe to occasional email…

Forthcoming Camden Leaseholders’ Forum (CLF) Meeting
Dear Leaseholder,
The next CLF meeting will be at 7pm on Tuesday 14 March. All leaseholders are invited to join the meeting online. If you wish to attend please email us at camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk and the msTeams login details will be sent to you.

The agenda papers including minutes of the last quarterly CLF meeting held on 22 November are soon available on the Camden website here.

1. Recent CLF activity
2. Leaseholder satisfaction survey
3. Information for leaseholders on Camden website
4. Leaseholder Services efficiency
5. Major works leaseholder engagement
6. Repairs update
7. Housing Services Report
8. Update From the Cabinet Member for Better Homes
9. Communal Energy Costs
10. Camden Housing and Property Residents Panel

1. Recent CLF activity
Since the November meeting, CLF members have met together informally on Zoom.
CLF working groups have also been meeting, and with the following Camden people:

Cabinet member for Better Homes, Cllr. Meric Apak
Director of Property Management, Gavin Haynes
Head of Property Services and Engagement, Scot Reid
Property Customer Services Performance Analyst, Juliana Beshiri
Property Customer Services Complaints Casework Manager, Nermin Hassan
Head of Capital Works, Susanne Afra
Head of Repairs Operations, Danny Waite
Team Leader Day-to-day Repairs, Noel Curran
Director of Housing, Glendine Shepherd
Head of Tenant Participation, Graeme Beedham
Head of LS (acting), Finance and Income Manager, Geraldine Littlechild
LS Principal Consultation and Final Accounts Officer, Jo O’Donnell
LS Leasehold Revenue Accounts Senior, Vinay Sofat

2. Leaseholder satisfaction survey
A tenant survey is legally required for 2023 but Camden has no such obligation to leaseholders. However, it has traditionally surveyed leaseholders too and is likely to do so again. The new tenants survey must conform to guidance from the Regulator of Social Housing but other details are left to landlord discretion and proposals are being drawn up. CLF is engaged with Officers. Previous survey reports may be found under the ‘Survey’ tab on the CLF website homepage.

Return to Topics List

3. Information for leaseholders on Camden website
CLF is working with Geraldine Littlechild to improve the information available on the Camden website and the leaseholders’ personal Camden Account to help leaseholders find out how to solve different issues.
a. A useful “Information for leaseholders” section has been added to the main Camden website here: https://www.camden.gov.uk/information-for-leaseholders
b. Major Works and the statutory consultation process is here: https://www.camden.gov.uk/consultation-with-leaseholders
c. Information on Energy costs here: https://www.camden.gov.uk/service-charge-insurance-and-freeholders#rwziddwz. See also further details below.
d. Camden Resident Account – Leaseholders can check if Capital works are planned on their property using the “property details” tab on their Camden Account. Leaseholder Services intends to add a flag to identify any works which may be covered by Florrie’s law. Leaseholder Services is preparing a ‘Guide’ to the Resident Account.

4. Leaseholder Services efficiency
Recognising the need to improve its process for responding to enquiries, Camden is developing in-house a correspondence management system, as an initial solution.

Return to Topics List

5. Major works leaseholder engagement
A CLF working group has been meeting with Camden to formalise a process for leaseholders to be involved in meetings about major works at an early stage – before works specifications are finalised. We are working towards a final version of this engagement process for publication on the Camden website.

6. Repairs update
The only repairs which can be reported by telephone are emergency ones, or those from enhanced tenants as defined on Camden’s website. There are several ways to report a non-emergency repair but the best for non-emergency repairs may be webchat, where you can get a transcript of the interaction once it has finished. Webchat interaction is with a real person and the live conversation can be translated into other languages if required. It helps the repairs service if you can post a picture of the repair on the chat. WhatsApp is also now available for reporting a repair and a picture can be attached.

The CLF Repairs working group has recently met with the Head of Repairs Operations and with Leaseholder Services Consultation and Billing Teams.

We have raised concerns with the Head of Repairs Operations about contractors not showing up for appointments and we will continue to press for a solution to remedy this. We will also be reviewing text reminders being sent; we understand already provided where mobile numbers are available, but not always possible for communal repairs.

Many leaseholders in street properties are also concerned about a plan to introduce street door master keys held by Camden as this has has security implications. The works have been halted whilst Camden reviews options.

Residents can register for Camden’s Key Leaseholder Scheme (KLS). As a KLS member, you will have the opportunity to take part in consultations and will receive a quarterly notification of repairs – so you will be able to query them before billing in September. TO JOIN, email your request to leaseholderservices@camden.gov.uk.
Or call 020 7974 3559 option 6.

Return to Topics List

7. Housing Services Report
The following is an extract from a report by the Director of Housing Management and Director of Property Services to DMCs in March 2023.
“At this DMC round, members have asked for the report to focus on the monitoring and performance of contractors who contribute towards the provision of the Council’s Housing Services; an update on Landlord Services home visits programme and how vulnerable tenants are identified; a Housing transformation update and an update on the impending changes to the social housing regulatory framework.”
The report comprises the following papers.

Report title – Officer contributing
Housing contractor performance – Gavin Haynes
Landlord Services report – Jo Adams
Housing transformation update – Glendine Shepherd
Housing regulation update – Graeme Beedham
Capital Works update – Susanne Afra
Caretaking performance update – Sharon Calvey
Estate parking report; Traffic Management Orders – Sharon Calvey
Grounds maintenance & tree management – Oliver Jones
CCTV & Responsive Security Patrol – Graeme Dyson
Complaints performance – Jim Reid
Camden Housing & Property Resident’s Panel – Scot Reid
Heating Pool update – Rubait Hossain
DMC election nomination forms – Stanton La Foucade

To open the full report, click here

8. Update From the Cabinet Member for Better Homes
The following is an extract from a report by Meric Apak to DMCs in March 2023.
“25. In the recent Joint Meeting of District Management Committees (DMCs), a key theme that I heard was a perception of poor and disjointed communication from the Council, both internally and externally. A second key message I took away was a perception of wastefulness, and inefficiencies in how we do things.
26. It is clear to me that there is a lot more we can do to improve these two areas in how we work. However, I also know there has been a lot done to improve things, and we must recognise and acknowledge this work as well, as I have tried to set out some of this work in this report…”
“29. … Having said this, I agree that these two areas are giving rise to increased dissatisfaction to residents and will be my focus for the next 12 months.
30. As well as focusing on effective communication with our residents, responding to their emails within acceptable protocols and throughout the ranks, I do firmly believe that our transformation agenda will lead to working in more efficient and effective ways maximising available resources and extracting the most out of every pound we spend.”

To open the full report, click here

Return to Topics List

9. Communal Energy Costs
The Camden website [here] includes information about communal electricity and gas.
Under the Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) price caps are applied to the wholesale element of energy bills, for the period 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, should the wholesale energy price element be higher than the caps. The cap is set at 7.5 pence/kWh for Gas and at 21.1 pence/kWh for Electricity. The standing charge is not supported.
We understand that this will mean communal gas being discounted by approximately 1.5 pence/kWh for the 6-month period. The communal electricity price (energy component) is already below the cap (a good thing) and will therefore not be discounted further.
The Government is replacing the EBRS with an Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS for the period April 2023 to March 2024. This will operate in a similar manner but will include price thresholds. Based on the current market conditions and purchased volumes Camden is advised that its energy contracts will not be eligible for EBDS support, as the wholesale commodity cost is forecast to be below the set thresholds and are unlikely to qualify for any support.

10. Camden Housing and Property Residents Panel
Camden has set up a panel of 22 residents from across the 5 districts. It says it is to become more open and honest about how Camden housing directorates operate. The panel will be able to review and offer feedback on borough-wide challenges, important projects, service and contractor performance, customer satisfaction, and complaints across Camden’s housing directorates. CLF understands that there are 5 leaseholder members – if you are (or know of) one of them, please let us know.
The Panel has a website here. So far, it is not very informative.

Return to Topics List

About CLF
The CLF focuses on generic issues – those that affect lots of leaseholders – and we do not take on individual cases.
We have no funding from Camden and are a group of volunteers, all of us leaseholders and many with day jobs. If you have a question, email us at  camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk and we will try to point you in the right direction.

Camden Leaseholders Forum

CLF website: www.leaseholdersforum.org.uk

Dear Leaseholder,

We held our latest (hybrid) CLF meeting on 22 November. From Camden, Geraldine Littlechild (Acting Head of Leaseholder Services) and Danny Waite (Head of Repairs) attended. Twelve of the 21 Forum members attended. Twenty one other leaseholders observed online and some asked questions via chat.

The official minutes will be published in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime these were the main issues and action points.

1. Leaseholder satisfaction survey
Camden has shared with the CLF their 2019 STAR Leaseholder Satisfaction Survey Report. It dates back to 2019, but the results are in line with CLF’s own internal report. Satisfaction levels among leaseholders are very low. A chart (see page 27) comparing Camden with other landlords (probably local authorities) shows Camden scores in the lowest quartile (bottom 25%). The next survey in this series is due in April 2023. The Chair and Vice Chair of CLF have arranged a meeting on 5 December with Councillor Meric Apak (Cabinet member for Housing) and senior Camden officers to ask what Camden is doing to improve these poor scores. Previous STAR reports may be found under the ‘Survey’ tab on the Forum website homepage.

2. Information for leaseholders on Camden website
CLF are working with Geraldine Littlechild to improve the information available on the Camden website and the leaseholders’ personal Camden Account to help leaseholders find out how to solve different issues.
a. Information on Energy costs here: https://www.camden.gov.uk/service-charge-insurance-and-freeholders#rwziddwz

b. Information on Florrie’s Law/ capping of charges here: https://www.camden.gov.uk/consultation-with-leaseholders. Florrie’s Law only applies to leaseholders who occupy their house or flat as their only or principal home

c. Leaseholders can check if Capital works are planned on their property using the “property details” tab on their Camden Account. Leaseholder Services intends to add a flag to identify any works which may be covered by Florrie’s law

d. A “Useful info” section is planned to be published this side of Christmas on the main Camden website here: https://www.camden.gov.uk/leaseholders-and-freeholders

e. The personal data that leaseholders enter into the Camden Account is not shared with any third parties, and if an account is unused for 12 months all data is deleted – so it is perfectly safe to use. It is a useful way to check your invoices

f. Leaseholder Services is working with Camden IT to introduce a correspondence management system, to replace the current manual system, to allocate incoming emails to team members. This will be tested in the New Year. Once in place, this should reduce the number of email enquiries getting lost or overlooked.
A report by Leaseholder Services is linked here

3. Leaseholder Engagement Working Group
A group of Forum members is working with Thomas Broad to agree a process for leaseholders to be involved in meetings about Major Works at an earlier stage in the process, before works are specified or go out to tender. We will keep you informed on progress. A report by the group is linked here.

4. Repairs Working Group
A group of Forum members is meeting with Danny Waite to understand and report on the changes he is introducing to the Repairs team. The group is also meeting with Scot Reid who heads the restructured Repairs Contact Centre. Recently, text and webchat options have been added for reporting repairs, and now only about half of all incoming enquiries come by phone. There are concerns about missed appointments, contractors not providing ID, and billing which we will continue to raise. Many leaseholders in street properties are also concerned about a plan to introduce master keys held by Camden which has security implications and is due to be rolled out without consultation with leaseholders. We will keep you informed on progress. A report by the group is linked here.

Other news
The next Camden Leaseholders Forum meeting will be on 14 March 2023. If you want to attend virtually please contact camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk.

If you have a query about work on your property do please first check the Forum website Discussion Board posts on https://www.leaseholdersforum.org.uk/
You can also find out who are the Representatives for your district.

The Forum focuses on generic issues – those that affect lots of leaseholders – and we do not take on individual cases.
We have no funding from Camden and are a group of volunteers, all of us leaseholders and many with day jobs. If you have a question, email camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk and we will try to point you in the right direction.

Wishing you a peaceful holiday season,

Camden Leaseholders Forum

CLF website: www.leaseholdersforum.org.uk

– Your Leaseholders’ Forum
– Forum Meetings
– Service Charges
– Camden Account
– Electricity and Gas pricing
– Contact the Forum

Your Leaseholders’ Forum
Thanks to our recently co-opted Representatives, Billy Byatt (Gospel Oak) and Isabella Luger (Kentish Town), we are now at full strength – 21 Forum Representatives.  All are  volunteer leaseholders – we are independent of the Council. Our ‘Constitution’ may be found on our website homepage and is also linked here.

The votes cast in the ballot to co-opt a Representative to Kentish Town were as follows:
.         
Thank you if you voted!

Forum Meetings
15 Forum Representatives participated in the quarterly Forum meeting on 20 September, whilst 21 other leaseholders joined online as observers. The meeting was also attended by the Cabinet Member for Better Homes, the Director of Housing, the Head of Planned Capital Works, the Head of Housing Transformation, the Consultation Officer Property Management and the Senior Energy Management Officer.

The meeting Minutes are on this link. For the full agenda papers see the Camden website on this link. Please note: there is no webcast.

The next quarterly Forum meeting will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 22 November 2022 (not 29 November as stated in the newsletter which accompanied your service charge demand – did you read the newsletter?). The meeting will be a hybrid so leaseholders may attend virtually (online).

Service Charges
Camden has now issued the service charge demands for actual costs incurred in year ending March 2022. The accompanying notes ‘Summary of tenants’ rights and obligations’ are an important read if they are unfamiliar to you.

Camden’s Service Charge Guide – linked here – is also a very helpful document.

Camden’s Major Works Guide – linked here – is about payment methods, advice and
help available for leaseholders who receive a major works invoice.

If you have the type of lease where the Management Charge is not fixed at 10% you will find the calculation for your 2021/22 Management Charge £187.57, here on the Camden website.

Camden Account
If you have not yet set up your online Camden Account (link here) we recommend you sign-up. You can then…
> View/pay invoices
> View statement of account
> Track repairs
> View Major Works (listed but no documents yet)
> Update your contact details

Electricity and Gas pricing
A summary of the Government’s support packages has been posted on the Discussion Board, on this link.
You will find an explanation of Camden’s energy procurement on this link.

Return to Topics List

Contact the Forum
To contact the Forum please email camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk. To address a member (e.g. representing your housing district) please include the member’s name in the message subject. A full list of the 21 Forum members can be found here.
You can share with other leaseholders matters of particular concern to you by posting on the website Discussion Board.

Remember, we are all volunteers who have our own day jobs as well as helping with the Forum!

CLF website: www.leaseholdersforum.org.uk

Your VOTE counts – Voting closes on Friday 7 October at midnight

The Forum has one vacancy for a Kentish Town Representative for which we have received three applications from leaseholders.  That is why we are holding this ballot and are asking leaseholders from across Camden to vote.

If you are a Camden leaseholder you have the right to vote for the leaseholder who will fill the vacancy.  Wherever you live in the borough, we strongly encourage you to show your support and cast your vote.

Voting is simple.  Click the following link to open the voting form.  You may vote only once.

Link to Voting Form

The voting form just asks for

• your email (so we know if someone has voted more than once),
• your name and address (so we know you are a Camden leaseholder) and
• your vote – read their short statements and choose one of the three candidates.

The Constitution says the Forum shall be 4 leaseholder Representatives from each of the five Camden districts. So, that’s 20… plus one for the district from which the Chair comes.  We have to co-opt new Representatives when existing members resign (perhaps because they are no longer leaseholders, or for some other reason).

If you know of another leaseholder who wishes to vote but is not signed-up to our emailing list you may forward this email and they can use the link.  If they do not have email or internet they may vote by completing a printed copy of the form and ask someone to scan and email it to camden@leaseholdersforum.com.  Otherwise, they may send the completed form by post, to arrive no later than Thursday 6 October, to Leaseholders’ Forum, c/o Sola Odusina, Principal Committee Officer, Committee Services, Crowndale Centre, 218 Eversholt Street, London NW1 1BD.

Voting closes on Friday 7 October at midnight

The election result will be announced on 11 October.

– Your Leaseholders’ Forum
– Forum Meetings
– Forum Sub-groups
– Next CLF Meeting
– Camden Complaints Process
– Camden Council – New Cabinet
– Contact the Forum

Your Leaseholders’ Forum
Camden Leaseholders’ Forum is a volunteer group representing all leaseholders and freeholders paying service charges to Camden Council. Forum Members are all leaseholders and are independent of the Council. Forum Members (who were elected last Autumn to represent all the districts of the Borough) scrutinise the Council’s proposals, examine working practices and lobby on behalf of leaseholders.

Forum Meetings
18 Forum Members, some attending in person and some online, participated in the new Forum’s first hybrid meeting on 31 May, whilst more than 25 other leaseholders joined online as observers.

Graeme Beedham, Camden Council’s Head of Tenant Participation, chaired the meeting until the leaseholder Chair was elected.
Carolyn Morgan was elected to the post of Chair for the year and Dr. Peter Wright elected to Vice Chair.

Forum Sub-groups
We have set up sub groups of Forum Members to develop the work programme, based largely on the leaseholder survey responses received in Autumn 2020. A summary was included in the papers for the 31 May meeting found here.
Sub groups will be meeting in June on

• Leaseholder services
• Major Works
• Repairs

The elected Forum Members are meeting informally on 30 June to review the work groups. If you have any issues to raise for one of the work groups, please email camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk before then.

We have an introductory meeting with Glendine Shepherd, Director of Housing on 13 June and plan to invite her, Geraldine Littlechild (Leaseholder Services), Susanne Afra (Capital Works) and Danny Waite (Repairs) to meet our working groups over the summer and to report back with an action plan to the September CLF meeting.

Next CLF Meeting
For your diary, the next formal Forum meeting will be held on Tuesday 20 September 2022. It will be a hybrid meeting like last time – Forum Members can attend in person or virtually. If any leaseholder wants to observe, get in touch and we can send a link.
The Chair will reserve some time for questions from the observers. But please note, this is not a forum to raise your own personal issues, just proposals on generic policy to improve the situation for all leaseholders. For issues relating to your own property, please use the Complaints process (see next item).

Camden Complaints Process
At the meeting on 31 May we invited Camden’s Head of Tenant Participation to outline the Council’s Complaints Process.
The Council’s defines a complaint as ‘When someone lets us know that they are unhappy with our service and they want us to take action to resolve it’.
The council’s aim is to resolve complaints as quickly and simply as possible and initially this is done informally. If a complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily then the 3-stage formal procedure is started.

• Stage 1 – The local resolution stage (dealt with directly by the officers and managers responsible for the service).
• Stage 2 – The review or appeal stage (dealt with by complaints officers who have not been involved previously).
• Stage 3 – An independent review conducted by the Housing Ombudsman.

We were told that leaseholders are strongly encouraged to use the Complaints Process where they are unhappy with the Council’s service.
The best route is to complete and submit an online Complaints form, found here.
The Housing Ombudsman provides useful guidance to complainants, found here.

Graeme agreed to share data with us on the number of complaints, their categories and how many were resolved. This should be a good way to measure what is actually happening between Camden and leaseholders.

Camden Council – New Cabinet
Following the local council elections, Councillor Georgia Gould, the re-elected Leader of the Council, confirmed the new Cabinet at the council meeting on 25 May 2022 [Read more].
We are pleased to see Cllr Meric Apak reappointed as Cabinet Member for Better Homes. The responsibilities of this post are summarised in the Constitution as “Leading on improving council homes and estates, tenant and leaseholder participation and promoting quality private rented accommodation (including council stock; housing management and housing strategies)”.
One of the Lib Dem Councillors, Nancy Jirira, also attended the 31 May meeting so she is clearly engaged with leaseholders’ issues.

Contact the Forum
To contact the Forum please email camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk. To address a member (e.g. representing your housing district) please include the member’s name in the message subject. A full list of the 20 Forum members can be found here.
You can share with other leaseholders matters of particular concern to you by posting on the website Discussion Board.

Remember, we are all volunteers who have our own day jobs as well as helping with the Forum! We may be looking to grow the number of elected members during the year (we can have five in each district) so if you want to nominate yourself or someone else, email us on camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk.

CLF website: www.leaseholdersforum.org.uk

This update touches on some recent developments.

– Leaseholders’ Forum Elections
– Complaints and the Housing Ombudsman
– Chalcots Cladding Replacement
– Cromer Street Cladding Replacement
– Fire Safety Act 2021
– Building Safety Bill
– Resident Participation – Cabinet Adviser for Tenant Voice
– Cabinet Member for Better Homes report June 2021
– Day to day Reactive Repairs
– Capital Works (Resident Engagement; Better Homes / External Works; Fire Safety)
– Caretaking
– Car Parking and Access Team
– Renewal of the Housing CCTV Network
– Meet the Regulator of Social Housing – webinar 11am on 15 July

Leaseholders’ Forum Elections
“Be a voice for Camden leaseholders”
Did you see this announcement tucked away on the back page of the June mailing of Camden Housing News – Summer 2021?
Camden Leaseholders’ Forum is a group of volunteers representing the voices of Camden leaseholders and freeholders. This year you have the opportunity to join them as an elected member.
So if you’re a Camden leaseholder, have ideas to improve Camden’s leaseholder services and want to make a real difference for homeowners, stand for election.
Send your name, address and reasons for standing (in 100 words or less) to Camden Tenant Participation by Saturday 31 July.

Complaints and the Housing Ombudsman
According to its Complaints Policy and Procedure, Camden Council’s definition of a complaint is ‘When someone lets us know that they are unhappy with our service and they want us to take action to resolve it’.

If you are not satisfied with the way Camden is handling a complaint you may refer the dispute to the Housing Ombudsman for a resolution. The Housing Ombudsman Service is set up by law to look at such complaints. The service is free, independent and impartial.

The Housing Ombudsman has issued a first call for evidence to support an investigation which will look at damp and mould. More information here, on the Housing Ombudsman website.

Chalcots Cladding Replacement
The Council has obtained planning permission (2021/0191/P) to re-clad the five towers on the Chalcots Estate. The original ACM cladding has already been removed.

The Council has analysed the expressions of interest for the Blashford Tower contract and has invited a number of contractors to
submit tenders. The detailed design for the four similar towers is progressing well and expressions of interest are being analysed. The aim is to have the contract for Blashford awarded in August 2021 and the contract for the four similar towers awarded in November 2021.

At the end of 2018 Camden secured £80 million funding from the Government and has undertaken to make up any shortfall from Council funds. Leaseholders will not be charged for replacing this cladding.

The Camden website has a dedicated Chalcots residents’ support page here.

Cromer Street Cladding Replacement
The Council has applied for planning permission (2020/5866/P – PlanningSearch) to re-clad the towers on the Cromer Street Estate in King’s Cross. Planning Committee meets on 8 July 2021.

Camden applied for a grant from the Government’s £1 billion fund for the remediation of non-Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) facades on residential buildings over 18 metres in height. The blocks deemed eligible are all on the Cromer Estate, they are safe to occupy however the current insulation does not meet the latest regulations for tall buildings. The Government department (MHCLG) has confirmed that 3 of the 11 blocks on the Cromer Estate are eligible for the funding which should result in Camden receiving circa £3m of funding. Work must start before the end of September 2021.

The Council is to award the contract to Lawtech Ltd for the replacement of the external wall insulation on up to 11 blocks on the Cromer Street Estate, with an estimated total construction value of £9,333,973. Work is to commence to the three blocks which have grant funding, with the ability to add the 8 smaller blocks following a review of the scope of works. See Camden’s website here for more information.

Fire Safety Act 2021
The Fire Safety Act clarifies that where a building contains 2 or more sets of domestic premises, the Fire Safety Order 2005 applies to:
– the building’s structure and external walls (including windows, balconies, cladding, insulation and fixings) and any common parts
– all doors between domestic premises and common parts such as flat entrance doors (or any other relevant door).
Individual flats are excluded. The government plans to issue guidance when the Fire Safety Act comes into force which will set out that if you are a Responsible Person (such as Camden as landlord), you must consider these parts when conducting fire risk assessments.

It is a very short Act, just 3 pages. The Act received Royal Assent on 29 April 2021. However, it is unlikely to be brought into force until the Government has issued its risk based guidance – expected to be published in September 2021.

Building Safety Bill
The Building Safety Bill was introduced into Parliament on 30 June 2021 and tabled in the Commons on 5 July, nearly a year since the Government began consultation on a draft. It is a large (218 pages) and complex Bill and the Government does not expect passage through Parliament to take less than 9 months. The Government’s policy paper and Outline Transition Plan may be found here.

The Bill and other documents may be found here.

Building magazine 6 July has an article on the Bill – linked here.

As may be expected, legal practices have something to say about the Bill. Here is a commentary by CMS.

Resident Participation – Cabinet Adviser for Tenant Voice
Camden Council established four Cabinet Adviser roles in December 2019 to provide evidence-based recommendation and policy making support to the Cabinet of the Council. The Cabinet Advisers are to be appointed yearly to engage, research and develop recommendations in a particular policy area, working with a Cabinet Member and wider elected members and the community.

Cllr Samata Khatoon was appointed Cabinet Adviser for Tenant Voice, to work with the Cabinet Member for Better Homes, Cllr Meric Apak. The brief is to make recommendations as to how the Council involves and engages with tenants in decision-making about their homes and communities and how Camden can broaden engagement and involvement in tenant oversight of services.

Cllr Khatoon’s report, June 2021, to the Housing Scrutiny Committee may be found here.

Cabinet Member for Better Homes – Report June 2021
Councillor Meric Apak, Cabinet Member for Better Homes, reported last month to the Housing Scrutiny Committee.
Cllr Apak’s Opening remarks:
“Since my last update to the Housing Scrutiny Committee, a lot has happened which I feel the committee ought to know about. I have tried to provide an overview, however, it has been difficult to do this without delving into the detail at times.
My report primarily attempts to set out the impact of the pandemic and the recovery plans. It also sets out what improvements we have brought about to address concerns raised before, despite the pandemic.”

Report content:
1. Introduction [see Opening remarks above]
2. Private Rented Sector and Homelessness
3. Update on works to the Chalcots and fire safety [see above]
4. The Voids Improvement Programme
5. Resident Engagement
6. Day to day Reactive Repairs [extracts below]
7. Capital Works [extracts below]
8. Estate Services [extracts below]
9. Grounds Maintenance and Tree Management
10. Responsive Security Patrol
11. Renewal of the Housing CCTV Network [extracts below]
12. Landlord Services

Cllr Apak’s Closing remarks:
“This report is in no way intended to pretend that everything in Housing works 100%, and that all our residents are completely satisfied. We are responsible for some 33,000 properties. Approximately 23,000 of these are tenanted, the rest being leaseholds. Like an iceberg, all the good work we do, is often beneath the surface and remains hidden, while the failures we experience is often exposed on the surface.

While we must always strive for perfection for our residents, we need to accept that sometimes things will go wrong. For me the overriding priority in all this is to instil a culture of ongoing learning and improvement with proactive resident centric communication and engagement. I trust that this ethos and approach has come through in this report and can be seen in the early adoption of new processes within our new inhouse structures.”
The full report by Cllr Apak may be found here

Day to day Reactive Repairs
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes reported last month as follows:
“Since being decoupled from the Contact Centre, the Housing repairs call centre continues to be very busy due to people being at home more and this leading to additional demand with 87,800 telephone calls presented to the team in the three months during Jan-March 21. In the same period last year, this figure was 61,785. Despite this volume, the team still answered 96% of all calls, with 95% answered within 2 minutes. The online reporting remains high, with over 1000 online requests reported in this period.

The team are working very hard with Camden colleagues to have an up to date online housing repairs reporting system available for our residents. This piece of work is using existing system applications in a way that can provide a front end reporting portal for residents to report a repair at a time that suits them.

Following extensive testing, the team have launched the Camden Account linked new online repairs reporting system on 17 May. This has been very popular.

The Repairs Calls Centre has been busy since 17th May with approx. 850 – 1000 calls per day. This is higher than expected at this time of year but manageable. To help manage this demand we need to do things differently, we have heavily promoted the use of the call-back service and expanded SMS updates for all new repair requests, including Mechanical and Engineering. We now send out a series of text messages rather than just one previously. An SMS is sent at the time of the booking, 48 hours before it is due to take place and now at 7 am of the day of the appointment itself. Since this launch, the number of confirming appointment calls has fallen from 15% of all calls to 2%. Also, following feedback from residents and this committee, we have reduced the number of telephone options that residents need to press to speak to the correct person.

On the 17th of March, we introduced a brand new service to Camden, webchat. This service has exceeded all expectations, with over 800 web chat interactions taking place already. Resident feedback has been very positive, with over 95% resident satisfaction score recorded. As with the primary contact centre hours, the service operates between 9-5 pm Monday to Friday. The service is working closely with other colleagues across Camden to see how different services can positively use this new channel shift option.
Scoping work has started for a permanent back end solution focussed on repair reporting, assets management and cross housing directorate working.

Case management response times continue to improve, with 72% of all cases being answered in 10 days, up from 45% in 2020. In line with the new Housing Ombudsman requirements earlier this year, the team has adopted a straightforward lessons-learned approach to resident complaints and contacts. As part of their role, they regularly meet with key managers in Repairs and Contractors to focus on improving and reducing complaint themes and trends.
As part of our early work to improve transparency we are publishing our call handling and case management performance statistics on the Camden website.”

Capital Works
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes reported last month as follows:
Resident engagement on the forward programme
“Resident engagement took place in early 2020 with key resident groups including Tenant Resident Associations (TRAs), District Management Committees (DMCs), Camden Association of Street Properties (CASP) and the Camden Leaseholders Forum. This provided good feedback on the Better Homes programme and our approach to resident engagement.
During the workshops and engagement opportunities the key findings of the latest stock condition were shared and the proposed programme discussed. The feedback from resident groups has helped us to shape the forward programme. The key headlines from the consultation were as follows:
➢ Residents are supportive of de-prioritising internal works and focussing on external works
➢ Clear significant investment need remains – windows, remaining lifts and heating systems
➢ Residents broadly support an elemental approach where appropriate, e.g. tackling single elements such as windows as opposed to doing the whole external envelope
➢ Residents supported the introduction of cyclical maintenance programme with the aim of stopping problems getting bigger e.g. regularly inspect roofs and guttering
➢ Majority of the feedback supported the view that fire safety works should be a distinct programme
➢ The consultation also highlighted that a priority should be, improved communication with residents, resident involvement in the lifespan of the works, a named Camden officer as lead on all projects and a communication 10 strategy developed per programme that includes engagement with those who do not have IT access.
We analysed the stock condition survey, reviewed existing commitments and have carried out detailed scoping assessments to identify the required investment over the coming years.”

Better Homes / External Works
“The Better Homes programme of works includes the delivery of fire safety works at some locations where other external works are also taking place to ensure a coordinated approach to delivery and reducing the need for another project being delivered at the same site at another time or by another project manager.

The programme is being finalised and will be published on the Camden Open Data website.”
The External Better Homes Programme (years 2018/19, 2020/21 and 2021/22) may be found here.
Select ‘View Data’ then enter search criteria (such as name of property) in ‘Find in this Dataset’ and hit Enter.
The Dataset does not appear to have been updated yet. Let us know if you think it has been for your property. Projected elemental costs are estimated on a ‘cost per unit’ basis, varied only by whether the unit is on an estate or in a street property.

Fire Safety
“Key projects being delivered are based on the actions recommended in the Fire Risk Assessment (FRA). As the FRAs are undertaken at various properties across the borough the number of actions is likely to increase including the workload of this team therefore the programme will reflect this workload and work will be prioritised based on the level of risk and urgency. Works being delivered in this programme include:
➢ Installing new smoke and fire alarms;
➢ Installing emergency lighting;
➢ Redecoration of communal areas to class 0 standard;
➢ Replacing or upgrading fire doors;
➢ Fire signage;
➢ Installing door closers; and,
➢ Ensuring fire stopping is in place”

Fire Risk Assessments data may be found here.
Select ‘View Data’ then enter search criteria (such as name of property) in ‘Find in this Dataset’ and hit Enter
The Dataset does appear to have been updated. However, it does not seem to include every property where a fire risk assessment has been carried out.

Caretaking
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes reported last month as follows:
“Throughout the pandemic and since the launch of the enhanced service, we have received positive feedback and appreciation from residents about the services Camden Caretakers have continued to deliver, keeping estates clean and safe. Standards of cleaning are high, with A or B grades achieved consistently across 90-95% of stock, and the latest Keep Britain Tidy report has noted improvements on external estate cleaning…

A core commitment of the enhanced Caretaking Service is improved resident engagement. Since September, despite Covid restrictions, we have contacted every estate TRA in Camden to introduce the enhanced service, offering to meet with residents either in person or virtually to better understand local priorities and identify uplift and improvement projects. To date we have conducted more than 25 joint walkabouts/inspections and attended around 25 resident led meetings.

Our mobile Caretaking Support and Response team delivers a schedule of project work, performing uplift and improvement tasks that complement the core duties performed by Caretakers each day. This team will work with residents and staff to deliver estate wide improvements such as painting, graffiti removal, stain removal, jet washing, and deep cleaning… This team has made an enormous impact to the service and has gained a reputation for excellence in the 8 months it has been operational, as noted at DMCs and exemplified in a number of appreciations received from residents.

The service has made good progress implementing outcomes from the 2019/20 Caretaking Review: Camden Caretakers now deliver cleaning and support resident safety in all common areas on estates; a full workforce training programme is almost complete with the final element due to rollout over the summer; Caretakers are now connected with access to email and other online staff resources. The Caretaking service is leading conversations on estate improvement with our colleagues and partners.”

Car Parking and Access Team
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes reported last month as follows:
“… Throughout this period, this team has directly supported NHS, front line services and essential Council staff by providing over 200 parking spaces on estates, complementing the work being done by colleagues in the street parking team.

The team has successfully implemented the first estate Traffic Management Order on the Maiden Lane Estate in 2020 and are currently reviewing how to progress this across other estates. Work is also underway with corporate parking colleagues to introduce a self-service permit system, mirroring the service due to be introduced for on street parking.

Dedicated bicycle storage facilities provide residents with secure storage away from communal fire escape routes. To date we have facilitated access to more than 15 bicycle facilities across our estates, with another 10 confirmed for 2021/22. Another 27 estates are under consideration to receive additional bicycle facilities. Finally, and in collaboration with colleagues in Transport Planning, we are supporting investigations into the feasibility of installing electric vehicle (EV) charging points on estates. While this work is at an early stage, the team is ready to support with traffic management orders for EV dedicated charging bays.”

Renewal of the Housing CCTV Network
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes reported last month as follows:
“Improvements in the new CCTV Control Room continues. We continue to have a Police Officer working alongside the CCTV operators five evenings a week and this is working well. The control room has supported both the Police and Council in identifying breaches in Covid regulations and monitoring public areas…

The renewal of the Housing CCTV network is progressing, with the initial work focussed on installing a future proofed, rooftop network of transmitters… This work will be completed over the Summer and we will then be able to start installing the new high quality cameras. In the future all new CCTV cameras will be connected direct to the CCTV Control Room for live monitoring by the staff and to take advantage of the smart analytics available in the control room software – like groups gathering in an area of concern (please note it is against the council’s policy to use facial recognition software in any of its camera systems and there are no plans to do so). As part of the renewal of the Housing CCTV Network the Council will be engaging with residents, the community safety team and Police to work out the best locations and types of cameras to be used on each estate.”

Meet the Regulator of Social Housing – webinar 11am on 15 July
The webinar is open to all residents, but will be most relevant for tenants that rent their homes.

Last year, the government published its Social Housing White Paper. In this, it asked the RSH to change the way it carries out consumer regulation in social housing and to create a new consumer function. During this first webinar, you’ll hear about how regulation in the social housing sector works at the moment and the changes the White Paper is introducing, and about the opportunities coming up to engage further with the RSH. The aim of the session to provide a clear picture of how regulation works and to equip participants with the knowledge they need to fully engage in the conversations about regulatory change.

For more information and to register for this webinar (web seminar) see here.

 
Leaseholders are experiencing many and varied problems caused by concerns about fire safety, particularly with regard to the external wall systems on their buildings. This update touches on some recent developments.

– Government support to leaseholders
– Government funding to end Waking Watch
– New EWS guidance for valuers
– Chalcots Cladding Replacement
– Cromer Street Cladding Replacement
– Fire Risk Assessments

Government to support leaseholders with cladding replacement costs
In February 2021 leaseholders in residential buildings 18 metres and over (typically 6+ storeys) received the welcome news that the Government would fully fund their share of the costs where unsafe cladding of any type had to be replaced.

The Government also announced limited support for leaseholders in buildings between 11 and 18 metres high (typically 4 and 5 storeys) that require the removal of unsafe cladding. These leaseholders will be able to get a Government loan to pay for their share of the costs, with monthly repayments capped at £50.

The Government has announced a number of recent funding investments to promote cladding remediation, totalling to £5 billion, namely:

• May 2018 – £400 million (the Social Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund) to encourage social sector landlords to urgently replace ACM cladding on residential buildings that are 18 metres and over;
• May 2019 – £200 million available to private sector landlords for the same purpose;
• May 2020 – £1 billion (Building Safety Fund) to cover leaseholder costs for the remediation of unsafe non-ACM cladding on residential buildings that are 18 metres and over.
• February 2021 – £3.5 billion to cover leaseholder costs for the remediation of all unsafe cladding on buildings that are 18 metres and over.

Government funding to end Waking Watch
In December 2020 the Government set up a £30 million ‘Waking Watch Relief Fund’ to pay for the costs of installing an alarm system in buildings over 18 metres with unsafe cladding – a fund to cover the amount of expenditure that would otherwise be charged to leaseholders.

The purpose of the fund is to enable costly Waking Watch measures to be replaced by an approved alarm system in buildings waiting to have unsafe cladding removed. Landlords who apply for funding will have to satisfy the criteria that waking watch costs have been passed to leaseholders and the costs of installing an alarm would fall on leaseholders.

External Wall Systems (EWS) Fire Safety Checks – New guidance for valuers
New guidance published by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) aims to significantly reduce the number of buildings for which mortgage lenders will require External Wall System (EWS) fire safety checks and provision of the EWS1 form.

     Background
Following the Grenfell tragedy In December 2017 the Government announced a number of reforms designed to improve fire safety in high rise multi-occupied buildings, including the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2018 which prohibit the use of combustible cladding in buildings over 18m.

In December 2019, intending to give confidence to lenders and provide valuers with a uniform approach, the RICS introduced the EWS1 form to record “in a consistent manner what assessment has been carried out for the external wall construction of residential apartment buildings where the highest floor is 18m or more above ground level or where specific concerns exist”. Some lenders insisted on the form for all multi-occupancy buildings, even where there was no cladding. Significant delays resulted due to there being insufficient persons suitably qualified to inspect and complete the form, as well as qualified professionals finding it difficult to secure appropriate professional indemnity insurance.

Camden Council has declined leaseholders’ requests for an EWS1 form where the building is less than 18 metres. Camden published a statement giving its reasoning, principally that lenders should not require an EWS1 form for those buildings (based on RICS guidance – now obsolete) and that it cannot justify spending £12,000 to obtain one. It is expected that Camden will now wish to review this position.

In January 2020 the Government published consolidated advice for owners which extended fire risk concerns to buildings of any height. More lenders started requiring form EWS1 to be used for all multi-storey buildings further blocking flats sales.

In November 2020 the RICS, Government and lenders’ representative bodies (UK Finance and the Building Societies Association) announced an agreement that an EWS1 form should no longer be needed for sales or re-mortgages on flats in blocks which have no cladding. After further
consultation the RICS has prepared new guidance.

     New RICS Guidance
The RICS has issued a new guide for valuers, titled ‘Valuation of Properties in Multi-storey, Multi-occupancy Residential Buildings with Cladding’. This comes into effect on 5 April 2021. It provides criteria to help identify which buildings, depending on the number of storeys and type of EWS, should require an EWS1 form. The guidance reflects the fire safety concerns of the Government’s Expert Panel, particularly with regard to cladding comprising of aluminium composite material (ACM) and other metal composite material (MCM) cladding, as well as those involving high pressure laminate (HPL) panels.

The RICS guide recognises three categories: buildings up to four storeys, buildings with five or six storeys and buildings over six storeys. The guide includes helpful case studies and a decision tree.

With regard to buildings of up to four-storeys, the new RICS guidance is that an EWS1 form should only be required where there is ACM, MCM or HPL cladding present. Therefore, lenders should not require an EWS1 form for buildings which do not have this type of cladding – good news for leaseholders who are wishing to sell or re-mortgage properties in such buildings. However, the RICS guidance is not statutory and its adoption will rely upon the risk attitude of each mortgage lender.

Chalcots Cladding Replacement
The Council has recently applied for planning permission (2021/0191/P –PlanningSearch) to re-clad the five towers on the Chalcots Estate.

The original ACM cladding has been removed from all towers and the employment of the contractor, Wates, has been terminated.

It is reported that the contract for the 4,000m2 recladding of the 19-storey Blashford Tower, originally estimated to be worth £22 million, will be re-tendered in April 2021 under a 2-stage design and build procurement. Construction is expected to start in August 2021 and may take 80 weeks.

The other four towers (Bray, Dorney, Taplow and Burnham) are expected to be re-tendered in May 2021 with construction commencing in November 2021.

At the end of 2018 Camden secured £80 million funding from the Government and has undertaken to make up any shortfall from Council funds. Leaseholders will not be charged for replacing this cladding.

The Camden website has a dedicated Chalcots residents’ support page here.

Cromer Street Cladding Replacement
The Council has also applied for planning permission (2020/5866/P – PlanningSearch) to re-clad the towers on the Cromer Street Estate in King’s Cross. Comments may be submitted until 23 March.

The Council intends to replace the non-ACM combustible external wall insulation system and rain screen cladding on the eleven tower blocks, namely Bedefield, Bramber, Chadswell, Gatesden, Glyne Reach, Greencroft, Hollisfield, Mulletsfield, Northiam, Peperfield and Sandfield. All of the towers are over 18 metres height.

This project follows and implements an application for a grant from the Government’s Building Safety Fund to cover the costs of the works for leaseholders, an application with which the Forum has been involved.

Fire Risk Assessments
As landlord, Camden Council, has a legal duty to carry out fire risk assessments on any of its buildings which have shared communal areas. The fire risk assessment looks at how safe a building is, what the fire risks are, and gives recommendations on how to improve fire safety. The recommendations must be acted upon to ensure the highest standard of fire safety. Leader of the Council Georgia Gould has committed to publishing fire risk assessments (FRAs) for all purpose built blocks in the interests of resident safety and transparency. FRAs published so far are available here on the Camden website.

In response to Freedom of Information requests for information about fire safety, Camden published an FOI statement which opens with “London Borough of Camden has received a very large number of FOI requests about tower blocks, fire safety and related issues. Due to the volume of requests and their overlapping nature, we have provided a composite response to all questions asked. If we consider your response is covered by the information within this document we will refer you to it.” The statement includes a list of buildings of 6 floors and over, giving the date of the last FRA.

– Forum Meetings
– Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
– Building Safety
– Caretaking Review
– Repairs Service Reorganisation
– Estate Parking
– New Landlord Structure for Council Owned Properties
– Better Homes programme and asset management
– Leaseholder Satisfaction Survey
– Spreading Payments for Major Works
– Camden’s Community Investment Programme
– Recent Discussion Board Topics
– Recent District Management Committee Meetings
– Other Concerns

Forum Meetings
The next Forum meeting is on Tuesday 19 November at 7pm at Crowndale Centre, 218 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BD (around the corner from Mornington Crescent Underground Station). A full list of Forum Members can be found here. To contact a member representing your district please email camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk with “FAO [Member Name]” at the top of the message.

The agenda pack for the forthcoming meeting, including draft minutes of the September meeting, are posted here on the Council website.

Please note that whilst leaseholders and other observers are welcome to attend, only Members have a right to speak. To address the meeting on an Agenda item, known as a deputation, please send in a written request no later than 5pm on Friday 15 November, to the Committee Support Officer outlining the points you wish to make. More information on making a deputation is available here on the Council website.

Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
Just before the Forum meeting there is also the Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery running from 5.30pm to 7pm. You can arrange to meet with a member of the Leaseholder Services team who will help to explain bills and resolve outstanding issues. You must make an appointment – email leaseholderservices@camden.gov.uk or call 020 7974 4444.

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Building Safety
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is currently in the process of preparing draft legislation in response to the report produced by Dame Judith Hackitt, following the Grenfell tragedy.
As part of an Early Adopters Scheme, Camden is currently working on a number of aspects regarding the Building Safety Cases that are being proposed as a requirement for all high rise / high risk buildings within the context of the legislation. Additionally, as an early adopter, Camden’s Resident Safety Team have been invited to work with the HSE officers, seconded to MHCLG, in order to work through the regulatory side of the building safety case production. Finally, Camden continues to attend the MHCLG Hackitt Work Group 8 – tasked with looking at the newly proposed role of the building safety manager.

A report dated 10 October 2019 titled ‘Evacuation policy and FRA update’ to the Fire Safety Advisory Panel by the Director of Property Management & Resident Safety provides the following summary:
o Residents have raised a range of queries and concerns with TRA representatives and Panel members about the Councils approach to Fire Safety policy and how the Fire Risk Assessment Programme works in practice.
o This report explains basis for a ‘stay put evacuation policy for Council homes and the Council’s approach to ensuring that fire risk assessors are properly qualified. The report also provide an update on the Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) programme and gives details of the monitoring process for actions arising from FRAs.
o The delivery of works to improve the safety of homes is of paramount importance to the Council and is key to delivering the Camden Plan outcomes around delivering safe and sustainable neighbourhoods.

According to a report dated 10 October 2019 titled ‘The Council’s approach to sprinklers ‘ to the Fire Safety Advisory Panel, Camden’s current position is summarised as follows:
o Sprinkler systems offer a considerable improvement to the fire safety of the building in suppressing fires at source, however, they have not been traditionally been retrofitted in residential blocks due to the focus within the building regulations on compartmentation and the level of disruption retrofitting will cause.
o While current building regulations recognise that all new residential buildings in excess of 30m height should be provided with sprinklers, the Council has examined the feasibility of new-build high-rise suppression system installations and is of the opinion that the current 30m ruling should be extended to all Camden new-build high-rise buildings over 18m in height (6 storeys). This change of approach will be introduced for new schemes yet to be procured.
o The Council will consider retrofitting where a risk analysis determines this to be the best course of action for a particular premises, this is reflected by the Council’s pilot project to retrofit a sprinkler system to Denton Tower. The Council has also fitted personal misting systems in the homes of some vulnerable residents.
o The Council has also installed sprinklers as part of the comprehensive refurbishment of the Mount Pleasant and Holmes Road hostels.

It is Camden’s aim to publish all Fire Risk Assessments for Purpose Built blocks on the Open Data portal on this link. This does take time and is an ongoing process as FRAs are received from consultants and validated by Camden’s Fire Safety Advisors. Camden does not currently plan to publish FRAs for street properties but residents can request these from the Fire Safety team.

Fire safety works are being programmed from the recent FRAs and the programmes will be published on the Open Data portal on this link. The Better Homes programmes incorporate fire safety works in addition to dedicated fire safety works programmes currently being carried out and planned for the future. To filter the data by Block, estate, programme year etc., the data can be downloaded to an Excel spreadsheet (at the top of the web page there is an ‘Export’ button).

FRAs are being reviewed and recommended actions are downloaded and assigned to the various teams responsible for the various actions. In regards to the actions requiring programming, for example the installation of emergency lighting, these are collated across all Camden blocks and Camden is working on costing these for the Capital budgets and programming these. Due to the volume of blocks and recommended actions it is a work in progress. This programme, and the capital funding required, will be considered by senior management before submitting for approval to the Cabinet. It is understood that the local Members, Fire Safety Advisory Panel, DMCs, CASP and the Leaseholders Forum will also be briefed on the programme in due course. The approved programme will then be published on the Open Data portal.

Caretaking Restructure
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes has reported to the Housing Scrutiny Committee on 7 November 2019 as follows:
o “There will be a new boroughwide team of caretakers as part of the new structure who will be deployed to fill in for unexpected absences or where there are hot-spots of anti-social behaviour and where additional resources are necessary to bring standards to an acceptable level. This was in response to the feedback during the consultation process where tenants told us that they did not want their caretakers being pulled to cover for other absences or deal with other areas of high demand. The full restructure is expected to be complete in February 2020 and bed in soon after. In accordance with the commitments I gave, detailed tasks for each block will be communicated to residents in each block in discussions and will be displayed via notice boards where they are available or via mail-shot. I am confident this will increase accountability to residents and improve the service.”

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Repairs Service Reorganisation
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes has reported to the Housing Scrutiny Committee on 7 November 2019 as follows:
o “In my last report I highlighted the work to transfer the call handling for repairs to the Property Management division. This work has continued and we have recruited additional staff to manage the volume of calls received – this has been particularly important with the recent incidents of heavy rain and the start of the district heating season. With these resources in place we have been answering between 95% and 97% of calls within 2 minutes, this with an average of 1,000 calls being received each day.
o “This improvement work will continue with a dedicated resource assigned to analyse calls and identify the causes of repeat calls or residents having to call back regarding a repair. There will be a particular focus on investigating the cause and seeking to reduce repeat calls.
o “Other changes have seen the appointment of a new case work team manager, working with existing staff to co-ordinate the teams responses to complex cases and complaints, making sure that they track and close out actions effectively and that residents are kept up to date with progress. The manager will also be focussing on trends arising from complaints and what can do to improve the service to residents.
o “More broadly the service are working with tenants and leaseholders during November on the “eyes and ears” strategy, working closely with residents to get direct feedback on how the repairs service, major repairs and planned works are progressing. Five workshops will be held to talk through what would work best before draft proposals are presented to the District Management Committees and other bodies such as CASP and the Leaseholders Forum.”

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Estate Parking
The Council is engaged in informal consultation with residents on the implementation of a new parking design and controls on the Maiden Lane Estate. This project will also act as a pilot scheme for the potential wider implementation across the Council’s estates and off street areas.

The project seeks to tackle problems with vehicles parked inconsiderately and without permission. The proposal will also seek to upgrade the electric vehicle charging points on the estate and promote the use of a car-sharing network by offering two years free subscription to a car club service in return for surrendering a parking permit.

The Department for Transport has expressed the view that local authorities should avoid the use of contract law (the current LBC method) to enforce parking controls on publicly owned Housing Authority land. Parking on such land should instead be regulated by making Traffic Management Orders (TMOs), authority for which is conferred by the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (RTRA). TMOs allow local authorities to issue Penalty Charge Notices on housing estates, enforcing parking in the same way as on the street. The Council is confident that the use of TMOs can provide an effective solution to the problems faced on the Maiden Lane Estate.
A report on the consultation approach may be found here. Following informal consultation the Council will then engage in a statutory consultation with the aim of implementing a new scheme on this estate in April 2020.

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New Landlord Structure for Council Owned Properties
A report to the Housing Scrutiny Committee of 7 November 2019 provides an update on the new landlord service.

Better Homes programme and asset management
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes has reported to the Housing Scrutiny Committee on 7 November 2019 as follows:
o “In 2018/19 the Council completed its latest five yearly condition survey of the housing stock. The analysis has been reviewed in the early part of 2019/20 and officers will be reporting to the Housing Scrutiny committee in December 2019 on the findings. The report will also set out work to update the five year Better Homes programme, the Council’s asset management strategy and how we will work with residents to achieve this.”

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Leaseholder Satisfaction Survey
Camden has mailed a ‘Leaseholder Satisfaction Survey’ questionnaire to sample around 13,000 tenants and leaseholders. The questionnaire is to be submitted by 29 November 2019, by post or online. Camden’s last survey of tenants and residents (STAR survey) was carried out in 2016.

Spreading Payments for Major Works
The Council has included with the recently issued annual statement of service charges a sheet titled ‘Major works: A guide to your statement of actual expenditure’. The sheet refers to the ‘Major Works Guide’ which contains “further details and all the payment options”.

Camden’s Community Investment Programme
The Housing Scrutiny Committee has recommended that the Council should consider producing a public document for every Community Investment Project (CIP) that provides a feasibility analysis of alternative projects scope and delivery options, that would examine all possible options for a site, including nearby Camden owned land, and look at multiple options for delivering the project and test those assumptions for robustness should circumstances change.

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Recent Discussion Board Topics
Major works invoice
Becoming Homeless due to Extortionate Major Works Charges
Solar panels
Spring Clean programme (recharge to leaseholders)
Cost of Camden External Building Work

Recent District Management Committee Meetings
The agenda pack and minutes available on the following links:
Camden Town: 18th September
Gospel Oak: 19th September
Hampstead: 26th September
Holborn: 1st October
Kentish Town: 17th September

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Other Concerns
If there is a particular matter of concern to you, please post details on the website Discussion Board or email your suggestion to camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk

– Forum Meetings
– Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
– Building Safety
– Caretaking Review
– Repairs Service Reorganisation
– Communal Electricity and Gas
– Buildings Insurance
– Responsive Security Patrol and CCTV
– Estate Parking
– HS2 Update
– New Landlord Structure for Council Owned Properties
– Care for Elderly and Disabled Residents
– Camden’s Community Investment Programme
– Housing Scrutiny Committee
– Other Concerns

Forum Meetings
The next Forum meeting is on Tuesday 24 September at 7pm at Crowndale Centre, 218 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BD (around the corner from Mornington Crescent Underground Station). A full list of Forum Members can be found here. To contact a member representing your district please email camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk with “FAO [Member Name]” at the top of the message.

At our meeting on 28 May, the Chair informed members of the sad news that Chris Tarpey a Forum member and leaseholder of the Chalcott Estate had unexpectedly passed away recently.

The draft minutes of the May 2019 Forum meeting are posted here on the Council website. The agenda pack for the forthcoming meeting will be available on the website a week before the meeting.

Please note that whilst leaseholders and other observers are welcome to attend, only Members have a right to speak. To address the meeting on an Agenda item, known as a deputation, please send in a written request no later than 5pm on Thursday 19 September, to the Committee Support Officer outlining the points you wish to make. More information on making a deputation is available here on the Council website.

Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
Just before the Forum meeting there is also the Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery running from 5.30pm to 7pm. You can arrange to meet with a member of the Leaseholder Services team who will help to explain bills and resolve outstanding issues. You must make an appointment – email leaseholderservices@camden.gov.uk or call 020 7974 4444.

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Building Safety
The Director of Resident Safety has reported on the Government’s response to the Hackitt Building Safety Review and its consultation White Paper about new building safety legislation. The report also updates on the Council’s planning for compliance with a revised statutory safety regime and the establishment of Camden’s Resident Safety Programme. The report may be found on the link here; a further report will follow by the end of the year.

In April 2019 Camden decided to produce a Camden Resident Safety Charter, through a community conversation. A report (June 2019) by the Head of Resident Safety, Engagement & Strategy may be found on the link here. As part of the process the Council has been undertaking a Safer Council Homes survey. An update on the results to date of this survey may be found on the link here.

A report titled ‘Fire evacuation policy and Fire Risk Assessment update’ by the Director of Property Management & Resident Safety, tabled for the September DMC meetings, may be found on the link here. It sets out general current thinking on whether residents should stay or evacuate if there is a fire.

Whilst Camden has promised to upload Fire Risk Assessments, once checked and verified, to the Council’s website here, it is unclear whether this is happening. The latest update, at 2 August 2019, lists FRAs for 110 buildings – just a small increase from the 92 listed in May 2019.

A Fire Safety Advisory Panel (FSAP) was established in January 2018 to bring together residents, relevant professionals, staff and Members with the relevant knowledge and skills, in order to put in place measures to ensure that Camden residents never have to experience another Chalcots like incident. The meeting of the Fire Safety Advisory Panel which was due to be held in June was cancelled. The next meeting is to be held on 10 October 2019.

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Caretaking Review
A report by the Director of Housing Management which provides an update on the Caretaking and Estate Cleaning Review may be found on the link here. The proposals for the new service are subject to a Single Member Decision by the Cabinet Member for Better Homes, which is expected to be considered in September 2019. Given staff transfers and re-training, the new service is likely to take some six months to become fully operational.

Repairs Service Reorganisation
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes has reported (link here) that the Council is addressing the issues around the repairs contact centre which has been struggling to meet the demand of enquiries. An early measure was to transfer in August the call handling for repairs to the Property Management division. A report titled ‘Repairs services and engagement with residents’ by the Director of Property Management, tabled for the September DMC meetings, may be found on the link here.

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Communal Electricity and Gas
Camden notified leaseholders in May 2019 (19/001) that it intended to enter into long-term agreements for the supply of electricity and gas to communal areas (such as estate lighting, lifts and central heating boilers). Camden applied to the First Tier Tribunal (the FTT) for approval to dispense with some of the statutory consultation requirements. The FTT approved the application on 24 July (Case LON/00AG/LDC/2019/0080). The FTT Decision may be found on the Council website here. The Council has undertaken to provide on its website, within 21 days of entering into a contract the following information:
• The name of the energy supplier;
• The date of the agreement;
• The contract duration;
• The date upon which the supply starts and
• The date upon which the contract ends.
Within two months of any request from a leaseholder, and after entering into a contract, the Council will make available for inspection by a leaseholder, information about the contract rates and price components and how these relate to supplies procured for all properties.

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Buildings Insurance
Leaseholders whose properties are insured with NIG UK by Camden should be aware that if they suffer water damage caused by a leak it is advisable to notify the insurer of this immediately, even if at that time the leaseholder does not intend to make a claim.

We have been alerted to a case where a ‘water problem’ ran on for several months, even though the initial leak had been remedied. When the leaseholder claimed for a subsequent leak, NIG rejected the claim on the grounds that the leaseholder had not notified them within 90 days of first noticing the problem (disclaimer on the penultimate page of the Policy).

Responsive Security Patrol and CCTV
A May 2019 update by the Head of Facilities Management titled ‘Update on the level of calls responded to by the Responsive Security Patrol following the increase in hours’ may be found on the link here.

A May 2019 update by the Head of Facilities Management titled ‘New Housing CCTV Network’ may be found on the link here.

Estate Parking
A report titled ‘Estate parking update’ by the Principal Lead Officer for Parking and Access, tabled for the September DMC meetings, may be found on the link here.

HS2 Update
A report titled ‘HS2 Update’, tabled for the September meeting of Camden DMC, may be found on the link here.

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New Landlord Structure for Council Owned Properties
The Cabinet Member for Better Homes has reported that the new Landlord Service has been launched in the north of the borough and that anecdotal evidence already suggests positive feedback in the new way of working. The service will be implemented in the south from September 19th.

Care for Elderly and Disabled Residents
The Acting Director of Adult Social Care has tabled a report to the Housing Scrutiny Committee. The report provides an update on the work being undertaken to implement the October 2017 recommendations of a Housing and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel to improve outcomes for older and disabled residents. A link to the report may be found here.

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Camden’s Community Investment Programme
Camden’s Community Investment Programme (CIP) is an ambitious 15-year plan to invest over £1 billion in schools, homes and community facilities in Camden. A report by the Director of Development provides a review of CIP since its launch in December 2010 and may be found at Agenda item 7 on the link here. The issue is that the programme invests money which is later recouped through selling some new properties, and falling house prices are affecting the calculations made in 2010.

Housing Scrutiny Committee
The next meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Committee is on Monday, 9th September 2019 at 6.30pm. The Agenda pack may be found on the link here.

Other Concerns
If there is a particular matter of concern to you, please post details on the website Discussion Board or email your suggestion to camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk

– Forum Meetings
– Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
– Committee Meetings
– Estate Regeneration Ballots
– Building Safety – Hackitt Review & Camden 2025
– Caretaking Review
– Responsive Security Patrol and CCTV
– New Landlord Structure for Council Owned Properties
– Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR)
– Thames Water charges
– Fire Safety Advisory Panel (FSAP) papers
– Other Concerns

Forum Meetings
The next Forum meeting is on Tuesday 28 May at 7pm in the Council Chamber at Crowndale Centre, 218 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BD (around the corner from Mornington Crescent Underground Station). A full list of Forum Members can be found here. To contact a member representing your district please email camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk with “FAO [Member Name]” at the top of the message.

The draft minutes of the February meeting are posted here on the Council website. The agenda pack for this next meeting will be available on the website a week before the meeting.

Please note that whilst leaseholders and other observers are welcome to attend, only Members have a right to speak. To address the meeting on an Agenda item, known as a deputation, please send in a written request no later than 5pm on Thursday 23 May, to the Committee Support Officer outlining the points you wish to make. More information on making a deputation is available here on the Council website.

Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
Just before the Forum meeting there is also the Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery running from 5.30pm to 7pm. You can arrange to meet with a member of the Leaseholder Services team who will help to explain bills and resolve outstanding issues. You must make an appointment – email leaseholderservices@camden.gov.uk or call 020 7974 4444.

Committee meetings
To read more on the news information below, click on the link to the relevant Committee papers:
– Housing Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 28 March 2019 (Link: HSC28mar2019)
The next meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Committee is on Tuesday, 16th July 2019 at 6.30pm

– Fire Safety Advisory Panel papers for meeting held on 22 January 2019 (Link: FSAP22jan2019)
– Fire Safety Advisory Panel papers for meeting held on 9 April 2019 (Link: FSAP09apr2019).
The next meeting of the Fire Safety Advisory Panel is on Wednesday, 26 June 2019 at 6.30pm.
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Estate Regeneration Ballots
A report of the Director of Development sets out the Council’s proposed approach to estate regeneration ballots.

It is Camden’s commitment to residents that their voice will be heard within major decisions about their homes, neighbourhoods and communities. The Council is proposing to adopt all of the Greater London Authority’s (GLA’s) requirements for estate regeneration ballots, meaning that any Council led scheme involving the demolition of affordable or leasehold homes, that also involves the construction of more than 150 homes, will result in a ballot of all eligible residents to determine if it goes ahead. This will be subject to the same exemptions as the GLA has made to schemes that are to facilitate major infrastructure schemes, sheltered housing decommissioning and others.

The Council is working with residents of Wendling and West Kentish Town Estates to develop options for possible regeneration of their estates. Part of the consultation with residents over the next few months would include discussion on the Council’s approach to ballots. The intention was that any changes to the proposed approach to ballots set out in this paper as a result of consultation with residents would then be agreed at Cabinet prior to any ballot. Also any changes that were made would have to remain consistent with the GLA’s ballot guidelines.

The GLA had brought in the need to allow tenants to have a ballot on estate regeneration schemes which involved demolition so the community felt that they had the ability to halt such proposals. The Council does not expect to ballot any approved CIP pipeline schemes / phases that secured planning permission on or prior to 18th July 2018 as these are covered by the GLA’s transitional arrangements.

The ballot would be a paper based vote that would take place over 21 days, with a yes no answer. The ballot would be based around the landlord offer, with further work following a positive vote to develop the proposal to planning submission stage. The GLA guidance noted that a further ballot might be necessary if the proposals change significantly from the balloted landlord offer, but there is room for interpretation around what would constitute a significant change. Camden would be consulting with the GLA throughout the process. GLA guidance suggests buy-to-let landlords are not eligible to vote.

For more, read the Committee papers here HSC28mar2019
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Building Safety – Hackitt Review & Camden 2025
A report of the Cabinet Member Better Homes sets out the work to date to deliver ‘Camden 2025 Safe Homes’ – the Council’s commitment to achieving the highest standard of safety in all Council homes – and the on-going work required to embed resident safety in the way the Council does things, planning the Council’s response to the Government’s Hackitt Review and the prospect of a new statutory safety framework. The report also recommends that the Council co-produce a Camden resident safety charter through a community conversation with residents.

Immediately following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, and the evacuation of the Chalcots estate in 2017, the Council appointed the first local authority Director of Resident Safety in the country, supported by a small Resident Safety Team – Heads of Engagement & Strategy, Compliance and Governance, and Safer Homes.

The report refers to the programme of independent cladding testing for high-rise residential blocks. Testing at the Chalcots estate identified ACM cladding panels that did not have a fire retardant filler (the same type of panels used at Grenfell tower) fitted to the five towers. The cladding was removed between December 2017 and January 2018 and an independent review of the Chalcots evacuation was commissioned. Since publication of the Review report in June 2018, officers have been working through the report recommendations and the lessons learned from the evacuation process. Extensive resident engagement has been a fundamental part of the selection of a solid aluminium panel system for the replacement cladding at Chalcots. The aim of the process was to ensure that resident feedback informed selection alongside technical engineering advice from specialist consultants. This engagement and selection process has also been followed regarding the replacement of the curtain wall and windows on the estate.

Early work with residents in shaping safety processes included setting up the Fire Safety Advisory Panel (FSAP). The FSAP meets in public with its papers published on the Council’s website; meetings are co-chaired by the Cabinet Member for Better Homes and a resident panel member. There are five full and five reserve resident members recruited through an interview process, with participation by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) who are also members of the Panel. The Panel supports the Director of Resident Safety in ensuring that tenant and leaseholder voices are central to the Council’s developing approach to resident and property safety and residents are members of the stakeholder panel for the recruitment of Directors of Resident Safety. The LFB has a monthly ‘partnership’ meeting with the Camden Fire/Resident Safety team, to discuss trends, provide advice and work alongside the Council in community outreach engagement. (There is more information below on the work of the FSAP).

The Council has regulatory, safety responsibilities for both its own and private sector property delivered through Environmental Health and Building Control Teams. As a result of under investment in construction industry training there is a shortage of professionally qualified staff. Post Grenfell demand for building control and safety professionals has increased steadily, Camden has responded by developing in-house service capacity, training existing staff and recruiting graduate building control officers to build talent, skills and available resources.

Part of the Camden 2025 Safe Homes commitment is a programme of periodic fire risk assessment (FRA) for Council homes and the wider property portfolio. To help deliver the fire safety programme, the Council has invested to increase the in-house resources dedicated to safety and recruited a dedicated Fire Safety Team based in the Property Management Division. The Team has an establishment increased from 5 to 14 staff reporting to a new post of Head of Fire Safety and Health & Safety Delivery, and includes in-house Fire Safety Advisers. External Fire Risk Assessors undertake FRAs in line with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and Camden property managers develop programmes of works to individual homes based on these fire risk assessments.

In September 2018 Camden began to carry out new Type 4 FRAs, which include intrusive checks in communal areas and a sample of homes. Tenant & Resident Association representatives are invited to participate in the fire risk assessment of their homes and receive copies of the FRA reports that are checked by in-house Fire Safety Advisers and made available on the Council’s website. The resulting FRA work varies from property to property but where a fire risk assessment has identified something as necessary, fire safety actions include new signage, emergency lighting, redecorating communal areas using fire retardant paint, replacing or upgrading fire doors & door closers, smoke detectors & alarms and ensuring adequate fire stopping (to prevent the spread of smoke & fire). (There is further information below under ‘FSAP’)

Following the Grenfell fire, the Government commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to review building regulations and building safety to establish a new statutory framework for the regulation of the design and construction of new buildings, their maintenance and management. The final Hackitt report recommended a new statutory system with an initial focus on multi-occupancy high-rise residential buildings 10+ storeys in height. The Government has accepted all of the 52 recommendations made by the review and has published its response – the Building Safety Implementation Plan. A White Paper consultation is expected to begin in May 2019 and it will be some time before the detail of the proposed new safety regime and the timescale for implementation is known. In the meantime, the report concludes that the Council should continue with the development of its own resident safety approach and undertake a programme of internal system review against the Hackitt recommendations and to co-produce with residents a Camden Resident Safety Charter to make clear what the Council’s safety commitments mean in practice.

For more, read the Committee papers here HSC28mar2019
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Caretaking Review
The Cabinet Member Better Homes has reported on the Caretaking and Estate Cleansing Review which considers whether an updated caretaking model is required to meet current resident’s needs. Whilst cleaning remains a major part of the service and was a key priority for residents, there was a range of other demands on caretakers such as increased anti-social behaviour, rough sleeping and monitoring resident safety requirements.

The final decision on the proposal for the external cleaning service and the reorganisation and modernisation of the Caretaking Service would be taken by the Cabinet Member Better Homes, before Summer 2019. The proposed approach would be shared with the DMCs at their June cycle of meetings so they were aware of the final arrangements. Officers would send the final report to all Members of the scrutiny committee so that they were aware of the proposed approach.

The proposed approach for the Caretaking Service, would enable caretakers to fully undertake the new roles as they would cover fewer estates than they did now so they could focus on the role in hand, have a higher level of community visibility, enable them to get to know the people living on the estate, and through that better understand their service needs. Veolia would continue to deliver the collection of bulk refuse along with the Council’s street cleaning contracts. Taking an element of the service back in-house would not lead to any increased service charges. However, if the service model was changed then this may lead to some increase in service charges.

For more, read the Committee papers here HSC28mar2019
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Responsive Security Patrol and CCTV
The Director of Property Management provided an update on the Responsive Security Patrol (RSP), the plans for CCTV on housing estates and the joined up work carried out between Property Management, Housing Management and the Community Safety teams to tackle anti-social behaviour.

In January 2018 the Council mobilised a new contract for the RSP with the contractor Croma Vigilance, taking the opportunity to introduce new contractual requirements and ways of working.

The aim of the RSP is to reassure and engage with the community, responding to specific call outs from residents, carrying out pre-determined patrols and acting on intelligence provided by the community safety team, housing management and Police. The RSP also gathers evidence that can be used by the Police and other teams to take enforcement action. A breakdown of RSP call-outs in 2018 shows the greatest number (48%) being about noise.

The RSP is funded through leaseholder and tenant service charges and is a dedicated service for the Council’s housing estates. Tenants are charged a weekly service charge to cover the estimated cost of the service for the coming year, the charge is currently £0.61 per week. Leaseholders are charged an annual amount based on the actual cost of the service. In 2018/19 the Council provided additional funding of £0.15m to help develop the patrol and the RSP now consists of five vehicles and operates from 4PM to 4AM.

To help monitor the performance of the RSP a panel is being established with residents. The panel will be co-chaired by a resident and the Cabinet Member Better Homes. The Terms of Reference have been finalised and were signed off at the March 2019 District Management Committees. The recruitment processes for panel members are underway.

The Council will be upgrading the CCTV system and wireless network across the borough, at an estimated cost of £4-5m. Leaseholders will be charged a share of the capital cost of the installation in line with the conditions in individual leases. Installation of the first new camera is likely to be at least 18 months away, according to the security consultant.

The upgraded CCTV digital control room was installed in January 2019 and will go ‘live’ later in the year. The Council owns the CCTV cameras currently in position; Croma Vigilant holds the existing contract to operate CCTV in Camden; a further company has responsibility for repairs. The upgraded control room will be able to monitor 100 cameras at a time. As the new cameras will all be digital, algorithms could identify when something was occurring that required a human operator to review images.

For more, read the Committee papers here HSC28mar2019
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New Landlord Structure for Council Owned Properties
The Cabinet Member Better Homes reported that recruitment is underway for the new Neighbourhood officer role which will replace the Housing officer role. When tenants contact their Neighbourhood officer with a problem, the new way of working will mean they will be taken through all the way to resolution, instead of being passed on to another service. Neighbourhood officers will be empowered to make decisions to address resident’s needs. The new service is set to be implemented in two stages, first in June 2019 for properties in Kentish Town, Gospel Oak and Hampstead Housing Districts, and then in September 2019 for the remaining properties.
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Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR)
Independent research company Acuity has been commissioned to conduct a new STAR Survey during Summer 2019. Tenants and residents views will be sought on a number of different housing matters including repairs and maintenance. This information will be analysed and comparisons made with the 2016 survey to see how Housing Services was performing.
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Thames Water charges
There has been some considerable concern from tenants at the news about Thames Water terminating its contract with the Council to collect water charges on its behalf. This issue does not apply to leaseholders as they are already invoiced directly by Thames Water.
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Fire Safety Advisory Panel (FSAP) papers
The Fire Safety Advisory Panel (FSAP) was established in January 2018 to bring together residents, relevant professionals, staff and Members with the relevant knowledge and skills, in order to put in place measures to ensure that Camden residents never have to experience another Chalcots like incident.

The following extracts are taken from agenda papers for FSAP meetings in January and April 2019 and the minutes of the January 2019 meeting. There is a link to the papers at the end of the thread.

The Fire Safety Advisory Panel considered a report of the Director of Housing Management titled ‘The Council’s tenancy conditions and fire safety’ to inform the panel’s work. The report:
– explains the process for changing the Council’s tenancy conditions
– explains in broad terms how the tenancy conditions currently support fire safety
– Looks in detail at the relevant recommendations in the Hackitt report and the corresponding Council tenancy conditions
– Considers the similarities and differences between the Council’s tenancy conditions and lease terms.

The following are extracts from the report Summary:
5.1 The Council’s tenancy conditions provide a solid basis for staff to take forward fire safety related activity. They stand up well alongside the Hackitt report recommendations and, taking these into account, there are no obvious gaps.

5.2 Although lease terms present additional challenges the Council’s standard leases contain very similar key clauses relating to fire to those in the tenancy conditions.

6.3 As to the position concerning leaseholders, there are a number of different leases, so that although the terms are identical, or virtually identical, in form they are found in different places within the differing leases.

6.4 In contrast with tenants, the approach can also be very different. With reference to, e.g., changing the doors which are demised to the lessees for safety purposes presents the council with 2 potential choices as to utilising different parts of the lease to argue either:- (a) for an implied right to undertake the works; or, (b) contend that the lessee is in breach of covenant, such that: (i) s/he must replace the door, or (ii) that the Council will waive the breach and undertake the work itself.

6.5 There may also be service charge disputes centred around the construction of the lease that are adjudicated in the First Tier Tribunal. One recent example was: E & J Ground Rents No. 11 LLP v Various (24/01/18) where the Tribunal held that the costs of a `walking watch` were reasonably incurred, and noting that otherwise there was a real risk that the landlord may be in breach of its insurance policy if it did not implement a `walking watch`. A comment of note too was made by the Tribunal in a similar case about a `walking watch` and cladding charges in Firstport Property Services Ltd v Various leaseholders of Citiscape (09/03/18) that they did not consider any previous legal authorities of assistance “in the highly unusual circumstances that arose in this and other similar cases following the Grenfell Tower fire”.

The current standard lease gave the Council the ability to carry out gas safety inspections if it wished, though the Council had never sought to impose this for resident leaseholders. Further legal advice is being sought about how the Council could take forward this power if it wished to do so. The Council was also considering other approaches to ensuring leaseholders undertook annual gas safety checks, this included incentivising the process where for example the Council undertook this service for leaseholders free of charge.

A working group arising from the Hackitt recommendations is looking into the issue of the rights and obligations of leaseholders. This matter was also being discussed at London Council’s level who recognised the importance of clarity on the rights and obligations of tenants, landlords and regulators in relation to safety generally and specifically the right of entry to undertake safety works. It was expected that primary legislation would be required to provide the necessary powers for this to be taken forward.

A number of tenants had fitted metal grills to doors and windows of their homes, and it was unlikely that they had sought the Council’s permission to do so. Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) were picking up where these were located and officers would then have to consider what action they should take on this. The London Fire Brigade did not support metal grills being fitted to doors and windows as they required specialist equipment to cut through and were an unnecessary hazard when having to fight a fire. Should a tenant still wish to fit metal grills then the fire service could recommend the most appropriate ones to use, as some were easier for them to deal with than others.

The Fire Safety Advisory Panel considered a report of the Director of Property Management titled ‘Fire safety programme update’. The following are extracts:

The Council has commenced a new round of Fire Risk Assessments. The new FRAs are “Type 4” meaning that they include intrusive checks in communal areas and a sample of dwellings. The first batch of this new type of FRAs focussed on purpose built blocks between 6 and 9 storeys. The second batch of FRAs, focussing on purpose built blocks below 6 storeys commenced in September 2018 and was expected to be complete by February 2019. Once checked and verified, the new FRAs will be uploaded onto the Council’s website here. At 1 May 2019 there are listed FRAs for 92 buildings.

To help deliver the fire safety programme the Council is putting in place a new structure. The Council has already appointed two experienced fire safety advisors to work alongside the Principal Fire Safety Advisor and they joined the Council towards the end of 2018. The Council has also appointed a new Head of Fire Safety and H&S Delivery and they joined the Council in January 2019.

The Council has a wide ranging programme which is delivering fire safety works. The programme is complex, covers a large number of properties, is often subject to leaseholder consultation and access can be required within dwellings to install smoke and heat detection. To help track the programme the Council has a fortnightly programme review in place and is also setting up new processes to address ‘no access’ properties.

A wide range of works packages have been established – some are property specific and some form part of wider Better Homes projects. The report identifies five geographical works packages underway, totalling to £20 million. These works are due to complete by August 2019.

The Council is aware that the current approach being undertaken to contact TRA representatives in relation to a Fire Risk Assessment being undertaken on an estate, had not been working as well as it had been. Officers from the Resident Safety Division would now be discussing with colleagues in the Tenant Participation Team regarding the best way of contacting TRA and DMC representatives in relation to Fire Risk Assessments (FRA) being undertaken on estates. This information would then be shared with the contractor undertaken the current programme, and officers would put in place plans to monitor the way this was working going forward.

The start date for the Chalcots Replacement Cladding and Curtain Wall works contract was February 2019, with the overall programme of works taking approximately 124 weeks. The actual start of works would be determined by the detailed design process and the full system fire test of the proposed cladding system.

For more, read the Committee papers here FSAP22jan2019
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The Fire Safety Advisory Panel April meeting received a report from the Director of Property Management tilted ‘Street Property FRA Works Update’. The Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) programme is prioritised according to risk and includes a total of 1,968 street properties. Properties rated as High Risk in the previous FRA will be assessed every 2 years with the expectation that the risk rating will decrease following the fire safety works. Properties rated as Medium Risk will be assessed every 3 years, and properties rated previously as Low Risk will be assessed every 4 years. In financial year 2018/19, there were 400 street property FRAs carried out and in financial year 2019/20 FRAs will be carried out to the remaining 1,568 street properties. This phasing reflects the works that are currently being carried out and the next FRAs will be undertaken when works are completed.

The Camden Association of Street Properties (CASP) has highlighted concerns over the delivery of the recent fire safety works to street properties not having consideration for the original features and aspects of the build types during installation works. This feedback has initiated a renewed focus with closer working with contractors to ensure, where possible, care is taken to preserve the character of communal areas. To improve consideration of the original aspects of street properties during programmes of work, the Council’s Quality Assurance team is to arrange joint site visits with CASP to consider work completed on street properties and the approaches taken.

The Fire Safety Advisory Panel April meeting received a report from the Head of Resident Safety Division titled ‘Supporting Residents affected by Emergencies’. The report provides information on the support offered to residents in the event of emergency evacuation and incidents such as floods or fires.

The Fire Safety Advisory Panel April meeting received a report from the London Fire Brigade Borough Commander titled ‘London Fire Brigade Performance in Camden’. The report includes operational statistics, community fire safety performance and regulatory fire safety information.

The Fire Safety Advisory Panel April meeting received a report from the Head of Resident Safety Division titled ‘Camden 2025 Resident Safety Programme’. The report sets out the Council’s work to date to deliver its commitment to resident safety and the on-going work required to embed resident safety in the way it does things; the Council is also planning its response to the Governments Hackitt Review and the prospect of a new statutory safety framework.

For more, read the Committee papers here FSAP09apr2019
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Other Concerns
If there is a particular matter of concern to you, please post details on the website Discussion Board or email your suggestion to camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk

– Forum Meetings
– Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
– New CCTV Service
– Caretaking Service Review
– Chalcots Replacement Cladding and Curtain Wall
– Retro-fitting Sprinklers
– Camden Resident Account
– New Landlord Structure for Council Owned Properties
– Other Concerns

Forum Meetings
The next Forum meeting is on Tuesday 19 February at 7pm in the Council Chamber at Crowndale Centre, 218 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BD (around the corner from Mornington Crescent Underground Station). A full list of Forum Members can be found here. To contact a member representing your district please email camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk with “FAO [Member Name]” at the top of the message.

The Agenda pack and the draft minutes of the last meeting are now posted here on the Council website.

Please note that whilst leaseholders and other observers are welcome to attend, only Members have a right to speak. To address the meeting on an Agenda item, known as a deputation, it is necessary to send in a written request no later than 5pm on Friday 15 February, to the Committee Support Officer outlining the points you wish to make. More information on making a deputation is available here on the Council website.

Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
Just before the Forum meeting there is also the Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery running from 5.30pm to 7pm. You can arrange to meet with a member of the Leaseholder Services team who will help to explain bills and resolve outstanding issues. You must make an appointment – email leaseholderservices@camden.gov.uk or call 020 7974 4444.

New CCTV Service
The Council is developing proposals for a new CCTV system, with a high bandwidth wireless ring network. This would replace existing cameras with new state of the art CCTV cameras and the inclusion of ‘Rapidly Deployable Cameras’ that can be deployable strategically to cover high risk areas. The new CCTV system will be ring-fenced for housing residents only and could be funded from a new service charge to tenants and leaseholders receiving this service in order to recover the capital cost of this upgrade.

Caretaking Service Review
The Council’s Caretaking Service is currently undergoing a review. A proposals paper is to be considered by the Council’s Housing Scrutiny Committee on 28 March 2019.

Chalcots Replacement Cladding and Curtain Wall
The Council resolved at a meeting on 8 January 2019 that the Chalcots contract be awarded to Wates Living Space Limited, as set out in the published report. The report is here.

In response to questions, officers made the following additional remarks:-
– The cladding system would have the highest A1 fire protection rating throughout.
– The anodised panels selected looked as similar as possible to the previous panels.
– The regular meetings with tenants would continue throughout the installation process.

The Director of Property Management remarked that the co-location of contractors and council staff on the estate would continue and that mitigation measures for disruption would be regularly reviewed with residents and compensation for heat loss would continue until the new cladding was in place.

Retro-fitting Sprinklers
Camden’s Housing Scrutiny Committee is monitoring the outcome of proposals by Wandsworth Council to retro-fit sprinklers in all of its blocks of flats with ten plus storeys.

Wandsworth Council has applied to the First Tier Property Tribunal seeking a determination that they are entitled to recover, as part of the service charge payable by the leaseholders, costs relating to the expense of fitting (and maintaining) sprinkler systems within the leaseholders’ flats. The latest information posted by Wandsworth on its website is here.

Wandsworth leaseholders’ options are to respond by 5 February 2019, for an application to strike-out or transfer the case to the Upper Tribunal, or alternatively to lodge a statement of case by 19 February.

Camden Resident Account
A report to the Housing Scrutiny Committee notes that the number of leaseholders signing up for the Camden Account (Now called a Resident Account) continues to rise with 6,451 (over 66%) registered and using the services at 18/19 Q2.

New Landlord Structure for Council Owned Properties
Restructuring of Camden’s Landlord service, which manages council owned residential properties, will be introduced in two stages in June and September 2019. The aim is to put the resident at the heart of the service, creating a new neighbourhood role that seeks to understand and address the context in which a resident is living and providing one trusted point of contact for residents.

The restructure will have an impact on the front line and management structures across the following services: tenancy management, voids and lettings, rent collection, outreach support to vulnerable residents (Floating Support).

There will be 10 new Neighbourhood teams, each with between 6-9 Neighbourhood Officers and a Neighbourhood Manager. The new Neighbourhood Officer will now have a patch size of 400 instead of 800 properties. There will also be up to 4 staff from other teams based in each Neighbourhood, providing more specialist support such as welfare rights, debt management, and complex repairs. Two Senior Neighbourhood Managers will provide management and support.

The new Neighbourhood teams will replace the previous structures of the Ward Housing teams, Rent teams and the Void Homes team, bringing them into one Neighbourhood team.

The consultation report and Council decision can be found here.

Other Concerns
If there is a particular matter of concern to you, please post details on the website Discussion Board or email your suggestion to camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk

– Forum Meetings
– Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
– Service Charges
– Communal Electricity Long Term Agreement
– Annual report of the Cabinet Member for Better Homes
– Government to fund Chalcots cladding
– Survey of tenants and residents (STAR) 2016

Forum Meetings
The next Forum meeting is on Monday 10 December 2018 at 7pm at Crowndale Centre, 218 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BD (around the corner from Mornington Crescent Underground Station). Please note that whilst leaseholders and other observers are welcome to attend, only Members have a right to speak.

If there is a particular matter of concern to you, please post details on the website Discussion Board or email your suggestion to camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk

The draft minutes of the last meeting are now posted here on the Council website. The agenda pack for the next meeting will be available a week beforehand on the same link.

At the meeting in October the following members were elected to the Chair for the year:
– Chair: Dr Peter Wright (clfchair@gmail.com)
– Vice-Chair: Todd Buchanan

A full list of Forum members can be found here.

Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery
Just before the Forum meeting on 10 December there is also the Leaseholder Services Advice Surgery running from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. You can arrange to meet with a member of the Leaseholder Services team who will help to explain bills and resolve outstanding issues. You must make an appointment – email leaseholderservices@camden.gov.uk or call 020 7974 4444.

Service Charges
It is that time of year when we receive from the Council summary details of the actualised ‘day to day service charge’ and of any major works costs.  The details are for the financial year ending 31 March 2018 and the accompanying invoice or credit note reflects the adjustment of the estimated charge which was invoiced in February 2017. If you are interested to see a cost breakdown and the invoices and calculations which underpin the summary you can ask Leaseholder Services to make these available for inspection (at their offices).

Camden has prepared some very useful guides to Services Charges, Major Works and Freeholders. A copy of the Guides can be found here.

Communal Electricity Long Term Agreement
The Council has entered into an agreement for the supply of communal electricity (lifts, stair lighting, etc.) until September 2020. The Council obtained dispensation from the full Section 151 consultation process on the following conditions:-

A. Camden is to provide to leaseholders within 21 days of entering into a contract information about;
i. the name of the energy supplier
ii. the date of the agreement
iii. the contract duration
iv. the date on which supply starts
v. the date on which the contract period ends
by uploading that information on its website
B. Camden is to provide free of charge to any leaseholder requesting it, a copy of the supply agreement which Camden has entered into with an energy supplier.

Camden has published the new “Contract Information” on its website at Boroughwide Section 151 Consultations.

Annual report of the Cabinet Member for Better Homes
Councillor Meric Apak presented his Annual Report for discussion at the Housing Scrutiny Committee on 25 October 2018. The report is here on the Council website.

You can watch the Scrutiny Committee meeting webcast recording here. Cllr. Apak’s presentation (Agenda item 10) and subsequent discussion starts at webcast 1hr 11min (drag the time slider).

Government to fund Chalcots cladding
The Cabinet member for Better Homes reported to the Housing Scrutiny Committee that Central Government has approved the bid for £80 million grant funding for the replacement of Chalcots cladding and curtain walling.  Until now the costs have been mainly funded from Council reserves.

Survey of tenants and residents (STAR) 2016
Did you know that Camden commissioned a survey of 3,354 Council tenants and leaseholders in 2016, to find out what they thought about housing services? The report is on the Council website here.

The election of Forum members for the period 2018 to 2021 is completed.

We have 6 new members, 2 previous members returning and 12 re-elected members.

To contact any of the members listed (e.g. one of those representing your area) simply email your message to camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk and include the name of the member in the subject line.

Elected Forum Members and Housing District Represented

Camden Town: Anthony Auerbach, Isabella Luger, Clive Sneddon, Wolfram Westendorf
Gospel Oak: Lucy Collyer, Philip Dunne, Josette Guédès, Robert Lopez, Karl Vaughan
Hampstead: Stuart March, Zulakha “Cindy” Mughal, Chris Tarpey, Thomas Watkins
Holborn: Todd Buchanan, David Hart, Richard Walker, Peter Wright
Kentish Town: Aldires Dall’Agnol Bugia, Shravan Sood, Hilary Westlake

Click on a name above to jump straight to the member’s election statement below.

Anthony Auerbach (Camden Town)
I am a Camden leaseholder since 2013. I and my family have sought opportunities to improve our estate and enhance community cohesion. I set up the website oakshottcourt.info and have engaged with the council on several community and leaseholder issues. I set up and am now secretary of the Oakshott Court Leaseholders Association. I would welcome the opportunity to help hold our landlord to account and defend the interests of residents and leaseholders in cooperation with other leaseholders.

Isabella Luger (Camden Town)
I have been a leaseholder forum member for a year now. Originally I became a Forum member with the intention of wanting to improve the communication between leaseholders and Camden Council especially in regards to Major Works and repair works. As a member I joint the Forum’s ‘Major Works’ sub-group with the aim to monitor and contribute to improving the process which is linked to the ‘Major Works’ i.e. how works are measured, costs of the works, duration of the works, delays etc. So far the negotiations with the Council’s Major Works Team have been rather slow due to various reasons, hence I am reapplying to remain a Forum member to allow me to continue further with the discussions and hopefully bring them to a mutually beneficial conclusion in the very near future.

Dr Clive R Sneddon (Camden Town)
I am a non-resident leaseholder who has lived since 2009 in Cartmel whenever I need to be in London. I am putting my name forward as someone who can understand and speak for the frustrations of those for whom Camden’s rules get in the way of our contribution to the local community. Leaseholders are not second class citizens, and should not be treated as such. Modern technology will enable my virtual presence at meetings even when not in London.

Wolfram Westendorf (Camden Town)
In these times of austerity, it is more important than ever for Camden leaseholders to scrutinise and challenge the council on expenditures and actions. Despite many changes and promises of improvement of works executed, cost management and fairer treatment of leaseholders the realisation of these promises is continuously lacking behind. To this date I do not think that leaseholders in Camden are treated fairly and as partners. As member of Camden’s leaseholder forum, I want to engage in a true dialogue with Camden, positively influence decisions and make our voice heard.

Lucy Collyer (Gospel Oak)
I’m keen to work with fellow leaseholder’s and the Council to improve services whilst reducing costs; which I have experience in. I have over eleven years’ experience on various types of Boards representing others. As a Whitehall civil servant (working on international negotiations) I’m familiar with policy papers, leading working groups, and working across a wide range of people and institutions to secure mutually beneficial outcomes in a constructive and creative way. If elected, I will endeavour to represent you to the best of my abilities.

Philip Dunne (Gospel Oak)
I have been an elected member of the Camden Leaseholders Forum since 2015, previously to this I attended Forum meetings and found them very useful. I have made a number of suggestions and believe in being active at meetings. As a leaseholder I am aware of issues regarding service charges, and believe that I offer a valuable contribution to the forum. I work for a property management company, which deals with both freeholds and leaseholders, setting service charges, as well as paying them, so I have the unique perspective of someone who looks at both sides of issues, and finds amicable resolutions to both parties where possible.

Josette Guédès (Gospel Oak)
During the nine years I have been a leaseholder in a residential purpose-built block of flats in Camden, I have acquired some experience of how things are done – or not done – and I would like to contribute to making things better for all leaseholders in Camden even though my gut feeling is that issues ought to be tackled at the level of the estate one lives in, i.e. between people that have the same first-hand experience of what one is talking about. Having spent years in the property business before moving to Camden, I have first-hand experience to contribute to the community.

R Lopez (Gospel Oak)
As a resident and leasehold at Silverbirch Walk for more than 20 years I feel im in a good position to apply to become a member of this forum. I’m well intergrated within the community and believe I can make a difference by representing it.

Karl Vaughan (Gospel Oak)
I would like to continue my role on the forum.

Stuart March (Hampstead)
I am a retired insurance loss assessor with extensive building and development experience. I have attended Forum meetings for the past six years, taken part in many discussions and like to think that I bring unique experience to certain issues. I would like to stand again for a place on the Forum and if elected promise regular attendance and active participation

Zulakha “Cindy” Mughal (Hampstead)
I have been a committee member for the past three years and have worked with sub groups, tackling repairs and major works. We are still hearing about leaseholders concerns for works and cost I feel this will be an agenda that has to be monitored and a system put in place where we Camden will get it right. I hope to carry on working together with Camden and bring forward to the Forum expertise of regularly pursuing unfair repairs charges, as a chair for BHRTA I have had significant experience in this area and feel the gap needs to be closed! Hopefully being on the Forum will get Camden to improve their working practices for us all.

Chris Tarpey (Hampstead)
I would like to continue my role on the forum.

Thomas Watkins (Hampstead)
I have lived in Camden for 15 years, as a leaseholder myself I believe it is important that we are heard and are given an opportunity to influence the service we receive. I believe I possess experience and skills that could contribute and benefit leaseholders. I have previously represented tenants and leaseholders. I have worked in housing management, including local authorities, for 20 years. I have experience of managing performance in all areas including gardening, cleaning, caretaking, estate services and major works.

Todd Buchanan (Holborn)
I am standing to build on the work I have undertaken during the last forum where I represented St. Pancras. I have been an active member of the working group on service charge major works and consider the forum will benefit from the continuity of me being re-elected.

David Hart (Holborn)
Having been a Camden leaseholder for 21 years I have some experience of the issues and challenges which leaseholders face. My aim as a member of the Leaseholders’ Forum group is to promote better communications with our landlord and between leaseholders. When we have a question for Camden (such as about works or service charges) we need to know the right person to ask in order to get a clear and prompt answer. I hope that leaseholders might be encouraged to make greater use of the Forum website to know what is happening and to share their concerns and experiences.

Richard Walker (Holborn)
Before I retired I was a Chartered engineer managing road safety engineering and research projects for the Department for Transport. I am the Secretary of the Red Lion Tenants and Residents Association and know that tenants are similarly affected as leaseholders by the housing service provided by Camden. I was the Chair of the Camden Housing Resident Scrutiny Group and our complaints revue made 19 recommendations for improvement. It is important to have a constructive dialogue with Camden officers, which should be on the basis of asking probing questions regarding all aspects of the way that Camden operates in order to improve housing services and ensure value for money.

Peter Wright (Holborn)
Leaseholders face difficult days; wages and house prices are falling in real terms, and council funding is being cut. Costs are rising. New blood is welcome, but new solutions can restore old problems as well as offering vain hopes. A mix of new enthusiasm and experience to cope with events in Camden, across London and nationally seems best. I have experience of all working in all those three areas which I hope to contribute to a new Forum so it succeeds for you.

Aldires Dall’Agnol Bugia (Kentish Town)
(1) I attend the Forum for the past 15 years. (2) I help Leaseholders across the Borough with their very complexed issues. (3) The reason that I want to remain as a Member is that, I have passion to help and, to work hard finding solutions to resolve anyone’s problems. (4) Walker House is an example, I was the one who took the initiative to approach the Council to have all the windows and doors changed to double glazing. Now, every resident enjoy warmth homes during the winter and, savings on gas/electricity bills. (5) I helped all the Leaseholders in Torriano Estate Kentish Town to get answers from the Council regarding poor works and, no value for money when the Council did repairs a few years ago.

Shravan Sood (Kentish Town)
I would like to continue serving on the forum.

Hilary Westlake (Kentish Town)
I have been a Camden leaseholder since 2007. I live in a small block of five 1970s purpose built flats at Gaisford Street. There are two leaseholders and three tenants. I was on the forum for several years before 2012/13. I am a theatre director but work less now that I am in my 70s, giving me more time for involvement in other activities. In these years of austerity and the financial problems that face local councils as a result, the pressure on the leaseholder is markedly tighter. Service charges increase unreasonably, mistakes are regularly made, requests for explanations are often met with a lack of clarity inevitably producing anxiety and stress in the leaseholder, who sometimes is required to find large sums of money at short notice. I would like to help make the relationship that leaseholders have with the council more straightforward and transparent.