Buying flat a mistake

• THROUGHOUT one’s lifetime one makes silly mistakes. There are some things one can shrug off and chalk up to experience, there are other mistakes that are not so easily healed. Buying an ex-council flat in Islington four years ago falls into the latter category.  

I felt safe and happy; the council as freeholder must be much better than some of those evil landlords? My apartment is lovely, in a great location. I gutted it and did it up myself with help from my father. 

And then, the troubles started. The exorbitant bill for major works, Homes for Islington (HfI) engaging in box- ticking exercises that look good on a PowerPoint presentation rather than listening to what residents say, and the awful customer service when anything goes wrong. I have had to re-do the flat twice since buying due to leaks from other flats. I plan on re-doing my flat every two years because it is so much fun. Then there is the wear and tear of logging a complaint and having to chase a result, over and over again.  

I could list in minute detail all the wrongs HfI has done, but I don’t have the energy. The amazing thing is that, in the course of my years of interaction with HfI,  I have yet to experience a process that was well managed from start to finish. In fact, the one thing it is good at is extorting money for its sub-par services. 

It is relentless, like being trapped in a Kafka novel – though in the end you can put the novel down. This will only end when I die, or sell. But if I sell, where do I move?

HfI, if you are listening (which I doubt, unless I am offering money), you are more than welcome to buy back my flat at a reasonable price. I can assure you it will be value for money – more than I can say for the services you offer me.

LISE HUSEBO
Hillrise Mansions 
N19