Waiting for my bill...

Published: 15 October, 2010

• EVERY other week in your columns a kicking is dished out to Partners for Improvement in Islington, the hapless agent for 6,000 of Islington’s street properties. Work was done on my property in 2005.

Unlike many fellow leaseholders screaming blue murder about the size of bills, I would like to see a bill.

So far, Partners has refused to produce one.

A Partners officer will read out the figures in the bill over the phone – £5,000 since you ask – but won’t send me the actual bits of paper because “You’ll go to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.” She’s dead right on my intention.

Partners issued what is termed a Section 20B notice in May 2006. An S20B notice is essentially a delaying procedure that allows a landlord to produce a bill outside the 18-month period beyond which it is usually deemed uncollectable.

A higher court decided in 2007 in another case that an almost perfect replica of Partners’ S20B was defective.

My bill, if it were issued, would therefore be uncollectable, you would have thought. Not so, said Partners.

Last month Partners’ solicitor offered me a new variation on its original assertion.

It remains adamant that its S20B is valid. But the new bit runs roughly as follows: remember when we told you we had incurred costs, well we did and we didn’t, ahem.

That is to say we incurred costs but the landlord didn’t, ahem, because we haven’t sent them an invoice so they haven’t incurred costs, ahem, so we can’t send you a bill.

Gettit? Now about that tribunal... After the decision at the higher court in 2007, Partners never issued another S20B.

To those leaseholders issued S20B notices but not yet past the 18-month deadline, it issued bills immediately.

To the rest of its leaseholders, some 350, it has maintained a stance of asymmetric charging.

Some have been issued bills but when they’ve challenged its validity Partners has not pursued the issue.

That leaves those leaseholders issued bills who don’t know that the S20B notice is defective.

MICHAEL READ
Milner Square, N1