Thin veneer of consultation before the bill arrives

Published: October 6, 2011

• I FULLY agree there is a lack of fair representation in matters implicating leaseholders in payments (Feudal system for leaseholders, September 29).

There exists a spurious consultation system. Notices are served for work which will incur the leaseholder in costs
over £350. An outline of the work to be done arrives along with a set of pre-answered questions, making the consultation pretty redundant.

I have been informed responses have made an impact on decision-making but have yet to see my own opinion influence anything.

I am currently faced with the following bills which have all arrived over the past few months: £2,713.86 service charge (an increase of £373.80); £2,291.37 uplift of an estimated bill for work done seven years ago; £5,864.15 for interior work (which we have been waiting 10 years for). Total: £10,961.

I cannot borrow from the bank and I really do not understand where the money is meant to come from.

I have long argued for a paid representative of leaseholders’ interests to be included in decision-making but I can’t see this happening.

Instead, we get a splintered set of departments all behaving in an often brusque and cavalier fashion, bulldozing their decisions through with very little notice. All done with a thin veneer of consultation.
Wendy Houstoun
Makepeace Avenue, N6