Cost of trying to cut home fuel bills: £400 admin fee

ISLINGTON’S green credentials took a major hammering this week after a couple who installed energy-saving double-glazing were charged a £400 administrative fee.
The Town Hall was accused of “using bureaucracy and red tape” to get money out of Highbury homeowner Natalie Webb, instead of encouraging work that will benefit the environment.
Islington’s Green councillor, Katie Dawson, who has taken up the case, said environmental officers were concentrating resources on “fancy solar panels and windmills”, rather than simple but effective home improvements. Residents are being urged by the council to insulate their homes with double-glazing, which can reduce heat loss by 50 per cent and save hundreds of pounds in bills a year.
IT consultant Ms Webb, 33, contacted the council to find out if there were any grants available for the work. She wanted to install double-glazing in two back windows of the flat she shares with her husband Rafal at Avenell Mansions, in Avenell Road, overlooking Highbury Square.
She discovered that not only was no money available, but that as the leaseholder of a flat in a council block she would have to pay the Town Hall a £400 legal admin fee and an additional £50 to the Government Land Registry.
That would be on top of the £2,000 for the cost of the windows.
Ms Webb said: “Double-glazing would reduce our CO2 emissions and make us energy efficient. We thought the council would want to encourage us.”
They were told that grants were available only if windows were in danger of falling out and were a hazard to the public.
Fortunately, the couple were able to save £1,000 because Rafal, an architect, installed the windows himself.
The administrative fee was high because the council owns the block and by law has to use a solicitor to write new deeds for the property, covering “consent” and a “licence for alterations”.
The couple had to lodge the change with the Land Registry at a cost of £50. The whole process took three months, and the work has still to be checked by the council’s building ex­perts.
Ms Webb added: “With the Land Registry you get a complicated five-page form. There should be a quicker, cheaper and simpler way to put in double-glazing.”
Cllr Dawson said: “This is an appalling anomaly when you think of the way the council has been encouraging residents to reduce emissions and improve thermal efficiency.”
Lib Dem housing chief Councillor Barbara Smith said: “Residents can apply for various grants to make their homes more energy efficient and help lower costs.
“They aren’t offered for double-glazing, as it’s not thought to be one of the most cost-effective ways to make homes energy efficient.”
The council’s Energy Doctor could provide homeowners and tenants with advice on grants for a range of other measures such as draft-proofing, loft insulations and more efficient boilers, Cllr Smith said.
 “When leaseholders fit their own double-glazing, they become responsible for the maintenance of their windows and so the lease has to be altered,” she added.
“This means legal costs are incurred and we have to pass these on to the leaseholders in­volved so that other tenants don’t also end up paying for them.”
PETER GRUNER