foster carer prog - Council meetings - Lewisham Council

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Recommendations encouraging, where feasible, the transfer of the freehold to leaseholders. 4. We welcome the efforts made by Lewisham Homes and Regenter B3 to ensure that leaseholders are aware of their rights and responsibilities and we note that a statement of leaseholder’s rights and obligations is enclosed with every bill. However we recommend that more be done to advise potential leaseholders of the implications of buying a leasehold property before they purchase. 52 The Council’s obligations to leaseholders For Lewisham Homes and Regenter B3: 1. We recommend that leaseholders are provided with adequate notice in respect of major works (and walkabouts). In particular that: • Leaseholders are provided with details of who the contractors are and why they were selected at least 6 weeks ahead of major works taking place • Leaseholders are informed of the dates when major works will take place at least 4 weeks in advance of the works starting • Leaseholders are given at least ten days notice of walkabouts. We recommend that compliance with these performance targets is regularly monitored and reported on; and included in the Lewisham Homes and Regenter B3 performance information regularly provided to the Housing Select Committee. 2. We recommend that the target to respond to letters, emails and phone calls from leaseholders within ten working days should mean that a meaningful response is received, and not just an acknowledgement, within this time frame, although it is accepted that the response might not necessarily be the full and final response. We recommend that this target be supplemented by a target of acknowledging any correspondence within two working days, making better use of email. We recommend that compliance with these performance targets is regularly monitored and reported on; and included in the Lewisham Homes and Regenter B3 performance information regularly provided to the Housing Select Committee. 3. We recommend that a strategy is developed to raise awareness of the complaints procedure operated by Lewisham Homes and Regenter B3. It would also be helpful if leaseholders were provided with feedback on how complaints information was being used to improve services. 4. In view of the strong feeling amongst a number of leaseholders that bills are often inaccurate, we recommend that the way in which information on costs is communicated to leaseholders is changed to
Recommendations allow a clear and complete breakdown of costs (what work took place, when and how much it cost) to be provided with every service charge or major works bill, so that leaseholders can more fully understand what they are being asked to pay for. If feasible, service charge and major works files, including redacted invoices, should be made available on the Lewisham Homes / Regenter B3 website. 5. We recommend that consideration be given to benchmarking and reducing major works management fees. 6. We welcome the fact that Regenter B3 will survey leaseholders separately when it carries out its satisfaction survey this year, so that their specific concerns can be picked up, and that Lewisham Homes already does this. We would like there to be some crossover in the questions asked by both organisations to allow some benchmarking. In addition, in view of the discrepancy between the results of the provider surveys and our survey, we would like to recommend that the method of surveying is reviewed in time for the 2010 cycle to ensure that the surveys adequately pick up on all leaseholder concerns. (For example, a free text section could be included to capture specific complaints and the survey could be accompanied by mystery shopping and focus groups). We feel that the cost of making the surveying process more in-depth will be more than outweighed by the benefits of picking up the worst performance. For Lewisham Homes only: 1. We note that a large number of other housing providers (including Regenter B3, Hyde and L&Q) operate a 5 year external repairs and decoration cycle. We recommend that when the cycle for external repairs and decoration is reviewed as part of the preparation of the Asset Investment Plan for Decent Homes compliance, consideration is given to whether a five year cycle (rather than the current eight year cycle) is more appropriate. Leaseholders should be specifically consulted on their views as part of the review. 2. We do not feel that separate service charges for Anti-Social Behaviour, Customer Services and Resident Consultation should be levied on top of the existing service charge; as these services should be funded from within the standard service charge. We do not feel that leaseholders in street properties should be required to pay a charge for anti-social behaviour services. For Regenter B3 only: 1. We recommend that consideration be strongly given to introducing a transparent and equitable flat rate charging policy for service charge management fees. The Council’s obligations to leaseholders 53
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The Council’s obligations to leas
Page 3 and 4: Chair’s introduction Cllr Alex Fe
Page 5 and 6: Executive summary for each leasehol
Page 7 and 8: Key lines of enquiry • When will
Page 9 and 10: Methodology The results of the surv
Page 11 and 12: Questionnaire and focus groups 6. T
Page 13 and 14: Questionnaire and focus groups •
Page 21 and 22: Findings A: Background 19. There ar
Page 23 and 24: Findings B: The Standard of Repairs
Page 25 and 26: Findings 32. We asked if compensati
Page 27 and 28: Findings section 20 notice covering
Page 29 and 30: Findings Key lines of enquiry 42. W
Page 31 and 32: Findings 46. Regenter accepted that
Page 33 and 34: Findings 50. How many Lewisham leas
Page 35 and 36: Findings 54. What is the process fo
Page 37 and 38: Findings 57. What payment options a
Page 39 and 40: Findings 62. What is the value of o
Page 41 and 42: Findings • during a falling marke
Page 43 and 44: Findings 78. Examples of comments l
Page 45 and 46: Findings 83. How do Lewisham Homes
Page 47 and 48: Findings 85. Are leaseholders provi
Page 49 and 50: e answered within 10 working days a
Page 51 and 52: Findings noted that the external fa
Page 53: Recommendations Our recommendations
Page 57 and 58: Recommendations Recommendation Prio
Page 59 and 60: Recommendations Recommendation Prio
Page 61 and 62: Glossary ALMO EXOR KLOE L&Q LVT Reg
Page 63 and 64: key legislation relating to the man
Page 65 and 66: Appendices Appendix B: Results of t
Page 67 and 68: Appendices answered question 93 ski
Page 79 and 80: Appendices Appendix C: The Committe
Page 81 and 82: Appendices Ruddock requested this.
Page 83 and 84: Appendices block my window. The ini
Page 85 and 86: Appendices in the bill being carrie
Page 87 and 88: Appendices previous officers are ov
Page 89 and 90: Appendices unreliably overcharged.
Page 91 and 92: Appendices area much better managed
Page 93 and 94: Appendices Appendix D: Results of t
Page 95 and 96: Some of the leaseholders had been t
Page 97 and 98: Appendices become damp and start cr
Page 99 and 100: Appendices “We were told to get a
Page 101 and 102: Appendices “Our communal area is
Page 103 and 104: Appendices that there was a mistake
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Appendices Appendix E: Regenter B3
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Appendices Appendix F: Lewisham Hom
Page 109 and 110:
Appendices Leaseholders were asked
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Appendices The leaseholders who had
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