foster carer prog - Council meetings - Lewisham Council

Key lines of enquiry
Our review looked at how the Council and local Housing Managers
ensure that their obligations to leaseholders are met. We focussed on
the standard and cost of repairs, maintenance and major works; and
also levels of consultation and engagement. Our aim was to ensure
value for money for leaseholders.
We identified the following three sets of key lines of enquiry (KLOE) to
frame our review:
(A) Standards
• How is the standard of repairs, maintenance and major works
assessed by Lewisham Homes/Regenter B3/RSLs?
• Do leaseholders have the opportunity to check that work has
actually been carried out and carried out to an acceptable standard?
• Do Lewisham Homes/Regenter B3/the RSLs use a single contractor
to carry out repairs or a variety of contractors? On what basis are
the contractors selected?
• Why has the cycle for external repairs and decoration been
increased? What has the impact been? Were leaseholders (and
tenants) consulted?
(B) Charging and billing leaseholders
• What is the process followed by Lewisham Homes / Regenter B3 /
the RSLs for billing leaseholders for service charges? When is the
estimated charge for the financial year provided? When are
leaseholders informed of the final actual costs and when are the
consequent increased payments or refunds due?
• What opportunities do leaseholders have to challenge the cost of
repairs and maintenance? Do they have the opportunity to check
and verify that costs are accurate and reasonable?
• How many Lewisham leaseholders have approached the Leasehold
Valuation Tribunal to seek a determination as to the reasonableness
of the cost of major works invoices?
• Has full-cost recovery been implemented yet?
• How is the management fee calculated?
•
What is the process followed by Lewisham Homes/Regenter B3/the
RSLs for billing leaseholders for major works/Decent Homes works?
4 The Council’s obligations to leaseholders