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L&Q residents become latest to go on service charge strike
Roughly 20 L&Q residents living on an estate in east London are refusing to pay their service charge because of a series of long-standing issues, including incorrect charging and maintenance problems.
Residents of the Capworth Court estate in Leyton will not pay their service charge until the 105,000-home landlord meets 11 demands, including forgiving any service charge arrears of residents living on the estate and carrying out an independent audit of how it attributes service charges.
They are the latest housing association residents to protest their service charge, following similar action from residents living in properties owned by landlords such as Hyde and PA Housing.
According to the residents, historic problems on the Capworth Court estate include L&Q trying to charge residents twice for communal electricity in 2017 and one block being incorrectly charged for all pump-room maintenance between 2014 and 2019.
L&Q said the first issue was due to inaccurate billing from its supplier, adding that credits were issued to affected residents. It said it has also now issued refunds for the latter issue and apologised to residents who were left waiting.
Residents said they have been charged for the upkeep of of safety lines, designed to allow repairs to be carried out at height, despite the system being out of use because it failed safety inspections.
L&Q said residents have now been refunded for historic payments, adding that they had not been charged for the system in their 2021-22 bill.
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Other problems highlighted by the striking residents include issues with lift maintenance and concerns around the quality of the building, which L&Q built in 2014.
They said more than 100 plumbing issues have been raised with their landlord, as well as leaks they said were caused by poor weatherproofing.
L&Q apologised that leaks have persisted. It said it is yet to find a pattern in the building’s repairs history, but said it will work with residents to investigate further.
The block is awaiting the results of an inspection that was carried out as part of L&Q’s fire safety programme, which will determine what remediation work the block may require.
As part of their demands, the striking residents called for a clear timescale for fire remediation work and a rent freeze while properties cannot be sold.
Residents of one of the blocks on the estate recently took L&Q to a tribunal in an attempt to resolve some of the issues with their service charge, reaching a settlement which they said required the landlord to finalise outstanding service charge statements by a set date.
L&Q said it reviewed its processes following the tribunal and has complied with the agreed settlement.
However, Kate, one of the residents living on the estate, said L&Q is yet to give a “coherent answer” on the service charge statements.
The Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) is supporting the residents in their strike. SHAC’s website lists 20 landlords that have been added to its rent and service charge strike group, including a number of large housing associations.
SHAC secretary Suzanne Muna said: “We need much tighter legislation forcing landlords to make sure that every single penny charged for a service is accurate, reasonable, externally audited and backed by invoices which are automatically shared with residents.”
Ms Muna said residents have been forced to resort to strike action after having “trodden the hamster wheel of internal complaints systems and approaches to the ombudsman, regulator and courts”.
“If housing associations want to halt the spread of strike action, they need to radically reform the way they handle complaints and start dealing with problems, instead of just trying to deflect them and wear tenants down in what often feels like a war of attrition,” she added.
Fiona Fletcher-Smith, chief executive of L&Q, said: “We understand the frustration felt by residents at Capworth Court and we’re sorry that they’re unhappy with the service they’ve received.
“We’ve responded to the residents who contacted us about withholding their service charges, and are providing an update to the wider estate. We are also organising a residents’ meeting to discuss these concerns.
“Service charges are included in the terms of residents’ leases, and enable us to carry out important maintenance activities around the estate. We have, and will continue to, assess our service charges regularly and offer adjustments or refunds to residents whenever appropriate.
“We’re committed to delivering services to residents in a transparent way, and to putting things right where they’ve gone wrong, but it’s important contributions continue to be made and residents do not fall into arrears.”
It comes one week after Notting Hill Genesis admitted to sending a large number of residents incorrect service charge estimates due to “organisation-wide” issues with its setting of service charges.
