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Three more G15 landlords commit to refunding hundreds of tenants who overpaid for water
Three more large London housing associations have committed to refunding tenants caught up in a long-running saga that has seen thousands overcharged for water over more than a decade.
Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH), Notting Hill Genesis and Optivo are all in the process of refunding residents after a campaign led by tenants living on the St Martin’s Estate in Lambeth.
MTVH and Notting Hill Genesis have also committed to refunding residents living on other estates, while Optivo said it is in the process of identifying whether any more of its estates are affected.
The three associations are among the latest social landlords to commit to refunding tenants following a 2016 High Court case that found Southwark Council had overcharged its tenants by not passing on the reductions it received from Thames Water.
In 2019, a High Court ruled that Kingston Council was also liable to tenants for water charges dating back to 2002.
Following an unsuccessful appeal in 2020, lawyers representing Kingston Council’s tenants said that the ruling “appears to be the last word” on the matter, which has implications for social landlords across the country.
MTVH announced that it was refunding tenants on the St Martin’s Estate last year, with commitments from Optivo and Notting Hill Genesis following earlier this year.
A spokesperson for MTVH said the housing association has now identified 1,113 of its homes affected by the issue. It has already issued £363,228 in refunds and estimates that it will spend roughly £450,000 in total.
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Notting Hill Genesis said it estimates that 550 of its homes in Lambeth are affected and that it will spend roughly £160,000 on refunds.
A spokesperson for Optivo said it is still investigating whether any more of its residents are affected, adding that it is “committed to refunding any residents owed any water rates refund”.
It comes not long after L&Q announced that it would refund 8,500 of its current residents, alongside an undisclosed number of former residents, at an estimated cost of £6.3m.
Last year Lambeth Council confirmed that it would refund more than 30,000 current and former tenants at an estimated cost of up to £26.55m.
However, some of the residents on the St Martin’s Estate, which was transferred from Lambeth Council to a partnership comprised of the three housing associations in 1999, are unhappy with the amount they have been refunded.
Dennis Jones said he was recently refunded £476 by MTVH, however he said he is aware of Lambeth Council tenants on other estates who were paid more than £1,000.
Inside Housing understands that Lambeth Council provided tenants refunds dating back to 2001, however the three housing associations did not collect water charges prior to 2004.
As Thames Water was unable to provide their costings prior to 2010, housing associations calculated the refunds using Retail Price Index + 0.5%.
Mr Jones also raised concerns that social housing tenants on other estates were not being told that they could claim a refund.
“How many other housing associations in the London area did exactly the same and aren’t paying back? How many London boroughs did exactly the same?” he asked.
“Hopefully every person who’s owed this money will get their full refund. With the price of gas and electric and everything else going up, so many families could actually do with a little bit of money,” he added.
A spokesperson for MTVH said it was “committed to making any payments to residents that are required as quickly as possible”.
It said that due to data protection requirements, they do not hold current addresses for most former tenants, but that former residents can find information on MTVH’s website about how to claim a refund if they are eligible.
A spokesperson for Optivo said it will do all it can to track down former residents, including writing to any residents where they have a record of their contract and promoting how to get a refund via their website.
“We’re investigating whether any of our other estates are affected by this issue. We remain committed to refunding any residents owed any water rates refunds,” they added.
A spokesperson for Notting Hill Genesis also confirmed that it would do what it could to trace former residents, adding that it remains “committed” to refunding residents.
