South Tyneside Independents» South Tyneside Homes » Council guilty of overcharging former tenants

Council guilty of overcharging former tenants

In the past 18 months Cllr Khan has received a number of complaints from residents who have bought their maisonettes from the council. The complaints concern the excessive charges residents are being forced to pay for repairs to communal areas and the ever increasing administration fee (management fee) which the council claim is necessary to cover the costs of sending out letters/invoices. Six year ago this annual fee was £10 but has now risen to £128.75. Cllr Khan raised the matter on behalf of a number of residents and was basically fobbed off. Undeterred Cllr Khan looked into the matter further and found that residents could challenge the council by making an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) which is a body set up to deal with leasehold disputes.

In September 2008 the LVT ruled that the management charges of £125 (now £128.75) were not reasonable and should be reduced to £75. The council had little choice other than to reimburse the applicant and of course his admin fee is now £75. So what of the other 704 properties that have been overcharged? Surely the council would refund everyone they had overcharged? Wrong they increased the fee by £3.75!

Cllr Khan has been monitoring the situation and had hoped that the council would do the decent thing, particularly during these difficult economic times. Sadly it seems the council would rather keep quiet and is planning to raise the fee by another 3%. Enough is enough, it’s time the council repaid everyone they’ve overcharged in 2008/09, 2009/10 and adjusted the fee in line with the tribunals decision for 2010/11.

If you believe you have been overcharged contact South Tyneside Homes and ask for a refund. If they refuse you can apply to the LVT. Details of how to do this and the relevant forms can be found at: http://www.rpts.gov.uk/pubs_and_forms/html_docs/lvt-sc.htm or call 0845 600 3178.