A Labour-run council is charging flat owners £23,000 each for new lifts after delaying repair works for years.
Residents at Normanton House – a 1930s-built council block in Lambeth, London - were told six years ago that they would need to fork out a hefty sum to replace the broken lifts.
The initial repair cost would be £8,500 each, however, as the years have gone by and the lifts have gone unattended, that figure has now almost tripped.
Matthew Denby, 29, alongside the four other leaseholders of Normanton House, was given an ultimatum by Lambeth council - either pay the full amount now and get a five per cent discount, or pay an additional £365 a month over the next five years.
Residents at Normanton House will need to pay £23,000 each for new liftsGoogle Street ViewThis means that the 29-year-old will now have to send the Labour local authority almost £700 a month.
Some of the other leaseholders on Oaklands estate, which includes Normanton house, could be forced to pay as much as £25,000, due to the value of their properties.
Denby told The Telegraph: “It feels like daylight robbery. While it does look less like you’re walking into the Tower of Terror at Disneyland, I’m being asked to pay £23,000 – for that price, you’d expect it to talk to you or to be served a drink on the way up.
“I would usually be in favour of a Labour council but everything is a shambles. We have emails dating back over six years complaining to them about the leaking roof in the hallway. When I open the front door there’s a swimming pool. It feels like they [the council] have abandoned us.”
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Lambeth Council delayed works on the lifts by six years
PAAside from the broken lifts and long-standing leak in his roof, Denby also spoke of the broken windows with the council fixed with sellotape. He also said that the estate’s bicycle lock-up was broken into recently but has not been fixed.
The council is well-known for approving out-of-court rebates to flat owners who challenge major bills, but only if they agree to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), according to campaign group Lambeth Homeowners Association.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) revealed that between 2019 and 2023, the borough has rebated £1.8million across 119 NDAs.
Antony Wynn, chairman of the group comprised of over 100 leaseholders, said: “The overcharging comes from a lack of proper contractor management, cost control and auditing.”
The lifts have been broken in Normanton House for six years
Google Street View
Martin Boyd, chair of trustees at campaign group Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, said that it is important that leaseholders check their contract as whilst many would assume that these costs can fall on the landlord, they are often charged to them instead.
A spokesman for Lambeth Council said under the terms of their lease agreements, leaseholders and the council themselves are required to pay a share of the costs of any repairs.
They added: “We work hard to ensure that all the work is carried out as professionally and economically as possible. The contract to install the two new lifts at Normanton House was awarded to the bidder who submitted the lowest-priced tender.
“All leaseholders were sent a notice of the proposed work in July 2020 and then confirmation of their estimated contribution in April 2021, although the council paid the majority of the cost.
“As part of our commitment to helping residents handle the costs of this work we have offered leaseholders the option to spread their repayments over a longer period of time.”