Dozens of leaseholders, including a man in his 80s, the mother of an eight-week-old baby and a woman in remission from cancer, have been left without central heating since October in a block for which the freehold is owned by a company that has made nearly £12m.
With temperatures already dropping below zero and Arctic winds forecast to blow in colder weather next week, the oldest residents have been huddling in hats and blankets to keep warm at Lee Court, an art deco block of 48 apartments in Lewisham, London. Some walls are mouldy and residents complain they are covered in condensation.
This week the UK Health and Security Agency issued amber cold health alerts for much of the country, warning of an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, and chest infections and a potential “serious impact on health, particularly for older people and those with pre-existing health conditions”.
The freeholder at Lee Court in charge of the services is Grandpex Company Limited, which is owned by a group of individual property investors. The latest published accounts for the company show retained earnings of £11.7m, representing profits over the years after dividends are paid.
“It’s so cold,” said George Martin, a leaseholder in his mid-80s who has been wrapping himself in blankets. “It has brought on a bit of sciatica. It’s disgusting it hasn’t been [fixed]. We have had freezing cold weather and it’s going to get worse.”
Hot water has also been only sporadic in parts of the block where leaseholders pay a £2,500-a-year service charge to a company appointed by the freeholder. Black mould has been spreading on Martin’s ceilings and is also extensive in one of the communal stairwells.
“The lack of heating has caused a massive condensation problem,” said Jade Alvares, 32, mother of a two-month-old baby. “The walls are covered. We are concerned about the smell and the harm for the baby … It seems like I am living in a third world country.”
The issues at Lee Court came to light as parliament continues to debate reforms to the centuries-old system of leasehold and freehold in England and Wales, which leaseholders across the country say can leave them trapped at the mercy of freeholders who are effectively their landlords. The government’s proposals have stopped short of abolishing leasehold, which Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities has described as an “outdated feudal system”.
The heating for the whole block is usually switched on in October but for this winter a leak was discovered and it has not yet been fixed. The managing agent provided electric heaters to each of the flats but that has not resolved the problem.
Drivers and Norris, property managers appointed by Grandpex, said there was not enough money available from the service charge to pay to fix the heating. Michael Porter of Drivers and Norris said several leaseholders had not paid the charge in recent months because they were unhappy with the wider upkeep of the block.
“People have to pay and we do our best with the money we have,” he said, adding that the funds for maintenance were separate from the balance sheet of the freeholder company, on whose behalf Drivers and Norris collects the service charge.
But there is also a dispute over who is responsible. Better Properties Limited, a company representing the freeholder, said the freeholder no longer had any responsibility to manage the building as the leaseholders had recently decided to take over the building management.
A spokesperson for the leaseholders’ right to manage company said that it had not yet taken responsibility for management of the block and that responsibility for the heating system and other maintenance remains with the freeholder.
“Neither the leaseholders, nor our tenants contacted our office directly to let us know about the fault, or the issues it caused,” said François Joliot, chief operating officer of Better Properties. “The managing agent is the first port of call to deal with those issues … Had we been contacted directly by the leaseholders, we would have endeavoured to get the matter resolved as swiftly as possible, even though it’s no longer the freeholder’s responsibility.”
