Southwark (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Southwark Council has pledged to review all major works projects from the past decade following a scandal over estate repairs discussed this week.
Residents of Rotherhithe’s Chilton Grove Estate have been living in uncertainty for years after plans to renovate existing blocks and add 44 new rooftop apartments were shelved because of growing construction costs and the developer running into building control problems.
Opposition council members claim that residents are now facing exorbitant fees after being forced to dwell on a construction site while significant renovations are still unfinished.
Southwark Council Cabinet Member for Council Homes, Michael Situ, said:
“The first thing to say is sorry to the residents who were in the building itself. I think if you’re a resident in the building and if you’ve had to experience the number of years where not only were you living on a building site, but you weren’t absolutely sure when things [would] be resolved, that would have caused a lot of anxiety and distress to the residents.”
Cllr Situ stated that reviews will be conducted for all major works projects beginning in 2015 during a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday evening (October 8). The Cabinet will be kept informed of the progress of these studies.
According to Ryan Collymore, Director of Repairs and Maintenance, COVID-19 caused delays in the major construction project at Chilton Grove Estate.
Mr Collymore added:
“When the contractor left the site in 2021, they left the site in a state and it was a very, very bad experience for our residents. The fact the contractor left the site meant we had to abandon the rooftop homes and also the corner extension that we planned to do.”
According to Mr. Collymore, the initial proposal to leaseholders was that they would not be responsible for the rooftop repairs because the new home construction would cover the landscaping and cladding. The council has decided to compensate residents £4,600 because the work did not proceed, he added.
Mr. Collymore continued by stating that certain repairs, such as those to the roof covering, concrete, lighting, and some cladding, will still be carried out with a start date of January or February 2026.
Although it seemed as though the matter had been settled, many of the locals he had spoken to expressed little trust or certainty in the current state of affairs, according to Cllr. Victor Chamberlain, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition in Southwark.
According to one Chilton Grove leaseholder he spoke with, she might be facing an additional £60,000 charge on top of the £40,000 she had already paid for the renovations, he stated.
Cllr Chamberlain said:
“We’ve had Canada Estate, Devon Mansions, Kirby Estate, Arica House, Consort Estate and now Chilton Grove Estate; the list just seems to be systemic and endless about the culture in a department that doesn’t seem to be able to get on top of these issues. It’s always left to residents to do the digging and opposition councillors to try and challenge the council to do better.”
Hakeem Osinaike, Director of Housing, said:
“The reality is, all of these schemes mentioned by Cllr Chamberlain and which this [committee] is very much aware of, you know Chilton Grove which we are talking about today, Canada Estate, Kirby Estate and Devon Mansions – all of those schemes happened around the same time, between 2020 and 2022.
In fact, some of them started before that around Covid-19 – it’s not an excuse but the point is they are all historical, that is not the way we do things in housing now.”
He added:
“We have made promises to you, the recommendations that you’ve made we’ve accepted in full each time and officers have gone away and we have been taking those actions to make sure that what residents have experienced on this estate they will never have to experience them again.
They are not pleasant, I’m not sitting here excusing it at all, in fact it’s embarrassing for me that I have to come here each time and talk about the same thing so it’s important that I never have to do it again.”
At the end of the meeting, the committee proposed additional recommendations including a call for full transparency when it came to leaseholder charges at the start of any works to ensure there isn’t a duplication in costs and to make sure they are being correctly charged in the first place.
The council has introduced a new online tool that will allow Southwark leaseholders and freeholders to access and download their service fee information. Residents can now visit MySouthwark online and view their account to view a comprehensive price breakdown of their costs for 2024–2025. Long-standing grievances from leaseholders regarding exorbitant costs for ambiguous services or work and a lack of clarity regarding the charges’ purpose prompted this action.
Cllr Situ added:
“Our pioneering new online service will make it simpler for leaseholders and freeholders to check their charges. Anyone can now use their smartphone or computer to see what they owe, plan payments, and check if there are any charges they want to query or talk to us about.”
How will residents be consulted during each major work review?
The first work stream would be engaging with Resident Groups and Tenant Residents Associations (TRAs) in anticipation of projects, including informing them of the scope of the project in general terms and to share initial intention and plans. This will also include walkabouts, so that we can discuss and identify key issues and design implications.
They will provide legal notification and consultation to leaseholders as required by the Landlord and Tenants Act 1985 and statutory regulations to ensure that residents can view plans and provide feedback prior to any building commencing.
Resident drop-in centers and newsletters will inform residents of opportunities to engage with project teams, ask questions, and seek information regarding the proposed timelines and any potential amendments to the proposed development.