CONTENTS – 1 Date for diary 05/08/21 – 2 !!Response needed!! free individual advice from Keith Murray – 3 NEW Phase 1 info – 4 Cut-off for residency – 5 Section 20 notices – 6 Update: Newlon’s new res group – 7 Warning: scam agents – 8 Source still here to help
Hello from the New Barnsbury reps. We hope you are getting a chance for a holiday this summer. Quite a few things to tell you this month – it’s a long one, we hope it’s useful to you. As ever, if you find out any information that could be useful to the group, please email us: barnsburyleaseholders@gmail.com
- Important date for your diary – Newlon leaseholder meeting 5th Aug 2021 6-8pm (zoom)
All leaseholders are invited to this important Zoom meeting next Thursday, with key Newlon staff, Source, and other leaseholders. Lots of very helpful information will be shared and you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions. Please attend if you can.
The full invitation letter with the agenda, attendees, and details of the Zoom meeting, is at the bottom of this update.
- Response needed! opt in for FREE ongoing individual advice from Keith Murray
Keith Murray, the Compulsory Purchase Valuer we approached, is now working on the initial report on key documents.
The next step is for Keith Murray to apply to Newlon for a fee undertaking so that he can advise individual leaseholders at Newlon’s cost (free for us), going forward. You will be able to ask him detailed questions about your unique individual circumstances, but ONLY IF you opt in to be on the list of those he will represent. Send an email to us at barnsburyleaseholders@gmail.com with the subject line “NB opt-in”. The deadline for this is Friday 13th August 2021.
Keith is one of the most experienced and respected CPVs in the country, and working with him so far has been straightforward and informative. Please see his website for more info – HERE
3. NEW! Updated Phase 1 information
Newlon has sent out a letter informing leaseholders that the plans for Phase 1 of the redevelopment have changed. No new information about any other phases has been released yet. The full letter is at the bottom of this update.
Blackmore House is now Phase 1, so it will be the first block to be demolished. Leaseholders in this block will be the first to be bought out, or re-located. We only have 1 leaseholder member in Blackmore House – if you know any other leaseholders in Blackmore, please encourage them to join us.
This means that Adrian and Thurston are no longer in Phase 1. We imagine that those of you in these blocks will be frustrated about this change and about being left in the dark about which phase they will be in. Please attend the leaseholder meeting on 5th Aug to ask about Phases 2 onwards.
Source is now focused on preparing for detailed discussions with residents in the first phase of work. Source is geared up to carry out individual advice sessions for Blackmore House leaseholders, and will keep our leaseholder group appraised of the issues arising.
- Cut-off dates for residency/non-residency
Source is chasing Newlon to clarify the definitive cut-off date for establishing whether you are a resident or non-resident leaseholder. This will be important if you are considering moving back to/away from your flat.
Source expects this cut-off date to be the target date of submitting the planning application, but this is still to be confirmed by Newlon.
We may be able to influence this through the Residents’ Association/Residents’ Charter (see item on this below).
- Section 20s – the services you pay for
Three Section 20 letters have been sent out in the past few weeks. Newlon sends them out to addresses they don’t apply to. Section 20 notices are confusing and cause anxiety, since none of us understand the process very well. The leaseholder meeting on 5th August is a key opportunity for all of us to understand the Section 20 process better, and how to challenge them if we wish.
Of the three recent Section 20 notices, the fire and concierge letters DO NOT apply to any of the New Barnsbury blocks.
However, the water hygiene Section 20 letter DOES apply to New Barnsbury. A resident leaseholder in Molton wrote to Newlon to clarify and received this reply:
“Water hygiene maintenance does affect your property, apologies for any discrepancy you may have received in the past regarding this matter.
The service covers all water systems which Newlon are responsible for which includes large communal water tanks serving your building, supply pipework service those tanks, water risers and associated components, water booster and sewage pumps and any connected drainage pits. The service also includes testing of the water supply and associated legionella checks.
The service the contract provides is already covered by your service charge. At current, as we are still in a tender process, we cannot advise if the charge will remain the same, increase or decrease, but residents will be advised prior to any charge changes.”
Section 20 – Molton and Messiter only
There has been an email sent to Molton and Messiter residents regarding fire inspections and possible remedial work. A Leaseholder Rep has written to Newlon asking for clarification about costs, and why they would start any work when they will be demolishing the blocks. We will let you know when we get a response.
- Update on Newlon’s new residents’ group
As we wrote in the June update, there is no Residents’ Association at Barnsbury, but Newlon’s community team (led by Graham Watts and Emma Preston-Dunlop) has started a new initiative to help establish one. It’s very early days, but a meeting was held in early July with c.10 residents (mix of leaseholders and tenants, Old & New Barnsbury) to discuss the broad principles. The meeting included two of the Old Barnsbury resident leaseholder reps, and a New Barnsbury resident leaseholder rep had also been invited.
It was suggested that this Group starts informally, potentially split into sub-groups (including Old and New Barnsbury, Leaseholders etc) and a follow up meeting is to be held in August to draft terms of reference for a formal Residents’ Association.
We understand that the next meeting will include NB leaseholder and non-leaseholder reps, plus Source staff.
We’ll update next month and share the draft terms of reference. If anyone is keen to get directly involved, please email <barnsburyleaseholders@gmail.com> and we can pass your details on, bearing in mind that Emma and Graham are keen that the group is not dominated overall by leaseholders or tenants and is generally as diverse as possible.
The role this new group will play in developing the Residents’ Charter etc. is to be further bottomed out at the next meeting. Watch this space.
- Warning: scam estate agents “Park Heath”
An estate agency claiming to be called Park Heath has been approaching leaseholders individually, falsely claiming that they have links with Newlon. This is not true. Please take care if you receive unsolicited contact from any lettings/sales agents about your property. If in doubt, check with Source/Newlon directly.
8. Source Partnership is still here to help you
Some leaseholders have been concerned that now the ballot is over, Source Partnership may not be helping us any more. Be reassured that Source is still available to provide independent support for leaseholders (and Newlon tenants). Info on drop-in sessions in letter below. Source’s current commission through Newlon runs up until the submission for planning permission (i.e. early 2022, as far as we know).
Phew. Well done for getting this far!
Many thanks from your New Barnsbury Leaseholder Reps
barnsburyleaseholders@gmail.com
Barnsbury Estate Leaseholders Group 