CONTENTS – 1 Update following recent informal discussions between Newlon and Old Barnsbury Leaseholders. 2 Barnsbury Residents Group/ Residents’ Charter Group
As always you can contact us through barnsburyleaseholders@gmail.com
- Update following recent informal discussions between Newlon and Old Barnsbury Leaseholders
In our November update, we made you aware that informal discussions between Old Barnsbury Leaseholders and Newlon were taking place and invited you to get in touch with your questions. On the back of these conversations, we’re pleased to share the following outcomes which are a change to some aspects of the position for us compared with those originally proposed by Newlon.
The content below will replace the current content in relevant sections (principally section 8.0) of the January 2021 draft Residents’ charter (issued to all resident tenants and leaseholders along with the offer letter from Newlon just ahead of the vote for transformation proposals in early 2021).
Offer to Old Barnsbury Resident Leaseholders
Leases where leaseholders are resident in their homes at the date of Outline Planning Permission will be permanently excluded from the charges for the transformation works described in the offer document. Leaseholders may subsequently sub-let, within the terms of the lease and other legal requirements, or sell their homes without a charge being imposed on the leaseholder.
Sinking Funds on those leases will not be deducted for those works as that is a form of charging.
Old Barnsbury non-resident Leaseholders will be charged the full cost of works, except where these are improvements and the lease is a non-charging lease.
Re-charges will be subject to a cap of £50,000. Newlon anticipates the amount will be below this and will give estimates.
Newlon will consult all residents including tenants and leaseholders and be as
clear as it can which works are happening to which block when and the costs.
Where windows or doors which conform to the requirements of the transformation
have been installed, they may remain and the costs passed to the leaseholder
will be reduced. Newlon will honour any written agreement given when windows or doors were fitted with permission.
Newlon will follow Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
Newlon cannot give loans or put a charge on properties to pay for works. If the law
changes to allow that Newlon will consider doing so.
Newlon will review and publish its adherence to these commitments annually.
Additional contextual points which may aid understanding
- The date for outline planning permission to be approved (if it is) is currently expected to be around December 2022. This date could change, so please keep a close eye on the date as Newlon makes it available. It is significant for us as it’s the date when residency, or non-residency, of leaseholders, will be declared.
- Exactly how residency is to be determined still needs to be clarified.
- Nothing changes in our individual leases in respect of these Newlon commitments, it’s essentially a note on file for the position against each flat at the time outline planning permission is granted which can be referenced in future sale searches etc.
- What Newlon is doing is making a public proposal and commitment about how they will implement their commitments in the Offer document and this commitment will override the original content in the Draft Residents’ charter (issued January 2021).
- For Old Barnsbury, our future Newlon contacts are Symon Sentain and Jodie Desai now that Bill Henderson from Newlon has left the organisation. We are grateful to Bill for the time he has spent focused on this in recent months and look forward to positive support from Symon and Jodie in the future.
- Consultation on proposals/phasing etc for refurbishment work is expected to begin in early 2022 and it is really important that our group plays an active part in this process. Although there has been no proposed change to the indicative cap on refurbishment costs which could apply to Non-Resident Old Barnsbury Leaseholders, in our informal discussions the need for us to continue to engage constructively and continue to influence outcomes was emphasised – ‘Newlon will not want to spend money on things that residents do not want’ – so we need to be clear, along with our tenant neighbours, what we do and don’t want.
We hope this gives leaseholders greater clarity and fewer future complexities plus an opportunity to consider our own individual situations. We are happy to hold another online meeting for anyone who’d like to discuss this revised statement from Newlon so please let us know if you’d find this useful and we’ll get a meeting set up.
- Barnsbury Residents Group/ Residents’ Charter Group
This group is still in its early stages of formation but aiming to meet monthly. It’s currently supported by Newlon but is expected to become independent by Spring 2022. The next meeting will be online on Weds January 12th – 6-8pm. As many of us who can attend these sessions, the better, so please keep an eye on the promotional texts and request a link to the meetings (or message the leaseholder group and we will pass on the details when we have them).
A Charter group (made up of tenants and leaseholders) is also working on updates to all sections of the draft residents’ charter. It’s meeting monthly online currently for a couple of hours, working through section by section. If you’d like to join the group, please email us to let us know – barnsburyleaseholders@gmail.com.
Barnsbury Estate Leaseholders Group 