November forums are usually well attended. It’s just after the service charge bill goes out. It is usually full of pissed off leaseholders wanting to know why the bills are so much more than the estimates.

This year my bill was actually less than the estimate. Clever! That’s one way to keep people happy. Just as long as they don’t compare this years bill with one from five years ago.

As well as the usual complaints about anti-social behaviour etc, there were a couple of issues which will no doubt reappear in the future

One was Major Works. Stevenage Homes have a grant from central government to carry out a major works on the property they own. Leaseholders will have to pay a share of any work carried out to the block they live in This is causing many people problems. I will cover this in detail later.

We also looked again at the proposed new management fees. Tempers became frayed at the last meeting when we were told we are likely to face big increases.

Stevenage Homes gave a presentation on the methodology they are going to use to calculate the fees. It went down quite well. When they get back with the actual costs, I suspect things will become lively again.

Interesting figures from the meeting: Stevenage Homes manage 4082 flats, of which 1297 are leasehold (31.8%). This is much higher than I expected.

Out of the possible 1297 leaseholders, only between 20 and 40 attend the forums. Stevenage Homes are considering halting them as they are not a cost effective way of communicating. I thought maybe an on-line forum might be a suitable replacement.

I might even consider hosting one myself

In December I queried several of the items listed by Stevenage Homes as repairs on The Towers, but have yet to here anything useful back.

When I was at the leaseholders’ meeting on Feb. 18, I had a word with Anne Hensley.

She apologised very nicely about not answering my email, and not getting back to me sooner. Stevenage homes are undergoing some kind of external audit, which is taking up a lot of time.

Anne did tell me that one of the items on the list was a mistake and so will be removed.

She finally managed to get a receipt from the procurement department which showed that they did indeed paid £2500 for the door. But as they only appear to be paying £500 for fire doors elsewhere and no one seems able to justify the extra cost, maybe the cost will not be passed onto us.

I suggested that I could get an external quote for a fire door, but she did not think that was necessary.

I still have not heard back from Stevenage Homes notifying me of the amount the service charge has been reduced by. The account is supposed to be settled at the end of this month.

I will have to email Anne again to see where this is going.

Previous in this series
Update

I went to a leaseholders’ forum on Thursday. Stevenage Homes at last had some information on what was going on with the demolition of The Towers. Previously they have had no more idea than anyone else.

I was given a sheet with the following points on it:

• An outline Planning Application was submitted by developers Stevenage Regeneration Ltd in November 2007, which includes the demolition of The Towers.

• The Planning Application is still under consideration by Stevenage Borough Council, and is likely to be decided in 2009.

• Even if Planning Permission is granted in 2009, work on The Towers would be unlikely to start for at least 5 years at the very earliest.

• The options for residents of The Towers are unchanged — the developers have indicated that they will negotiate a private sale with leaseholders if the scheme goes ahead, and will facilitate discussions between Tenants and Stevenage Homes to identify housing need, and provide appropriate replacement accommodation.

With a phone number for any further queries.

That is the first information I have has as to when they are going to demolish my home in three years. Meanwhile no one can sell because of planning blight. That will be eight years minimum from the time we were first told that The Towers may be demolished, to the time I can move.

I wonder if they intend to keep the old Edward the Confessor pub as a show room for the whole of the next five years?

Someone obviously expects to make a great deal of money from knocking down my home to build luxury flats.

Update