Committee Meeting Thursday 30th July 2009
Leave a CommentOur next committee meeting is almost upon us. Please make an effort to attend as there is lots to discuss. As usual, all leaseholders are welcome, please let us know if you plan to attend.
Download July 2nd Committee Meeting minutes (PDF 59Kb)
Venue as usual is Eskdale Road Community Centre in Stoke Mandeville with plenty of parking. Please arrive 6.45 for 7pm start.
Committee Meeting Thursday 2nd July 2009
Leave a CommentOur next committee meeting is almost upon us. Please make an effort to attend as there is lots to discuss. As usual, all leaseholders are welcome, please let us know if you plan to attend.
Download meeting agenda (PDF 34Kb)
Download April 30th Open Meeting minutes (PDF 65Kb)
Venue as usual is Eskdale Road Community Centre in Stoke Mandeville with plenty of parking. Please arrive 6.45 for 7pm start.
June committee meeting cancelled
Leave a CommentNormally the LRG holds its committee meetings every Thursday week after the VAHT’s Board meeting. In June this falls on the day of the European and Local elections. The LRG committee agreed to search for a suitable meeting room for Tuesday 2nd June but it has proven rather difficult. The LRG officers have therefore decided to cancel June’s committee meeting. If there are an objections to waiting until July’s committee meeting, please contact the Secretary via the usual methods.
April Open Meeting
This Thursday sees the LRG hold its first open meeting of the year since the AGM back in January. All leaseholders are invited and you will have a chance to put questions to a VAHT representative.
So far the LRG has managed to send postal invitations to around 270 leaseholders, but this is less than half of the LHs under the Trust – we therefore urge you to spread the word if you know of any other leaseholders under the VAHT.
Please join us: Thursday, 30th April 2009 at Eskdale Road Community Centre, Stoke Mandeville, and aim to arrive at 6.45 for the meeting to commence at 7pm.
Download meeting agenda (PDF)
LRG update – news in brief
Bucks Herald Advert
In the run up to the Open Meeting the LRG has been trying to drum up more support for the forth coming open meeting. Look out for the advertisement which is running for two weeks prior to the open meeting.
Fighting Fund
We’re pleased to announce that the LRG’s Fighting Fund has topped £1,000 following the receipt of four recent cheques. We are very grateful for this support, however, legal costs are expensive and we may need further support to continue on with a valuation tribunal against the VAHT. The LRG’s solicitors have now written to the VAHT requesting a response within 21 days.
Tom Watt to stand down as Chair
It is with regret that our faithful Chair, Tom Watt, is due to stand down from his position effective after the April Open Meeting. This is due to a number of personal reasons, but Tom will be making an announcement at the Open Meeting on Thursday.
Meeting minutes to date (Sept thru March)
Download minutes from past meetings to date in Adobe Reader PDF.
- Download: Minutes from 4th September 2008
- Download: Minutes from 6th November 2008
- Download: Minutes from 8th January 2009
- Download: Minutes from 29th January 2009
- Download: Minutes from 26th February 2009
- Download: Minutes from 26th March 2009
To view these files you will need Adobe Reader. Chances are you already have it because this is a very common file format, but if not, please visit Adobe’s website.
BBC Watchdog covers property management fees
Tonight the BBC’s Watchdog programme broadcast a feature on property management fees. It’s something we have believed for quite some time, but now this programme seems to prove, up and down the country, that many leaseholders are getting a raw deal from property management companies.
You can watch the programme again on the BBC iPlayer (scroll to time index 14:50) for the next seven days or read the report online where you can make comments that will be read by the programme editors.
This probably won’t be the last we hear of this!
Press Announcement: Housing Trust Overcharging Leaseholders
Donwload this document (PDF).
A VAST AMOUNT OF local leaseholders are being overcharged for services by the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust.
That is the considered professional opinion of the Leaseholders’ Representative Group’s solicitor Irwin Mitchell, who has been engaged by the leaseholder-elected volunteers to examine the legality and justification for new service charges being imposed by the Trust, which took over all the housing stock of Aylesbury Vale District Council two years ago.
The solicitor is particularly critical of the management and administrative charges being imposed by the Trust. After examining Trust documents, sample leases of several resident leaseholders, and the bills that they have received from the Trust, the solicitor says that it has many reservations about the charges, and for example, calculates that the sum apportioned to leaseholder management should be £16,852 rather than the £29,088 claimed by the Trust.
Full details of the solicitor’s observations were reported at last month’s committee meeting of the LRG by its chairman Tom Watt. He said that in spite of many meetings with the Trust during the past two years over service charge issues, very few of them had been resolved, and it now seemed very likely that the issues would have to be taken to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.
“The gloves are off. We have talked to the Trust for over two years and they are just not listening to us. All we want is a fair deal, and at present we are just not getting one,” says Mr Watt.
He reported to the meeting that many leaseholders are blindly paying the large three figure service charges now in addition to the former annual ground rent and insurance premium, which used to be charged by AVDC, simply because they do not understand them. “Be lease-aware. Only pay what is specified in your lease,” advised Mr Watt, who estimates that most leaseholder bills have increased by over 200% since the Trust took over from the Council.
At the January meeting he announced a new membership recruitment drive to persuade more of the 600-plus leaseholders in the Vale to take an active interest in the campaign of the Leaseholders’ Representative Group; the goal to get a fair deal for all leaseholders. As part of its campaign the LRG has created a website at www.lrg-aylesbury.org.uk where much more information about its activities and meetings can be found.
More evidence, more support
The LRG needs more hard evidence from Leaseholders of complaints not being properly dealt with by the VAHT. And furthermore, extra leaseholder support is needed for the LRG.
Telephone complaint form
Whenever you take up issues with the VAHT we urge you to copy documents to the LRG, redacting personal details if necessary. However, most of the time people just want to pick up the phone, but this can mean there’s no paper trail for the Trust to be held accountable. Hard evidence will help us prove that complaints are being handled poorly so we’ve constructed a helpful form with prompts like name of the person you’re speaking to, date, time, details of complaint, etc. Click here to download the form. Each time you complete one, copy it to us at the usual contact details.
Recruit your fellow Leaseholders
We have designed an A5 leaflet to help you/us find more Leaseholders to support the LRG. We have copies to give out at meetings or you can download a copy of the leaflet to print or e-mail to your neighbours. We also suggest posting these leaflets in your communal areas and at your local shops.
Announcement of January Committee Meeting
The next committee meeting of the Leaseholders’ Representative Group will be held on Thursday 29th January 2009 at the Eskdale Road Community Centre in Stoke Mandeville at 6.45pm for 7pm start. Please download the agenda.
Committee members should make every effort to attend. If you are unable to attend, please send your apologies to secretary@lrg-aylesbury.org.uk or telephone 07531 846 816. Thank you.
