St Martins TRA

Many residents have said they have issues with their lease. We’re having a meeting with Metropolitan in April to try and sort this out.

Leaseholder Issues Public Meeting
Tuesday 5th April, 7:30pm – 9pm
High Trees Community Development Trust, 220 Upper Tulse Hill
(At the junction of Tulse Hill and Upper Tulse Hill)
Ben Hall from Metropolitan Leaseholder Services will be present
Download publicity here

We’ll be asking the following questions (listed in priority order):

Management fee

• My management fee has increased from £5.33 a month to £17 a month this year with no explanation.  Why is the management fee so much more this year?
• Why has the promise to lease holders at the date of transfer, that management fees would remain @10% been broken?
• What does the management fee cover?  Why was the management fee not not reduced when the site office closed?

Value for money

• I pay £483 a year for “Internal Cleaning”.  This suggests it costs £11,600 to clean the stairwell.  But the cleaner only comes for 2 hours a week
• Why does lift maintenace cost £12,000 a year for each block?
• Why are our Block communal electricity charges based on estate usage? When can we expect St Martin’s meter mapping to be completed?
• Why are shared Door entry systems for two blocks, being charged at the full block percentage to each of the blocks?

Other issues

• I live on a ground floor flat. Why do I pay for the lift and the stairwell cleaning in my service charge?
• From April leaseholders in High Trees will have to pay Thames Water for water and sewage?  How did they pay for this before April?  And how much did it cost?
• Why do section 20 notices never give the cost to the leaseholder?
• Who is responsible for lighting and repairs to adopted roads on St Martin’s Estate? What percentage does the new academy pay towards the estate charges for road repairs and signage?

Low priority

• Why are service charges not presented in the format specified in our lease? With block, estate, and insurance percentages shown?
• Why are Neil Wates Crescent and Jemma Knowles Close assumed to be part of St Martin’s Estate in contradiction to my lease? What is the situation with Hartwell Close and Nicholl House, are they considered part of the estate by Metropolitan?

If you have a question that’s not listed there should be time for you to ask it on the night. But leasehold questions can be complicated so you may not get an immediate answer

Note: St Martins TRA aims to represent all residents of this estate. This meeting is just for the benefit of leaseholders but we’ve also had meetings about communal repairs and waste that affect everyone.