Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Aldires Bugia, Billy Byatt, Dane Cummings, Isabella Luger, Philip Dunne, Thomas Watkins and Wolfram Westendorf.

Other Forum members not present included George Ambrose and Sumsun Naher.

There were none.

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 20^th September 2022.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting of 20th September 2022 and the actions arising from those minutes.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th September 2022 be approved as an accurate record.

With regards to the action points arising from those minutes:

·       An update on the Correspondence Management System would be provided by the Head of Leaseholder Services later on the agenda.

·        A number of Leaseholders had tested the facility on the Camden Account which provided information about Planned Major Works and had reported back that it worked for them. Leaseholders were asked to report back to the Head of Leaseholder Services if there were any issues.

With regards to the engagement process for Capital Works Projects, there was consultation ongoing at the moment on an outline of a shared agreement (see ‘Engagement Working Group’ at item 5). The draft had been included on pages 35-36 of the agenda.

·       The Chair informed the Forum that the results of the last Resident Survey carried out in 2019 had been received from the Head of Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement a summary of which was on page 59 of the agenda. The results of the survey showed that when Camden’s leaseholder satisfaction was benchmarked against other social housing landlords, it came out significantly below average and amongst the lowest 25% for all aspects covered. A meeting was being planned between senior officers in the department, the Cabinet Member, the Chair and Vice Chair of Leaseholders’ Forum to find out what the Council was doing to improve the service to residents. They would report back after the meeting.

           ACTION BY: Chair

·       The Communications Member would send out a Newsletter with the survey results attached later in the week. The newsletter goes out to all residents that had signed up. Any resident/leaseholder that wants to sign up to receive newsletters could be added if they emailed their request to camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk

          ACTION BY: Communications Member / Leaseholders

To receive an update from the Head of Leaseholder Services.

·       information on Camden website and Camden Account

·       organisation structure

·       correspondence management system - new Head of Digital and Data

·       other action points: including Florrie’s Law

Consideration was given to the Head of Leaseholder Services Update report.

The Head of Leaseholder Services provided the Forum with an update on Leaseholder Services as outlined on pages 31-32 of the agenda. She highlighted that:

·       Leaseholder Services was in the Housing Directorate. The Directorate was going through a major restructure which was being carried out by the Director of Housing.

·       The current Head of Leaseholder Services was in the role on a temporary basis, covering the role while the Directorate was being restructured.

·       Leaseholder Services was a big team which covered a wide range of tasks, for example The Leaseholder Revenue Accounts Team calculated day to day service charges, The Leaseholder Enquiry Team dealt with service charge account queries, collecting service charges and answering queries and resolving disputes while the Consultation and Final Accounts Team dealt with sending formal consultation notices about repair, renewal, maintenance works and new service contracts, responding to general enquiries from leaseholders about major works and providing a breakdown of major works.

·       Camden’s website and the Camden Account was being updated to provide a useful information section for Leaseholders. The section would provide information on who to contact in Leaseholder Services, how to find out if major works were planned for a property and how to request a repair.

·       A section on energy costs had also been added to the webpage and included information about the Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme. Additional information about mandatory capping charges for major works (also known as Florrie’s Law) had also been added to the webpage. The Service was also hoping to add a flag notification on the Camden Account for contracts where capping might apply (note: only certain projects are covered and the leaseholder has to have the property as their main residence).

·       A how to guide was being developed for the Camden Account to enable leaseholders to find the information functions available to them.

·       There were 4,300 leaseholders with correspondence addresses separate to their property address of which 700 had registered their property as sub-let.

·       Leaseholders were written to when their sublet registration expired reminding them to re-register.

·       Obtaining a signed deed of covenant was the hardest part of the process with a return rate of about 6%.

Responding to Leaseholders questions the Head of Leaseholder Services gave the following comments:

·       It was hoped that the project of putting useful information together to publish on the Camden website would be ready before Christmas this year.

·       The service was looking to put the information on both the Camden website and Camden Account. Once live Leaseholders would be sent a link.

·       In respect of whether the information on the Camden Account was stored with Google in California, the Camden Account sat on a platform called Liferay which was not a Google product so it was difficult to see how this was connected to Google. The Council does not share any data from Camden Account registrations. The Council had also just deleted all accounts and associated data where the user  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive updates from the Working-Groups:

a.    Engagement with leaseholders 

Update on leaseholder engagement process

b.    Repairs -

·       new team structure (Danny Waite to present)

·       timescale for providing LH with timelines for repairs

·       quality of work – case management measure?

·       value for money – Leaseholder survey?

Consideration was given to the updates from the Working Groups.

Engagement Working Group

The Engagement Working Group comprising Dr Clive Sneddon, Martyn Swain Andrew Purves and Billy Byatt had met via zoom with the Consultation Property Manager to discuss the Engagement Process for Capital Works Projects document.

The aim was to look into information required by Leaseholders / tenants when major works were being planned. To iron out with officers the issues, what to expect and to provide a shared document agreeing to how people would be engaged/consulted on upcoming planned major works.

Dr Clive Sneddon informed the Forum that the working group had made a number of suggestions regarding the early stage of the engagement process which had been omitted from the document. The Consultation Property Manager had agreed with most of the suggestions and had agreed to incorporate these in the document. Dr Sneddon asked that any further suggestions or comments should be sent to him so that these could be taken up with the Consultation Property Manager before a draft document would be circulated to leaseholders for further comments.

A Forum Member raised a number of issues with the document including that

·       there was no mention of the early stages of the process and of the estimates of cost. Clarity was also required on whether Camden only always went for the lowest bid or whether quality was also considered.

·       The normal process was that the options appraisal and consultation would normally come before the statutory phase, this was not highlighted in the document.

·       The document did not distinguish between what was Camden’s policy and what the rights of leaseholders were.

·       The document should highlight what the process is now, not what it might become in the future.

·       It was agreed that the Forum member and any other members with comments and suggestions should email the Working Group / Dr Clive Sneddon with their comments and suggestions through the camden@leaseholdersforum.org.uk email address.

ACTION BY: Patrick Hagopian / Leaseholders

Repairs Working Group

The Repairs Working Group update report was included on pages 43-44 of the agenda. It was noted that the Head of Repairs Operations had attended the meeting to update the Forum on the structure and operation of his team which was highlighted on pages 37 to 42 of the agenda. He advised that the restructure was ongoing (see ‘Repairs Team’ at item 7).

RESOLVED –

THAT the update report be noted.

To agree amendments to the Leaseholders’ Forum Constitution.

Consideration was given to the LHF Constitution.

The Communications Member informed the Forum that since the last meeting in September it was established that the Council’s Committee Services Section was not able to support the process for election of members to the Forum. The Forum was of the view that the election process should be supported by someone independent of the Forum membership and after discussion with Council officers it was established that the service best placed to do this was Leaseholder Services.

The Constitution had therefore been amended replacing reference to Committee Services with Leaseholder Services and was seeking agreement of the Forum to this amendment to the Constitution.

On being put to the vote it was unanimously in favour,

Resolved

That the LHF Constitution be amended to the following

 PROCESS FOR ELECTION OF OFFICERS

1.1         Leaseholder Servicesis provided with the names of all Forum members, the district represented and their emailaddress.

1.2         LeaseholderServices sends toeach membera listof themembers anddistrict representedand aNomination paperfor theroles ofChair andVice Chair.

1.3         Members may nominate a Chair and/or Vice Chair and return the Nomination paper toLeaseholder Servicesby email no later than 3 working days prior to themeeting.

1.4         A member nominating themself should include a supporting statement of no more than 100 words describing what they would bring to therole.

1.5         Leaseholder Servicescirculates by email to allmembers

2 working days prior to the meeting the list of advance nominees and statements received. I

To receive updates on:

·       STAR surveys

·       Bharti district heating

·       Master Keys/ fire safety inspections on street properties

Star Surveys

The Chair reiterated that along with the Forum Vice Chair, she would be meeting with the Cabinet Member for Better Homes and other officers to discuss the results of the Resident Survey. It was pointed out that the next Star Survey was due to be carried out in April 2023 and had now become a mandatory requirement.

Bharti Heating System

The Leaseholder Service had included information about energy costs in the Frequently Asked Questions accompanying their consultation notice about the procurement of a new energy contract. The service was also adding the information to its website page under a new link which would be called ‘Energy Costs’ and would include information in future Homeowner newsletters. The Forum would be updated with progress.

Master Keys for Street Properties

Forum members were provided with an update on the situation regarding Council Officers unannounced visits to Street Properties to carry out fire safety inspections.

Joy Palmer and the Chair highlighted that the main issues of concern for Leaseholders and residents was that sub-contractors and operatives that were unknown to them were gaining access to the communal areas of the street properties without providing prior notification of their visit or always providing appropriate ID. They queried who was able to use the keys to access the street properties and stated that the programme was being rolled out without any prior consultation with residents and leaseholders. They also highlighted that it was only 2 to 3 people per street property and it would be courteous if prior notification could be provided.

Responding to the concerns raised the Head of Repairs Operations commented that fire inspection checks were an important compliance issue for the Council particularly, following the Grenfell tragedy. As the freeholder it was the responsibility of the Council to have access to its Communal areas and a situation could occur that as a last resort the Council could change the communal front door.

The Chair and Forum members stated that street properties were not high-rise blocks. Also, leaseholders could easily be forewarned about scheduled fire alarm checks via email or SMS.

He further commented that there had been engagement with residents as part of the regular service programme of boiler checks and there was a whole set of processes and procedures which the Council was required to carry out. With regards to the keys the Council had a stringent key management process which was a secure process and with regards to the situation about the insurance requirements, this should not be an issue but he would look into that.

The Chair and Forum members reiterated that neither Camden Association of Street Properties (CASP) or Camden Leaseholders’ Forum (CLF) had been consulted on the proposal. Further, they had evidence that the process by which sub-contractors were handed street door keys was not secure and all leaseholders were not forewarned of visits. A suggestion was made that all Camden subcontractors and operatives should carry ID and expect residents and leaseholders to challenge them and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The next meeting of the Leaseholder Forum is scheduled for 14^th March 2023, as a hybrid meeting, venue to be confirmed.

There was none.

Next meeting 14^th March 2023.