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When the ultimate price is losing your home
• CONCERNING your story (Builders ‘rigged prices’, April 24), council tenants, no less than leaseholders, are vulnerable to paying “the ultimate price” with the loss of their homes if subjected to price fixing cartels in matters of repairs and refurbishments.
To wit: the “unaffordable” refurbishment of council homes then chosen for auction to developers at this time of growing housing need.
Grossly inflated costs and inefficiency leave council tenants in “lack of repair” misery in their daily lives.
Many, especially in street properties, resort to funding repairs themselves without experiencing the return leaseholders may enjoy for their investment.
In his capacity as chairman of the leaseholders’ forum Dr Peter Wright, quite rightly, reminds the council of their “fiduciary duty” towards leaseholders and taxpayers.
Equally, it behoves him to offer this sentiment on behalf of those tenants he represents as the chair of Holborn District Management Committee.
The council point out that all parties are innocent till proven guilty, though you report guilt has to some extent been admitted by a number of the firms in question.
District management committees, lease-holders forums, all tenant participation groups and council taxpayers might now usefully unite to require that the council be a little less relaxed about these matters.
Rather than passively wait for an indication that they have entered into these questionable contracts over many years, they need to investigate with vigour as well as “duty”.
After all… there are homes as well as money being lost.
Kathleen O’Donoghue
Calthorpe Street, WC1
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