BBC London speaks to people hit by rising service charges that could cause them to lose their homes.
The sky-rocketing charges faced by tenants and residents for the service element of their monthly bills amount to an "industrial-scale scandal", a support group has told BBC London.
"It’s crippling,” says Patrick, who with his partner, Lewis Ryan, owns 60% of the flat in Dalston, east London. In a statement, One Housing told BBC London it did not profit from service charges. It said: “Across the country, charges for services such as insurance and energy costs have continued to rise very steeply. Furthermore, due to the timber-frame construction of the building is subject to high insurance fees."
“We acknowledge that these charges are higher than anticipated and appreciate that any cost increase can be concerning and unwelcome."Patrick's partner, Lewis, 40, works for the NHS. They qualified to buy the shared-ownership flat because of his key-worker status but to keep up with the bills he had to start working weekends, until the pressure took its toll on his health and he needed to take time off sick.
The rising cost of buildings insurance has been cited as a factor in the soaring service charge bills One Housing said: "We are continuing to work with the freeholder and managing agent to look into these charges, and have previously supplied Mr Duffy and his partner with breakdowns of invoices and supporting documents upon their request."I've spoken to eight other people who are leaseholders of One Housing and who have similar complaints. Michael Brown, 62, is one of them.
“You want to see some evidence and invoices. No-one in their right mind would pay a bill without knowing what the invoice was for.” One Housing told the BBC that neither it nor the management agent had "received reports of issues relating to vandalism, safety of communal areas or leaking pipes at Mr Brown’s building".Michael says trying to get answers is "so frustrating"
A spokesperson for One Housing said: “We want to sincerely apologise for any distress some of our customers have experienced relating to service charges and are sorry to hear they are not satisfied with the service we have provided.
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