- Many who live in Verulam House say the bill is equal to their annual salaries
Residents of a tower block claim they are facing ‘bankruptcy’ and homelessness after a council demanded they pay part of a £1.1million bill for new windows.
They have been told they would have to pay thousands of pounds for the windows, which an independent surveyor said were unnecessary.
A group of them are challenging Labor council’s ‘insane’ Hammersmith and Fulham council bill.
Twenty-five leaseholders, including nurses, midwives, teachers and the elderly, are being asked to spend between £17,500 and £21,5000 on the windows.
Many living in Verulam House say the bill is equal to their annual salaries, meaning they will no longer be able to pay their mortgages and will be forced to leave.
The authority owns the 1970s block, where 25 of the 59 properties have been sold under the Right to Buy scheme. They will have to bear the costs of window replacement.
Other projects include the council writing to leaseholders in 2022 to say they were installing scaffolding to remove cladding – which is still in place two years later – causing ‘chaos’.
And it ‘blindsided’ residents by saying it had decided to replace PVC windows installed 26 years ago because they were nearing the ‘end of their life’.
Diego Bertoni, president of the Tenants and Residents Association, described the situation as “madness.”
The 40-year-old said: “The council is on a mission to put leaseholders out of business and leave taxpayers with huge costs to replace windows that don’t need replacing.
‘It’s extremely incompetent. It makes absolutely no sense.
‘I can’t wrap my head around it. It’s terribly managed. New windows are absolutely not necessary, they are fine and of good quality.
Click here to change the format of this module
‘It just feels like another opportunity to make money from tenants. It is seriously wrong. We are very upset.”
Mr Bertoni said residents were hit with a “wall of silence” as they demanded answers from the authority about why the windows were needed.
He added: “The costs are higher than the take-home pay of some key workers living here. How on earth is that fair? What kind of message does that send?
“It will force them out of their homes.
‘We haven’t had any answers. No explanation or anything. Just a wall of silence. It’s so frustrating. People are really concerned about this.”
One woman, who did not want to be identified, said: “I’m afraid of becoming homeless. Where do they think I’m going to find the money?
‘It feels like a punishment. All I do is work hard to provide for my family in very difficult times. And then we get hit with this. It’s crazy.
“The costs are crazy.”
NHS worker Annabel Diaz, 39, accused the council of showing ‘no compassion’ for those affected.
She said: ‘The costs are ridiculous.
‘They don’t care. The impact of this can be enormous. People will be forced to leave for something that doesn’t have to happen.’
A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham said: ‘We have a legal duty as landlords to ensure that our buildings are safe and maintained in good condition for all residents.
‘Construction safety work is already carried out free of charge to the leaseholders and is only requested against a contribution of 49 per cent of the total cost of the works to Verulam House.
‘To help and support homeowners, the municipality offers sympathetic repayment options.’