Sunday 10 March 2013

Looking to buy in Brockley?

We have been contacted recently by a number of people who have been looking to buy ex-Lewisham Council properties which are now managed by the PFI consortium Regenter B3, covering Brockley and parts of Ladywell and New Cross, and who have heard of the problems that many leaseholders have had since the PFI took over in 2007. 

While there have been some problems with the PFI, our view is that these are now over. Brockley leaseholders have had a number of gripes over the quality, cost and necessity of renovations carried out during the "Major Works programme" in 2007-09. However, after actions taken forward by a number of leaseholders, these have been rectified. More importantly, the culprit - Higgins Construction - is now no longer part of the PFI consortium. 

Your solicitor's searches should note that there are plans for another round of cyclical decoration works which will start to take place in the next few years. Note that the costs of these is capped at £10,000 which, while a lot of money, is much less than leaseholders in other ex-LA properties nationwide can be subject to (and indeed elsewhere in Lewisham such as those run by Lewisham Homes). Such caps very rarely exist in leasehold properties with a private freeholder either. Regenter has stated that costs would be limited to decorative works in communal areas - so it is hard to anticipate costs being anywhere near the £10,000 mark anyway.

Be assured also that, while still not perfect, Lewisham Council has upped its game in managing and monitoring the PFI, and we believe that lessons have genuinely been learned. 

The upshot is, there is relatively little to worry about - there are of course some niggles, but these are in the same order of magnitude as any leasehold property - private or ex-LA. If you have any questions, contact us at brockleyleaseholders@gmail.com and we can point you to who to ask for more details at Lewisham Council and at Regenter B3. 

You can also be assured that there are other leaseholders to provide advise and help should there ever be any issues. Brockley and Ladywell are also amazing places to live!  

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