Court refuses Islington council’s appeal against leaseholder tribunal ruling
Days before a TV expose about leaseholders rip offs featuring Islington Council, one group of resident’s hope their battle is at an end after Town Hall wasn’t allowed to appeal a ruling it blew �1million overpaying on housing improvements.
Monday’s edition of investigative Channel Four show Dispatches features the Tremlett Grove Estate, in Archway, which in April the Leasholder Valuation Tribunal (LVT) judged the council paid over the odds to the tune of seven figures for work on two blocks.
The ruling meant the council will have to cut �225,000 of the charge to the 14 leaseholders affected – around �16,000 each.
Later that month the council appealed the decision, but the LVT refused them the right to appeal.
The council then took the appeal to the Lands Tribunal, a higher body than the LVT, who also refused the right of appeal on August 2.
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Judy Granville, 62, one of the leaseholders who launched the original action, said: “This is a huge vindication for me. There has been so many ups and downs, with the council appealing on two occasions, that I will wait before popping any corks.
“The fact that the council were told to get on their bike by the Lands Tribunal is excellent news.”
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However the council are still refusing to give up and can now take the appeal to the Administrative Court, a division of the High Court, on a point of law.
A spokesman for the council said: “The flat roofs at Tremlett Grove and Merryweather Court are more than 40 years old, and Government guidance is that after 30 years roofs in poor condition should be replaced, not repaired.
“The tribunal is not saying that this work was unnecessary, but rather they wanted more evidence to prove it was necessary.
“That is why we are considering an appeal against the tribunal’s finding.
“Islington will continue to make investment decisions based on the long-term interests of the residents and stock.”
