Update and Meeting Invitation

Dear all,

I am writing to provide you with an update on the issue of retrofitting of water sprinklers in 10+storey blocks in Wandsworth.

I also write to invite you to an Open Meeting on this issue which will take place at 7:30pm on Sunday 10^th February at the Focus Hall, Minstead Gardens in Roehampton SW15 4EB.

A link showing you the location of the venue with directions can be found here: https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/directory_record/527086/focus_hall/category/1125/clubrooms

A link for those travelling from Battersea or Tooting with details of one of the most helpful bus routes is here: https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/170/

UPDATE

· Summary

In late July 2018 Wandsworth Council brought a case to the First Tier Tribunal on whether Leaseholders will have to accept and pay for retrofitting of sprinklers in 10+ storey blocks. The case has now moved forward since the Council set out its argument in more detail in December. The case is now in a phase called “disclosure”, described further below. It is also now moving towards some important deadlines in March when the Respondents (i.e. Leaseholders and/or their legal representatives) have to make a decision about what to do next (again see below).

· New Statement of Case from the Council

As you may recall, after the hearing at the Town Hall in October, the Tribunal decided that the Council had not been clear enough in how it set out its argument the first time. So the Tribunal asked the Council to set out its argument (its” Statement of Case”) in more detail, for example why it is pursuing a “global policy” applying to all blocks of 10+ storeys regardless of their design/construction etc, and addressing the Council's argument around the issue of “access” to Leaseholders’ properties.

You should have received the new Statement of Case in December via post.

· Disclosure

The Tribunal also ordered the Council to disclose a list of documents. (The list is set out in the Directions dated 5^th November which you should have received via post).

The disclosure phase is when the Council provides access to all of the documents it has been told by the Tribunal to provide, as well as those documents it wants to refer to in making its argument to the Tribunal in favour of imposing sprinklers.

In November a meeting took place at the Tribunal to discuss how to the Council and the Tribunal should communicate with residents about this case. This meeting was called due to concerns raised about residents needing much more support and access to information to fully participate in this case – a good example being certain older or vulnerable residents who don’t regularly use the internet, or those for whom English is not their first language. The people invited to that meeting were those who indicated that they wanted to be part of the “communications sub-group” and included Councillor Ireland and myself.

We asked for balanced information on the case and the argument around sprinklers to be included in Brightside or Home Life magazines, but this was strongly resisted by the Council.

We also asked for information about the case not only to be online, but for important documents to be sent to residents directly via post, and for rooms in affected parts of the Borough to be made available for residents where they could view copies of the disclosed documents.

You should have received a letter on or around 21^st December 2018 including the Council’s revised Statement of Case setting out its argument in more detail, and telling you locations where you can see the disclosure documents. (The documents are also online).

The documents include information about how the Council made its decision about imposing sprinklers, matters it took into account, minutes of relevant Council meetings, fire safety reports, property surveys and a list of the types and categories of lease in each block. (The full list of what should have been disclosed is set out in Direction 4 of the 5^th November Directions).

I also asked for the rooms which were made available to be accessible both physically and also in terms of timing, i.e. to include weekends so that people could go around their working hours/caring commitments. The request for a room in the Town Hall (which is open late and on Saturdays) was refused, but the locations where you can read the documents are as follows:

1. Battersea Fields RMO, Basement, Walden House, Dagnall Street, London, SW11 5DB

2. Ethelburga Community Centre, 60 Worfield Street, Ethelburga Estate, London, SW11

3. Western Area Team Office, 38 Holybourne Avenue, London, SW15 4JE

4. Housing Reception, 90 Putney Bridge Road, London, SW18 1HR

5. Ackroydon East TMO, 26 Montfort Place, London, SW19 6QL

To see the documents at one of the above locations, I’m afraid the Council insists that you must arrange an appointment either via email or telephone on hms@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk or 020 8871 6161.

I know of several residents who have found it very difficult to arrange an appointment. Please let me and/or your local Councillor know your thoughts and experiences on this. Please also let us know if there are documents you believe are missing from the disclosure files, or which you think are relevant and should be requested.

· March deadlines:

The Tribunal set a deadline for Leaseholders and/or their legal representatives to reply to the Tribunal telling it whether they wanted (A) to apply to Strike Out the Council’s claim , (B) apply to transfer the case to the Upper Tribunal, OR (C) submit their reply to the arguments made by the Council. Those deadlines were originally all in Febuary 2019, but they were subsequently put back to March.

The current deadlines are now:

(i) If Leaseholders want to apply to Strike Out the Council’s case, they must inform the Tribunal and the Council by 5 March 2019.

(ii) If Leaseholders want to apply to transfer the case to the Upper Tribunal they must inform the Tribunal and the Council by 5^th March 2019.

(iii) If Leaseholders do not want to do either of the above, they must reply to the Tribunal with their reply to the Council’s arguments, i.e. their own Statement of Case, by 19 March 2019.

The term “Strike Out” normally refers to the situation where a Court decides that the case will be stopped and dismissed before reaching a full hearing because one side has not complied with the rules to a sufficient degree, or because that there is no reasonable prospect of the case being successful.

If you have any questions about these deadlines, or about the case more generally, please feel free to email me or one of your local Councillors and we will try to help you with your question. However, I’m afraid that none of us is an expert on Property Tribunal cases! Therefore I would recommend that you attend our next open meeting to ask questions of Mr Eaton and Ms Gourlay (see below).

OPEN MEETING

All residents are very welcome at the meeting on 10^th February, which will be held in the Focus Hall in Roehampton from 7:30pm. This is an accessible venue with ample seating and also a bar where drinks may be purchased. Thank you to Karen for agreeing to open the bar for us!

The speakers at the meeting will include property law experts Mark Eaton and Amanda Gourlay, plus local Councillors from Roehampton, West Hill, Tooting and Battersea.

For those who weren’t at the last meeting, Mr Eaton and Ms Gourlay are lawyers who are advising a small group of affected Leaseholders. If you are interested in speaking to Mr Eaton and Ms Gourlay about joining that group, this can be raised with them at the meeting.

However, it is important to note again that you do not have to instruct a legal advisor to respond to the Council’s case. The Tribunal rules and procedures are set up so that individuals should not require legal advice.

Alternatively, if you would like to look into alternative legal advisors, you could look at LEASE (the Leaseholder Advisory Service), or speak to solicitors yourselves directly. I have also provided the names of a number of specialist lawyers in this area to the Alton Leaseholders group.

We will aim to use most of the time in the meeting to take questions from residents, and hear your views. In order to get the most from the meeting, please let us know if there are specific points which you would like us to cover. This will also hopefully be a good opportunity again for affected residents to meet, exchange contact details and talk about issues such as crowdfunding and sources of support.

I hope that the above is helpful. Please feel free to share this message with others.

Please let me know if you would rather not receive these emails in future.

With kind regards,

Councillor Claire Gilbert

Labour – Roehampton & Putney Heath