Leaseholders unhappy at council bill of £36,000 for roof repairs to protest at council house

Campaigners fighting against being forced to pay £36,000 for roof repairs to their flats, which they say is a "ridiculous" cost, are demonstrating outside the council house in Tamworth this evening.

Residents on Lilac Road in the town, who are leaseholders to the properties, say Tamworth Borough Council, who are the freeholders, want £9,000 per property for the fix.

However, the residents say they have obtained quotes to do the job for £12,000, which they say is much more affordable.

Their campaign against paying the amount will now be discussed in a full council meeting at 6pm, as they hope the council will consider a lower cost.

We filmed with the residents in November 2022, when they told us they were having sleepless nights, because they felt the repairs were unnecessary.

Then, Helen Hadley and Patricia Pallett, who are organising the demonstration this evening and are leaseholders for three of the flats, told us; "we're not going to pay it - we can't pay it."

"We haven't got the money to pay it, but we will go down to a realistic amount, £12,000 or £15,000.

"We don't mind, but £36,000 - no," she said, shaking her head. "We haven't got it."

In November, Cllr Alex Farrell, a councillor from Tamworth Borough Council, issued a statement which said; "We recognise and understand how people may be feeling when met with a large bill to pay.

"Tamworth Borough Council has a contract for all repairs and maintenance of their properties.

"This contract was formally awarded after a competitive tender process and was awarded to both the highest-scoring tender and to the most competitively priced."

“As Tamworth Borough Council we do recognise and understand how people may be feeling when met with a large bill to pay.

“Every leaseholder, when they purchased their property, should have been made aware by their conveyancer of their responsibilities around contributing to maintenance charges.

"Unfortunately, if leaseholders were not made aware of this when buying the property, they would need to address this with their conveyancer.

“In this case, we now have to replace the roof of a number of properties, and these costs are shared among all impacted properties.

"We do not make any gains through these charges as they reflect the direct cost to the council.

“Where a payment plan is needed, we’ll work with individual leaseholders to develop a personalised payment plan.

"The contribution from social housing tenants is already part of their rent, so they would not pay anything further.”