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 Leaseholders Stephen Murphy, Teresa Dorgan and Amelia Belloni, who face hefty bills
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‘Can’t pay, won’t pay’ says repairs bill rebel
Ex-cabbie warns: ‘If I have to go to jail, then so be it’
A ‘PENSIONER martyr’ repeated his warning this week that he will go to prison rather than pay a £31,000 bill for his share of repairs at the Clerkenwell estate where he lives.
In an act of defiance, retired London cabbie and great-grandfather Stephen Murphy, 83, said: “Even if I won the Lottery I wouldn’t pay. I would rather take my chances with a hopefully sympathetic judge. But if I have to go to jail, then so be it.”
Mr Murphy spoke out as 41 leaseholders who live on Spa Green estate in Rosebery Avenue, opposite Sadler’s Wells, prepared to seek cuts in massive service charges at a Leaseholders Valuation Tribunal.
In the year since work began on fitting new windows and repairing roofs, Islington Council’s privatised housing arm, Homes for Islington, has refused to reduce fees – some as high as £42,000 – for those who purchased their former council homes under the 1980s-90s right-to-buy scheme.
Fees are high because the late 1940s estate, created by Berthold Lubetkin, the modernist architect who designed London Zoo’s penguin pool, is grade II*-listed. Workmen have to use building materials specified by English Heritage.
Mr Murphy, a former champion amateur boxer who lives at Sadler House, first said he would go to prison in an interview with the Tribune last year.
He added: “Where am I going to find that kind of money at my age? I just can’t pay it. They will just have to take me to prison. At least, I’ll have a roof over my head.”
A former Royal Navy seaman, Mr Murphy has two years to pay after the start of work. “I bought this flat with my late wife Emily 20 years ago,” he added. “We didn’t have a lot but we thought it would provide us with security and something to leave the family.”
Other leaseholders say they will also struggle to pay the charge. Teresa Dorgan, who has complained about the quality of some of the work already completed, has to find £31,665.
“I will have to pay double what I earn in a year,” she said. “I just can’t afford it. They want to bankrupt us so we lose our homes.
“We had no option on whether we wanted the work done or not. Nor did we have a say about the contract. We think it should be capped at £10,000 like other estates in the borough.
Pensioner Amelia Belloni has been hit with a bill for £41,500. “I have a small pension and this bill will cripple me,” she said. “If you don’t pay off in two years you start paying interest. They could take the money when I die but I have a handicapped daughter. Where will she live?”
The council maintains the work being carried out is needed to meet the Government’s Decent Homes standard.
Councillor Terry Stacy, Lib Dem executive member for housing and communities, said: “We understand that Islington’s leaseholders, as well as those across the rest of the country, are in a very difficult position.
“The law says we cannot subsidise leaseholders’ share of building costs but we are doing everything we can to help them. We have introduced a new payment plan so leaseholders can pay their share of building costs over five years – with no interest for two years.
“We are also lobbying central government over this issue to help develop a fairer system.”
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