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Satisfaction is high, says Eamon McGoldrick |
You’ve never had it so good, housing boss tells his critics
Homes bought for £20,000 20 years ago now worth a third of a million
ONE of the borough’s most controversial housing chiefs, Eamon McGoldrick, maintained this week that owners of former council homes are better off than ever before.
Mr McGoldrick, 51, who is chief executive of Homes for Islington (HfI), the agency responsible for the borough’s housing, spoke out in an exclusive interview with the Tribune, following complaints from home-owners about “massive surcharges” for often “inferior” repairs.
He argued that the homes – often purchased cheaply under the right-to-buy scheme – will have soared in value.
He insisted that, while some of the home-owners – known as leaseholders – may have to pay bills of £30,000 or more for their share of repairs to common areas of flats blocks, the average bill for work last year was about £5,000.
Mr McGoldrick said that, despite criticisms levelled against HfI since it was formed four years ago, housing in the borough – as judged by the Audit Commission – is better maintained than ever before.
HfI is currently halfway through a programme to refurbish 11,000 leaseholder properties, with another 5,000 to go.
Mr McGoldrick sympathised with the difficulties some leaseholders had over paying the surcharges.
He added: “We are working to government Decent Homes targets and many estates have been neglected for 30 years, which means there is a lot of catch-up work.”
On the issue of quality of work, he said the contracts were properly tendered to ensure value for money.
He added: “Lots of people say they can find a contractor who can do it cheaper, but this is a specialist market and we need to have contractors who can undertake the full range of work, from roofing to windows and concrete repairs.”
He is convinced that the leaseholders are getting good value for money.
Mr McGoldrick said: “A number of leaseholders would have purchased their properties for £15,000 to £20,000 20 years ago and now have an asset worth about a third of a million. This is particularly true south of the borough.”He pointed out that three-bedroom, purpose-built properties in Joseph Trotter Close in Clerkenwell have just sold for £400,000 and a two-bedroom flat in Wilmington Square sold for £600,000.
“We had a situation recently where a tenant applied to buy his property by right-to-buy and got a valuation of over a million.”
Mr McGoldrick admitted that surcharge fees were extremely high on the Spa Green estate in Clerkenwell, where pensioner Stephen Murphy has threatened to go to prison rather than pay a £30,000 bill.
He added: “The refurbishing work has been very expensive because it is a listed estate and the work has to be supervised by English Heritage.
“I’m aware of Mr Murphy’s circumstances and again very sympathetic. We are offering to provide Mr Murphy with independent advice to help him find the best options for paying.”
Mr McGoldrick said that leaseholders with large bills get a two-year, interest-free period to pay, and in some cases they have up to five years to pay.
“Independent surveys show 70-75 per cent high satisfaction ratings among leaseholders,” he added,
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