Thursday, 02 September 2010

Landlord pays out after overcharging

3 August 2007 | Updated: 10 June 2008 7:54 pm

English Churches Housing Group, now part of Riverside Group, has paid thousands of pounds.....

English Churches Housing Group, now part of Riverside Group, has paid thousands of pounds compensation to its tenants after charging them for services they never received.

Nine tenants from English Churches said the landlord had failed to maintain communal lighting, pathways and rubbish bins which they were paying for via service charges.

The complaint was first made in August last year but the tenants continued to press for compensation during Riverside Group's acquisition of English Churches in October.

Riverside has now agreed to carry out repairs, drop the charges and refund each tenant £595 in compensation for service charges paid over the last six years - a total of more than £5,000.

Tracey Wilkinson-Hoy, chair of the West Park & Hinton Close Residents' Association, said: 'This goes to show what people power can achieve and how important it is not to believe everything you are told by your landlord.'

Sasha Harrison, divisional director of Riverside Group, south east division said: 'Following a complaint, it came to light that the service charges for the collection of rubbish and gardening at Hinton Close had not been properly implemented. We held a meeting with residents last week to start the process of varying the service charge and to ensure that we provide the services that residents require.'

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