Morning Briefing: leaseholders spared £2m repairs bill

In the news

Leaseholders in an Oxford tower block have been spared a £2.7m refurbishment bill, including cladding work, after a tribunal ruled they were not liable to cover the cost.

The judge ruled the refurbishment work being carried out by Oxford City Council in several of its tower blocks counted as improvements, and not repairs. The leaseholders will now only have to pay a total bill of £216,000.

The refurbishment included work on the roof, windows, balconies, cladding and sprinklers, which the judge said leaseholders were not liable to pay towards.

Leaseholders in private blocks have been battling with the freeholders to avoid paying large bills for cladding to be removed.

MPs and landlords are at loggerheads about the acceptable level of security deposits demanded of tenants, the BBC reports.

Deposits should be capped at five weeks’ worth of rent, according to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee.

The government’s latest plan has been to cap the deposit at six weeks’ worth of rent.

Landlords groups believe that six weeks’ worth is realistic, otherwise “riskier” tenants could be blocked.

There has been a surge in rural rough sleeping, a homelessness charity in Mendip has warned.

Stephen Fowler, chief executive of Elim Connect Centre in Mendip, estimated there had been a 30% jump in cases in recent years and said they were currently supporting 16 rough sleepers, the Jersey Evening Post reported.

Councillors have voted against a major development on an Oxfordshire airfield, the BBC reports. Inside Housing revealed in January that the site may become the first use of Homes England’s compulsory purchase powers if it remains stalled.

Breckland Council, in East Anglia, has launched a £1m temporary housing plan Lynn News reports.