werdna101

Hi Can anyone recommend a good sleep consultant? After months of sleeping well our now 18 month old is refusing to go to sleep at night. After trying to fix it since before Christmas we?ve now given up and have decided we need some help. So any recommendations would be gratefully received. Thanks

We have a large tree (possibly a leylandii) which we want removing from our garden. It is currently about the height of the house (2 stories). Can anyone recommend a good local tree surgeon that they've used before? Thanks

Hi Can anyone recommend a good independent financial advisor? Thanks

We have noticed water damage on our kitchen ceiling underneath our bathroom. We expect this is from a faulty bath tap, but could be something more sinister. Leak is not accessible as bathroom including bath panel is fully tiled. Looking for recommendations for reliable plumber - ideally with tiling abilities for worst case scenario. Job is in Nunhead.

Here's the link to LEASE: http://www.lease-advice.org/

LAS2000 & the Home Ownership Council can put you in touch with people in similar situations. Also speak to your councillor who can raise it at a higher level.

For major works, leaseholders are responsible for a share of all communal costs (i.e. works done to the block, not the inside of other people's flats). So roof works, communal electrics, lifts etc are all included. And in law windows and front doors are included in fabric of the building so you have to pay a share of these too. You shouldn't be billed until the actual works have been completed, so this may be the notice of intention. Check that you are only being billed for communal works and no renovation costs from inside other people's flats have snuck in. If you aren't happy with the costs challenge it and don't be afraid to with hold payment until the invoice is correct. If you are challenging and not getting any traction, Southwark operate their own tribunal process which contains both leaseholders and council officers which is a good first stop beyond the more formal Leaseholder Valuation Tribunal. Southwark also operate repayment schemes for major works that let you spread the repayment over a number of years (interest free I think). Speak to the Home Ownership Unit about repayment options as they do try and help you spread the cost. If you chose to sell, any buyer would want the cost of the major works off the purchase price, as the bill goes with the property, rather than with you.

Hi Can anyone recommend a good local dog walker or doggie day care in the Nunhead area? Thanks Andrew

Prestige build did our house refurb and did a good job. Only do large scale renovations around Dulwich/Peckham/Nunhead

I have also written with a similar comment

It implies that Sunday services are still to be decided so an increase may come. Or is it worthwhile submitting a comment to the consultation to lobby for this? Also - what happens once the London Bridge works are finished? Does the timetable go back to how it is now? Or will there be another round of consultation?

Would also like to recommend Matthew. He recently did our hall, stairs & landing to a very high standard.

I should have also mentioned that any repairs over ?250 must be preceded by something called a section 20 notification. If there is no section 20 notification then legally the council are only allowed to charge you up to a maximum of ?250. This should be included in your lease, but I believe is also in the housing act from the 80s. This includes if they start the work and then find that repairs cost them more - they should still issue a section 20 otherwise you are only liable for ?250. This happened to us. The upstairs property was a council tenant and had a roof leak. They informed the council who erected scaffolding to repair it. They then tried to charge us over ?1000 for the works, but because a section 20 hadn't been issued we were able to argue that we weren't properly notified and the council had to change the invoice and only charge us ?250. If you are notified of upcoming major works this will normally include a section 20 notification. The council only seem to miss it where it involves repairs being requested by tenants in smaller mixed blocks. I think there is also a legal exclusion for emergency repairs, e.g. a tree falls through a roof - but these should be covered by the buildings insurance you pay in your service charge (the policy only covers emergency events and doesn't cover general wear and tear). On the providing your own quotes for works, I was told that there was some small print that comes on the council's quote for repairs that mentions this, but it is hidden in the detail. I haven't seen it myself so not sure where exactly it's mentioned. However, I think they're only likely to approve for small blocks and street properties - if it's a large block and there's a lot of work, e.g. replacing all the windows, they won't agree to miss out your flat and then get your tradesmen to just do yours.

I am an ex-leaseholder and was a street property rep on the home ownership council. MidIvyDale - You will have to pay for repairs to the property as that are the conditions of Southwark's leases. However, some parts fall outside of major works and some inside, e.g. a fence is not covered as its not structural, windows are included, front doors are not. There are some odd exceptions and inclusions. Consult your lease and speak to the Home Ownership unit for detail. Southwark contract all major works out to contractors - in the south of the borough this was Morrisons but the council are looking to bring in house and this is in progress. Morrisons used to just subcontract the ad hoc major repair work on street properties out to local cowboys and their prices were astronomical. They have fixed contractual rates with the council and these are just applied regardless of the job. As a leaseholder, you can get your own quotes and if they are competitive the council can choose to appoint your contractor. I know a leaseholder who was in a 2 flat block with the other tenanted and he needed the outside of his property painting. The council's major works quote was 4 times that of the cheapest quote he found from other local reputable tradesmen. Make sure you get your own quotes from builders that you know will do a good job and push the council to use these. You can do this in 2 ways - get the council to use your contractor for the works by getting quotes and arguing with them like mad. The benefit of this is that they will pick up 50% of the bill here as the cost of the work to the block is divided between the number of flats in the block. Or apply to the council to undertake all the works yourself (contact Home Ownership Unit). They will want lots of detail about what you intend to do and may request building regs and planning approval if necessary. The benefit of this is you get the work done to your standard in your time frame. However the downside is your works will be "off record" so it doesn't feed into their housing stock assessment so they may decide when planning the next round of major works that your street needs completely repointing and as they haven't done the work then they will actually do it again and charge you for it (you can challenge this but they're under no obligation to listen to you). The likelihood of this happening is low as street properties don't often get nominated for major works as the council has enough on its plate with its 60s/70s estates - but it is a possibility. I also strongly recommend joining LAS2000 and attending Home Ownership council meetings as they are public forums attended by council officers so you can get to meet the right people, plus other leaseholders who have lots of experience in getting problems solved. Also you can attend your local Tenants and Residents Association meeting and make a fuss there too.

Hi We need a new TV aerial fitting on our chimney stack. The cable is up there already to connect to, we just need someone to fit an aerial and connect it all up. Can anyone recommend any local businesses that can do this? Thanks, Andrew

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Thanks for the advice. Can anyone recommend any good local companies that deal with it effectively? Anyone had any good or bad experiences?

At the weekend we finally got out in the garden and noticed that quite a bit of Japanese knotweed had sprung up in our garden. Looking around we also noticed it in the neighbours' gardens, and then this morning it is all along the embankment at Nunhead station. Anyone else in the Nunhead area found any? Any tips for how to deal with it?

Hi Have you had any success with the council on this. I think I've got the same problem on my road so any advice on how to get the issue resolved would be gratefully received! Thanks, Andrew

Thanks for the recommendation!

Hi Can anyone recommend a good local carpenter for a tricky job rennovating/replacing an old banister on our stairs? Thanks!

Hi I would suggest ringing the planning department and talking to them because you're in a conservation area and your property is listed. However, a word of caution, I rang the planning department to ask them about this issue twice and got 2 different responses from different officers so unless it's in writing be careful! Thanks, Andy

Hi, Thanks for speedy responses: @trizza - the window fitter is FENSA registered so we don't need the building control approval. We are also fitting draft proofing internally so they meet the U value of the environmental standard. The fitter was talking about planning permission rather than building control permission. @James Barber - the new frames are going to be wooden, the same as the existing frames. I think there's 2 issues here that we need answers to: 1) do we need planning consent at all for this change 2) if we don't need planning consent for the change do we still need to get planning permission to satisfy the Home Ownership Unit when we come to sell? Any help to these questions would be great. I'll drop you an email. @edresi10 - Were you a leaseholder with Southwark council? I think the leasehold issue maybe the bit that's causing the problem

Hi, Thought I'd see if anyone here knows the answer to this question as the internet isn't very helpful and Southwark's planning department aren't answering their phones. We're leaseholders and Southwark council are the freeholders. We don't live in a conservation area. We want to replace our single-glazed wooden sash windows with double glazed sash windows. They're going to be exactly the same apart from the double glazing. We've got permission from the freeholder but they have said that we need planning permission as well. However, we've been advised by the window fitter that this can class as a repair and he will give us documentation as such which we can use for the conveyancing when we come to sell. I've looked at both Southwark's planning website and the national planning portal and they don't give a clear answer. The planning portal seems to indicate that planning permission isn't necessary, only permission from the freeholder, though they then go on to give a case study which muddies the water a bit (i.e. when we come to sell will Southwark say that their freeholder's permission was only granted if we had planning permission and will we need to produce evidence of that or will the window fitter's repair documentation be enough?). Just wondering if anyone on here has had a similar experience/issue and knows the answer. Thanks, Andy

If you're a leaseholder and Southwark Council is your freeholder and you live in a street property (i.e. anything not on an estate), please read on... I sit on a body called the Home Ownership Council. This is an elected body which represents the views of leaseholders to Southwark Council. We are responsible for scrutinising policy and the council's general performance in regards to home ownership and make sure that the council takes the views of leaseholders into account in everything it does. Traditionally, the council has been very focused on leaseholders who live on estates as there are formal structures which more easily represent the views of these leaseholders to the council. However, almost half of the leasehold properties in Southwark are street properties (usually houses or flats in houses) and we feel that the views of street property leaseholders aren't being properly represented. We want to find out what problems street property leaseholders are having so we can convince the council that special provision needs to be made for leaseholders who live in street properties. So, please post below what problems you've been having with Southwark council. This can be in relation to service charges, repairs, major works, answering your questions etc, etc. We're not case workers and can't help with individual problems, but hopefully if we get enough evidence we'll get the council to change so that there aren't problems in the future. Thanks, Andrew Robinson