Lambeth has announced a fairer policy on charging leaseholders who replace their own windows at their homes.

During the start of replacement windows, local councillors met with Weir Estate Residents as well as other residents having their windows replaced when the issue came to light.

In the past, leaseholders who paid to have their windows replaced faced being charged again when the Council came to replacing all the windows on the rest of the estate. This was because, under their lease agreement, leaseholders are legally responsible for paying a proportion of the cost of any works to the structure and fabric of the building.

But after listening to Leaseholders and Councillors, the council has reviewed this practice so that leaseholders will no longer face being “double charged”.

Cllr Lib Peck, Cabinet member for Housing and Regeneration, said: “It was while working on two major window replacement schemes in my own ward at the start of the year that I began to appreciate how unfair the system was for leaseholders. I realised that leaseholders who had gained planning permission to replace their own windows and who had carried out these repairs to improve their property were expected to contribute again for other leaseholders’ windows. I am pleased that after much pressure on our part, Lambeth has changed this rule and ensured that leaseholders get a fairer deal.”

Under the new arrangements, leaseholders who have replaced their windows and whose windows conform to planning regulations will no longer be expected to pay for replacement windows. They will continue to have to pay for the fixed costs of the contract (e.g. costs for scaffolding and communal improvements, as per the terms of their lease.)