Further correspondence between KPETRA and Hyde
28 March 2016
To the Chief Executive and Director of Housing
Dear
Further to my email of 7 March, RM, Head of Income, has responded to the points I raised and I had hoped that, while I had reservations about some of her answers, I would not need to write further to pursue this matter.
However, I find it necessary to write again to point out that we have still not received notification of the total amount of rent and service charges we are to be charged from 4 April 2016 and that this means that residents who pay by standing order will not be able to instruct their bank to make the necessary adjustment in time.
Changes to standing orders can take 3-5 working days to take effect. Moreover, even once a standing order has been set up, payment between banks is not always instantaneous and for a resident to be sure that payment will arrive in Hyde’s bank account by the due date it is judicious to set up the standing order so that payment leaves their bank on a Wednesday to be credited by the following Monday.
Since letters detailing the full amount were not received on Saturday, I must assume they have not yet been sent and therefore cannot arrive with residents by Wednesday at the earliest. The Royal Mail does not deliver here until late morning/early afternoon. It will therefore be impossible for a resident who leaves for work before the post arrives to effect the necessary instructions to their bank on time. Many residents, in particular those who prefer standing orders to direct debit, do not use internet or telephone banking, in which case changes to standing orders require a visit to their bank. There are no longer any bank branches within walking distance of this Estate.
Even in normal circumstances, Hyde’s delays in notifying residents of the total amount due on 4 April would mean a substantial number of residents being unable to pay on time. However, it is the Easter holidays. Many people will be away. For others, child care commitments will make a visit to the bank highly inconvenient if not impossible.
You will appreciate that many of our residents have varying degrees of difficulty speaking and reading English. Your letters ask people to contact you if they need a translation. This will inevitably lead to further delays.
We would therefore request that those who pay by standing order are now treated in the same way as those who pay by direct debit with the start date for their change of payment to now be 3 May 2016.
As I am sure you are more than aware – given that you set the rules – tenants have to be in good standing to be permitted to do a number of things, for example apply for a home swap, obtain a parking permit, etc.
In my email of 14 March to RM I asked for confirmation that no tenant whose rent statement of account showed them to be in arrears because of Hyde’s delay in sending out notification letters of the total amount payable would be penalised in any way and that a note would be placed on their rent account to make it clear that any arrears, however small, were entirely caused by Hyde and that the tenant had always been in good standing.
This request was ignored and it is clear I need to press you on this. Please confirm that no tenant will be penalised in any way and that rent statements will record Hyde’s fault in this matter.
I have concentrated on standing orders here but the continuing delays in notifying residents of the total amount they will have to pay for the coming year means that we cannot budget. Leaseholders should be notified of changes by 31 March. Again, they cannot budget. My own service charges increased by 99% last year (from £9.65 per week to £19.18 p.w – a difference of just under £500 over the year). We are not talking about small amounts here however much Hyde might want to cloak them in the guise of ‘good news’ and ’improved accuracy’.
As RM. noted in her email to me of 9 March, as participants in the Gateway Project, KPETRA’s officers are more than aware of the work on service charges being carried out by the Home Ownership Team. And it is precisely because of our awareness of this that we immediately identified the rent letters to tenants as misleading and confusing, that we objected to the way in which Hyde implied we would be paying less when we have no evidence from our scrutiny of service charges that this will be the case, and that we find Hyde’s failure to provide residents with timely notification of the charges we are being levied for the coming year so appalling.
Residents on this Estate have been on the receiving end of Hyde’s deteriorating services, poor management of contractors and higher charges over recent years and we are aware of evidence from Hyde residents in other parts of the country that the separation of notification of rents and service charges is causing profound and widespread concern. If Hyde is unable to carry out such a basic landlord function as notifying its tenants and leaseholders how much they are to be charged in a week’s time, we have to ask exactly what you intend to do to restore our confidence in your ability to continue to manage our homes.
Yours sincerely
Chair, Kennington Park Estate Tenants’ & Residents’ Association
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5 April 2016
From Head of Income
Dear
Thank you for your email and I am sorry I have not been able to provide the clarity you need. Reading your email there are two points you need further clarity to which I will respond in turn.
- When will we receive our service charge letters?
I am pleased to advise that residents have been receiving their letters this week. We acknowledge and apologise that this is a week later than we had previously advised you.
- Timeliness to amend Standing Orders in time as not to fall in arrears?
Yes, Hyde acknowledges that the timescale for adjusting Standing Orders has been missed for those who make a payment in the first two weeks of April. Yes, we will treat these accounts in the same way as Hyde does for the Direct Debit Accounts and wait for the payments to be revised in May 16. We will obviously take this fully into account before pursing any debt related issues.
I do hope that this has now provided the necessary clarification of the points raised in your email but please do let me know if you need any further information.
Kind Regards