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| CABBIE KO’D BY £31K
BILL |
‘I’m prepared to go to
jail’, says pensioner, 82
Stephen Murphy |
AN 82-year-old Clerkenwell “service charge martyr”
is threatening to go to prison rather than pay a £31,000 contribution
for repairs to his Grade II* listed estate.
Retired London cabbie and great grandfather Stephen Murphy got the
shock of his life when Homes for Islington (HfI) – the privatised
housing arm of Islington Council – sent him a bill for repairs
to Spa Green Estate in Rosebery Avenue, opposite Sadler’s Wells.
He is one of 41 leaseholders, out of nearly 200 flats, hit by huge
bills for a programme of new windows and repairs to the roof at
the late 1940s estate created by Berthold Lubetkin (1901-1990),
the celebrated modernist architect who designed London Zoo’s
penguin pool. At the same time the 129 council tenants, who make
up the majority on the estate, get the work done free.
Mr Murphy, an ex-champion amateur boxer, who lives at Sadler House,
said: “Where am I going to find that kind of money at my age?
I just can’t pay it. They will just have to take me to prison.
At least I’ll have a roof over my head.”
Former Royal Navy seaman Mr Murphy, who won the junior Amateur Boxing
Association title in 1938, has two years to pay after the commencement
of work.
“We bought this flat with my late wife Emily 20 years ago,”
he added. “We didn’t have a lot but we thought it would
provide us with security and something to leave the family.”
Other leaseholders will also be struggling to pay the charge.
University College London lecturer John Thomson, 36, also from Sadler
House on the estate, paid £220,000 for his fourth floor two-bed
flat with his partner Alison Craighead two years ago.
“We were told when we moved in that we would be capped for
repairs by no more than a couple of thousand pounds,” he said.
“What we didn’t realise was the cap would expire.”
They got their latest estimated bill from HfI for new work last
month for nearly £28,000 for window replacement and repairs
to the exterior. “The problem is that the estate has been neglected
for so long that we are being penalised for it,” he said.
Town Hall Lib Dem housing boss Jyoti Vaja said she felt sorry for
pensioners like Mr Murphy and would not want to see him going to
prison.
“A lot of this issue is historical and we are simply carrying
out work required by the government’s Decent Homes Standard,”
she said.
“This is a listed estate and therefore expensive to repair
because we have to use building materials specified by English Heritage.
“If people can’t pay or are too old to obtain finance
then we can put a charge on the property. That means people pay
when they sell up.” |
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