• I WAS interested to read that tenants living in one of Camden Council’s block of flats in WC1 were without the use of the lift, due to a breakdown (A lack of courtesy, September 14).

At the time of the letter appearing in the New Journal it seems the lift had been “out of order” for over a week and counting; the letter claims no one at the council had responded to the reported breakdown or contacted any of their tenants in the block, some elderly, and/or with mobility problems, or families with young children.

You may recall that in April 2017 the council levied a very new service charge at 16,000 of their tenants. This new charge was called “maintenance of communal areas”. The cost to the tenants affected was £1.10 per week, and netted Camden around £915,000 per year.

The new service charge was to cover the cost of “maintenance of mechanical and electrical equipment, cold water storage, fire protection, ventilation and lifts”.

So tenants living in this block and having been paying this new service since April would, I imagine, have expected a swift response from the council to either repair the lift or at least keep in contact with them and with an extra £915,000 they clearly have no excuse to treat tenants this way.

As the letter went on to say, Camden are either incompetent or show a lack of respect for those who depend on the council as their landlord. It’s probably both.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED, NW5