Brian Hatton on the Bourne Estate

BUNGLED building work on a 100-year-old council estate has left leaseholders challenging eye-watering bills which have risen five-fold.

The New Journal can reveal that people living on the Bourne Estate, Holborn, are now heading to a tribunal after seeing estimated repair bills rocket from around £10,000 up to nigh-on £50,000 – each.

The costs come amid chaos over vital work which has seen a contractor taken off the job before it was complete and the price of bringing the estate up to modern standards balloon into the millions.

The central London blocks were first built in 1906 as part of a slum clearance programme, and more recently Camden’s housing chiefs have heralded work to add more council homes, such as Dobson Court, which opened in 2018 and was named after former MP Frank Dobson.

But other parts of the estate are in disrepair after what residents say have been repeated botched attempts to fix them over 25 years. Roofs, windows and communal areas all need work.

Leaseholders were told in 2020 that they could face a bill of around £14,000 for the could face a bill of around £14,000 for the vital repairs. Now a swathe of leaseholders have been told they will be billed more than £40,000.

In response, they are accusing the Town Hall of cancelling a contract with one set of builders after it realised predicted costs were spiralling out of control. It also became clear there would be a challenge if these bills were passed on to leaseholders as they had a legally binding estimate for the work.

The residents claim that instead of soaking up the costs, Camden decided – with two-thirds of the project done – to scrap the contract and start afresh.

Brian Hatton, the chair of the estate’s residents’ association, moved into a council flat there in 1983 and later bought his home in 1991. He said work was first proposed 26 years ago, began in 2001 and then was left uncompleted in 2006.

He said: “Works didn’t begin until autumn 2018. The works were supported, but resented, because they should have been done in the 2001-06 sequence. Instead, for the second time in 12 years, our estate was covered in scaffolding.”

The Bourne Estate

By 2020, delays to the work and an increase in bills caused residents to build up a dossier of complaints.

Mr Hatton said: “Repairs were certainly needed. Bourne was built in 1906 and is a Grade II-listed building. When I arrived in 1983, my kitchen window was so loose that I demanded its immediate replacement before it fell four storeys down into the yard. The 2001 to 2006 works were to be a centennial renewal, but they weren’t.”

The work was split into three phases. But before it could be completed, in 2020, Camden cancelled the contract with their chosen building firm and had begun to look for a new team of builders.

Mr Hatton said his block was in Phase 3 of the plans and so nothing had been done to his house.

He said: “We learned in 2020 that Camden were seeking a new builder, but we were not told of any implications.

“We expected our bills to be in line with those leaseholders in phase one and phase two. In early 2023, I wrote to the project leader, requesting a likely figure for my bill. They replied in April that he thought my guess of somewhat over £15,000 to be ‘not far off the mark’.

“But nine months later I got a bill for £38,000. Others got bills up to £44,000.”

Phase 3 covers around a third of the estate. Five blocks hold 150 flats and around 50 of those are leaseholders.

Mr Hatton added that the work that had been done had been “extraordinarily slow”, adding: “Often weeks went by with little or no signs of activity. Anxieties about costs have been continuous since the failed 2001-06 works.

“Many have been uncertain as to whether they could pay or if they would have to move away. They couldn’t even sell their flats while years-long uncertainty about more works and further bills hung over them.”

Other leaseholders have told the New Journal that the issues have gone on for years.

Altaf Shaikh – a leaseholder who is the secretary of the Bourne Phase 3 tenants and residents association – bought a Bourne Estate flat in 1998, and said he has “now been witness to two major bungled works programmes carried out by Camden Council.”

He told the New Journal that the estate had been in need of work and was looking “old and tired” when he first arrived, adding: “I was initially supportive. The estate was in need of a face lift. However, the initial major works contribution for me was approximately £13,000 in 2020, which was amended to over £40,000 in 2024.

“We first realised the costs had spiralled in February 2024 when we received the amended costs. I was furious because Phase 1 and Phase 2 got away with paying between £12,000 and £17,000. Camden Council, to recover losses and mistakes they made during Phases 1 and 2 put the losses and additional costs onto Phase 3 leaseholders.

“Camden is now hiding behind loopholes, policies and unfair contracts.”

He said some leaseholders have given up in despair. “Some are resigned to the fact they have no support or help,” he added, before likening Camden’s approach to “divide and rule” by keeping the different phase leaseholders apart, so they did not compare the contrasts in their repair bills.

Parts of the estate still need to be brought up to modern standards

Mr Shaikh added: “The work has been done to a very poor standard. You only need to visit the estate to see the work which we are paying for.

“There have been many complaints lodged against the contractors. You would be shocked. They have prematurely taken down the scaffolding leaving a considerable amount of ‘agreed’ works uncompleted.”

The Town Hall said it was obliged to recover a “proportionate” amount of costs from leaseholders and that if there were shortfalls in this then Camden would have to turn to its housing revenue account, funded by tenants rents.

A Town Hall spokesperson said: “The Council has a duty to ensure estates are safe and well-maintained.

“The Bourne Estate requires essential external works, including works to the roof and windows. We have been engaging with affected leaseholders and we understand that bills of this kind can have a significant impact.

“We continue to offer a range of support options, including providing financial advice, to help residents manage charges.”