Ex-Council flats and Double glazing.. do you have any info?

492800

Hi there forumers,

I live in an ex-council flat in Lambeth and have old style metal/crittle windows.

I am wanting to fit some new double glazing, but I also know that the council will be replacing them in 2015.

I've heard shocking stories about hyperinflated prices for Leasholders and bills for this kind of work, so I'm trying to work out if its cheaper to get it done myself (~£5k), or wait for the council to do it.

Are the stories I've heard lies or true, if you have any info at all then please let me know, that would be great!

camptownraces

Check your lease.
Is the leaseholder (you) permitted to repair or replace any of the structure? My guess is that it is the freeholder's (council's) right and duty to deal with this, and that will include windows.

Are any of the flats in the block still let to council tenants?

If you replaced the windows yourself now, the council might force you to reinstate previous windows, or pay them to do it. (That's assuming that any window firm will take on the job, knowing that it's a council block). In any event, it's likely that they will do the whole block next year and bill you for it.

492800

Thanks for the reply.
What i know for sure so far is that:

I can do my own double glazing.

We are 12 flats, 3 are private.

If I replace my own windows, when the whole block of 12 flats finally get renovated, I will still get a bill from the council but my bill will be reduced by the cost of whatever my actual windows would have cost.. But I will still have to pay for any communal windows, scaffolding and admin costs.

So, I'm trying to work out how much people usually get charged for windows when they are a leasholder, to see if it is cheaper for me to do my own windows, and then pay the council costs in the future. or just wait till they do it and 'maybe' get charged loads.. "Maybe" being the word I need to resolve...
Does that make sense? (or am I rambling?)

Mattygroves2

Have you thought about secondary glazing which will sit inside the windows ? You may find that they are OK as the Council will be able to fit the new external windows behind them. Then when they do the whole block you'll have triple glazing.

We've got a leasehold flat (non council) and although not allowed to touch the external windows - they belong to the freeholder (which in your case would be the Council) we have been allowed to put secondary units in.

492800

Hi Matty.
The idea for secondary is great. Someone from this forum mentioned it to me when I first moved in to my flat and I did it in my 2 bedrooms and it made a heap of change.

The thing is that in 2015 I will be getting double glazing if i want it or not. Lambeth have said this will be happening. So I know I have a MASSIVE bill coming my way and I'm trying to reduce it, by maybe doing it myself. Rumours are that if the council do it, it could be anything from £5,000 up to £12,000!!! eeek! (But those are just rumours..)

If its going to be cheap, then I'll wait for them to do it.. But if it's going to be huge £££ then I need to think about getting my windows replaced with my own choice of glazers (and then pay a smaller bill to Lambeth in the future)

Hopefully someone on this forum will have had their windows replaced by the council and had to foot a bill?
Anyone?
:-)

pimento

I would say that a large part of the cost will be the scaffolding the council will put up. I doubt you'll save much money doing it yourself. I'd be inclined to wait for the council to do it.
The whole block will look much better if every flat has the same style of window anyway.

hazyjo

Agree with pimento (especially re scaffolding, etc). It's unlikely to be the cost of the actual windows that bumps the price up. I've seen some awful d/g windows (prob against regs now) and I would much rather they all look uniform.

Jx

thesaint

Have you asked Lambeth council?

scooter_chick

I used to live in an ex-council flat. Block of 4, I was the only one privately owned. I had the situation you describe where I wanted to change my windows (but the council didn't have plans to change the others).

What I did was I got them to agree to vary my lease, so that
1) I owned my windows - not them, and
2) I no longer had any responsibilites towards the replacing of other windows in the block.

I had to pay the council's legal costs as well as my own. I was also told by them that if anyone else in the block had been a leaseholder, their leases would have to be looked at too, to make sure all matched (but there weren't, so it didn't matter).

Several years later when the council DID do the other windows, I was relieved I'd done it myself & had all the paperwork in order. The quality of what they did & the costs were appalling (but that's another story).

Mokka

It's difficult to advise as it's hard to guess what will happen and very much depends on how good your council is. Are you happy with the service and repairs you are receiving?
If so you might be OK to wait. Technically speaking if the contractors have to do the whole block they should give a discount. It's also easier for them to work with a scaffolding outside.
However, I know this would not be the case with my council (The Banana Republic of East London). I already had one DG window done by their contractors and there is a hole on top of it and the wind is whistling through. Also they ALWAYS overcharge.
You are best asking around in your area. As a leaseholder you can always question charges (if you get a cheaper quote you can insist that they match it) but you will have no influence on the quality of the work.

Ivana_Tinkle

492800 wrote: »

If I replace my own windows, when the whole block of 12 flats finally get renovated, I will still get a bill from the council but my bill will be reduced by the cost of whatever my actual windows would have cost.. But I will still have to pay for any communal windows, scaffolding and admin costs.

Are you sure this is correct? It's been a decade or so since my last dealings with Lambeth, but their policy at that point was that they might allow you to keep your windows, but you still had to pay the same costs as everyone else. I hope they've changed as obviously that was ridiculous, but you might want to double/triple check before you shell out any cash!