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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Hi everyone, spotted this news today:

https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/homes-for-haringey-council-housing-e...

Looks like the council is looking to bring Homes For Haringey back internally - any thoughts?

My two cents is that I'm worried, in particular as Councillor Emine Ibrahim is leading this - (see Noel Park refurb scandal for Leaseholders).

Leasehold reform is on the horizon and I'm worried that before the changes, the council will use HfH powers as a landgrab more sites for redevelopment and cash cows. I may be wrong, but I really don't trust a momentum led council after the last two elections.

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Def looks fishy. Performance of sub contractor is strong and customers are happy so why a sudden change. Not sure how this change would result in a land grab though as Haringey for Homes are just a service provider. 

Maybe the Councillor has a mate who has a similar company and just wants to shake the tree. 

Home for Haringey don’t own the land, Haringey Council do.

Understood - but at the moment if the council want to redevelop the land / commit to major works, there's at least one more layer of safety and process through HfH for leaseholders and tenants I should think? - whereas here the council - run by politicians, could potentially make direct decisions without much oversight. 

Maybe undue criticism, but the Council seem to break a lot of stuff they touch, so I'm a bit worried.

No hfh just provide property services for the council properties. If the council decides to redevelop say a patch of empty land then hfh would have no input. 

The reason for outsourcing this service originally was for better oversight and cost savings. Bringing it back in house would probably result in mismanagement. After all mismanagement was the reason for outsourcing. 

I stand corrected! 

Thanks Leo

Your observation is still valid though. There is something going on for sure. Why reverse a perfectly good arrangement with no real justification? 

Tenant and leaseholder rights are precisely the same

The obligations aren't at all - for a start leaseholders have to pay massive bills for major works imposed on them - like in Noel park that can run into 10s of thousands - as far as I am aware the charges aren't the same with tenants as the costs are taken from the rent - in my block we are paying for two major changes, and as far as I am aware talking to the tenants, the charges are not happening for them.

As such, and it's been said regularly, the leaseholders are being milked for improvements that help everyone, that's fine when it's a justifiable improvement, but given the way the procurement of works happens, the price, say for a front door, instead of being 500-1k is actually costing us 3.5k.

They’d pay the same bill whoever the managing company were.

It's not much the bill, but the general incompetence that I don't believe a private management company would be like.

Tell that to the thousands living worthless flats due to unsafe cladding

I think that's called "Whataboutery", Michael.

I try not to view Councils and ALMOs through rose-tinted glasses.

Maybe we could have some similar housing history?
Mine is -when much younger - living at different times in a variety of places. Including:
With my parents and brothers on a council estate.
Then renting rooms.
Then in shared flats. Some rented from decent landlords; some owned by absentee landlords who didn't give a damn.
In a flat which was a couple of small but cosy rooms at the top of an Islington house. (I liked it enormously but my friends joked unfairly about my "penthovel".)

Later upwardly mobile to Tottenham (according to Zena Brabazon) in flats rented from: an incompetent housing association; then a good housing association.  Now Zena and I are lucky to own a small house with good neighbours and a little garden.

However, from other people's experience, I know this could all change if and when developers make dubious deals with smug councillors, who may be pleased and flattered to be sitting down with "big players" and even starchitects.

So may I please beg you and others to be far more sceptical about some of the elected people currently misruling Haringey. "Cui Bono?" Always a good question.

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