News

The V7RLA’s 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Tuesday, February 28th at 19:00. All residents and leaseholders are encouraged to attend. You need to be a member of the RLA, but can join for free at www.vizion7.org/join.

We will again hold our AGM remotely via Zoom. The link will be made available before the event on Facebook and via email.

We’ll be discussing the current state of the cladding, the 2023–24 budget, James Andrew, as well as plans for the future of the development. We will discuss the work of the Committee over the past year and hold elections for all committee positions.

Some members of the current committee will be standing again, but we would encourage anyone who would like to stand for a position (chair, secretary, treasurer, general committee) to send their names and a short bio now to info@vizion7.org so we can circulate it before the AGM. We would be particularly keen to hear from those interested in the role of secretary, as this has been vacant for a number of years.

Update on certain matters ahead of the AGM

Ahead of the V7RLA AGM, we would also like to update you on several important matters relating to the development. If there are any other queries you have on matters that you would like to see an update to or that you would like to be discussed at the AGM, please reach out to info@vizion7.org.

Cladding update

Following on from Taylor Wimpey signing the government pledge to cover the costs associated with the removal of combustible materials on buildings where they were the developer, we have had a number of constructive discussions with Taylor Wimpey and the freeholder to start the project to remove the cladding. We are awaiting an update on the exact timings but we are hopeful that work to remove the cladding, funded by Taylor Wimpey should begin in Spring 2023.

There has however been a disagreement with Taylor Wimpey regarding the full extent of works to be carried out, with Taylor Wimpey refusing to accept responsibility for removing the EPS render in the car park, despite this also being identified as a flammable material which the LFB and our insurers are requiring us to remove. 

The cost to remove the EPS render in the car park is a small proportion of the overall project costs (~£200,000 or 2% of the total project costs), however we do not want this to be a sticking point now that we are so close to starting works.

As such the freeholder and the Resident and Leaseholder’s Association have both written to Emily Thornberry to ask her to raise this issue with Michael Gove to try and put some pressure on Taylor Wimpey to agree to remediate the EPS render in the carpark. We will also be asking all residents to write to Emily Thornberry and providing a template letter for them to do so.

Service charge budget - insurance

We have been in discussions with James Andrew Residential (JAR) regarding the service charge budget for 2023/24. The first change that we wanted to flag is with respect to insurance. In a continuation of the circumstances communicated to leaseholders by JAR in June 2022, we are required to pay for insurance premiums for the year to 31 Mar 2024 in full and upfront. 

As a result, JAR have informed us that insurance will now be broken out from the main budget and separately invoiced for in full in advance. We appreciate that this is a significant extra ask for leaseholders at the current time, however given the cladding issues impacting the building don't really have an alternative option. As a small consolation, this should also provide leaseholders with transparency as to exactly how much increased insurance premiums continue to impact the overall service charge levels.

Service charge budget - excluding insurance

Given the current environment, and that the main cost drivers in the service charge budget excluding insurance are people costs and electricity, there is unfortunately expected to be an increase of ~10% in the service charge request excluding insurance. As the residents association we have challenged JAR on where they might be able to find efficiencies going forwards (e.g. revisiting whether lighting electricity costs can be reduced) however do not expect these to significantly change the service charge demands. We have also challenged JAR (and know that JAR have challenged Premier) to ensure that any increased staff costs are going directly to the individuals working on the development.

Status of access controls/CCTV works

As you'll be aware, in the 2022/23 budget, a separate request was made to fund certain works on the V7 development, namely upgraded CCTV and access control features. Initial Section 20 notices regarding these works have been sent out and contractors engaged to provide quotes however work has not yet begun on these works.

We are continuing to push JAR to get these works underway, and expect Section 20 statements of estimates to be distributed to leaseholders prior to the AGM. We have also asked that these quotes be discussed with the V7RLA to ensure that we are aligned on the work to be carried out.