Tower Hamlets: Residents refuse fee hike claiming poor conditions

Service fee increases of up to 116% have taken place in THCH housing, says the Local Democracy Reporting Service

Residents of an east London tower block have refused to pay increased service fees, saying they are living in poor conditions with flats not maintained.

Tenants of Charles Dickens House, in Bethnal Green, are planning to strike against the price hikes from 1 May.

Issues such as mould, rubbish not being collected and a collapsed ceiling have been reported for months, they say.

Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH) has said the rises are not for profit but match costs of the service given.

However, residents say they have not been provided with enough services for their flats to justify the price hike by THCH, which manages Charles Dickens House.

According to documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), service fee increases of up to 116% have taken place in THCH housing.

THCH, a charitable housing provider, also own other properties within the borough.

'Take us to court'

The protest action was decided after a meeting earlier in the month, which was attended by about 30 residents.

Jakia Begum, who has lived in the building for three years, said: "There's no proper explanation for this.

"That's why I thought, 'you know what, I'm not going to pay my service charge, because I don't need that heating'… I could have saved, that could have been my money, but they are taking the money off us without a choice."

She added: "I'm hoping they're going to reduce the service charges, that we're gonna go back to what it was last year and not a single penny over.

"That's what I'm expecting - I'm demanding, actually."

Residents were not afraid of a legal battle, said Jakia Begum who has lived in the building for three years

Ms Begum said her fellow residents were not afraid of a legal battle.

"If they want to take half the residents from Charles Dickens House on, they're more than welcome," she added.

"I don't mind, they can take us to court and let's see what the judge says."

Hussain Ismail, a member of Justice for THCH residents, which campaigns over living conditions within the company's housing, argued residents were not getting "fair value".

He said the strike was about "people representing themselves and taking the bull by the horns to get accountability about charges".

"The whole basis of service charges is you get charged for something, you find out whether that charge is fair value," he added.

Bethnal Green

When approached for a response, THCH said it was not aware of a service charges strike but warned residents who were planning on not paying that they could put themselves in breach of their tenancy agreement.

"We do not make a profit from our service charges. We've all experienced a significant increase in energy prices, which has, unfortunately, had the biggest impact on our communal utilities charge."

The charity added: "We understand it's been a challenging time, especially with the rising cost of living. If a resident is experiencing genuine financial hardship, we have dedicated support available.

"We do recognise that there have been ongoing resident frustrations at Charles Dickens House, and we're sorry for this. We have been working hard to resolve the issues residents have raised."

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