Shocked at the service charge on a council flat in RBKC!

[Hellopello3]

I've just seen this on Facebook and I don't know how people manage to pay this if they are in social housing.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/391520164531031/permalink/2091465004536530/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Over 50 quid a week for heating!

It's for the communal heating system so they won't have to pay separately themselves, it will be the expected annual bill divided by the number of units then monthly, and will include insurance, maintenance of communal gardens etc as well.

Communal heat systems have been really affected by the high prices, partly because you can't decide to economise individually so no one does. My friend has a flat with such a system and it's like being in the Caribbean, so hot!

How many bedrooms is in the flat advertised? It seems to work out as between a bit over £1600 a month with service charges (which will include more than just communal heating). Some buildings do have silly service charges. I’ve seen some at over £6000 a year for a normal building (not one with a gym, cinema room etc).

I mean people don't have to live in RBKC. Lots of other, cheaper, London boroughs are available

Lots of other areas as well!

Trelick Tower is very expensive though?
It's extremely expensive to buy a property there and they even do tours round the building if I'm not mistake due to the iconic status.

And how you would get on the list there if you have lived in RBKC your whole life.

If you're made homeless you have to go the Borough that you have been living in the last 6 years.

So if you were born and raised in RBKC, albeit the shit side. Then they are your local Borough, whether its expensive for other people to move in or not.

Should there not be social housing here?

Of course there should be social housing in RBKC and there is and more than just Trellick Tower. Trellick Tower is unusual in that it is a very expensive building to run and maintain. It has been around since the sixties so it is not like it is a new expensive development foisted upon the community.

There are of course more choices than waiting to be allocated a council property in RBKC. Many people born in expensive areas of inner London choose to move to more affordable areas or for more space and choice of property. Mr Monkey was born in Soho. None of his family live there now - we live in SE London and most of his siblings have moved to suburban areas outside London.

80k combined means 40k each, which is not much in zone 1..

I don’t think the council would be in a position to subsidise communal heating and water

Yes but £55 a week is too much. I spend less than £20 a week and there's 5 of us

It's not an RBKC or council flat issue, it is a problem with the way communal heat is regulated. There is no price cap as it is treated like business supply. In times gone by that has been fine as councils could procure competitive business deals but the energy crisis has pulled the rug from under them.