We wrote to you earlier this week with an update on the works to resolve the issues at your building.

We’re now writing with a further update based on our progress over the past few days and reiterate our most sincere apologies for the inconvenience the situation has caused.

Repairing the leak

A temporary repair has been implemented and is being actively monitored. In the meantime, we’ve been listening very carefully to your feedback and concluded that we need to go ahead with a full, long-term repair more urgently.

As we said in our previous communication, this is supposed to be subject to a Section 20 consultation process because there is a cost implication for leaseholders. This would ordinarily take several months to complete. However, that delay would clearly not be acceptable. The full repair needs to be carried out urgently to prevent further impact on your homes and to allow you all to get back to normal as soon as possible.

Our resulting proposal

We are therefore proposing the following solution:

• Following the completion of the first stage section 20 consultation, we are now preparing the specification of works to allow us to obtain some prices from contractors for the works required.  Once we have those, we will write to you again to let you know the prices quoted and the name of the contractors we propose to complete the replacement works. Our usual process via section 20 consultation regulations, allows over one month for any observations to be made, but given the urgency of this we will only be allowing seven days. This is in breach of the section 20 regulations, so we will be required to seek dispensation from the need to consult fully with you and other homeowners.  We’re taking this approach because we recognise the impact the ongoing water ingress is having on you and because there is a possibility that any temporary repairs may not hold.
• We will apply for dispensation to bypass the full Section 20 process and commission the works as soon as possible.
• We will provide a calculation of the potential impact on service charges.

We will in the meantime, prepare an application to the First-tier Tribunal for dispensation under section 20ZA, covering the shortened consultation period and any remaining consultation requirements we cannot reasonably comply with in full.  We will seek a fast-track application and a paper determination.  We will contact you about this once we have prepared our application.

Please note: if you are not a leaseholder, you are not subject to service charges for this work.

Individual homes

As we said in our previous communication, we know that several of your homes have been impacted by the situation. Our team are continuing to work to inspect and address these issues and mitigate any further impact. We know several customers have made arrangements for temporary accommodation in the meantime. Our team may contact you during the course of this process, for example to get access to your homes to complete repairs and inspections. Please  work with them to help them get access where they need it.

Communication

As we promised previously, we will:

• Continue to provide a full update to all residents on a weekly basis, at a minimum, until the issue is resolved.

• Send this via email where possible so you can access that information quickly.

• We’ll post the information in the entrance to Selcraig House for those we don’t hold an email for.

• In case you wish to refer back to previous communications, we’ve created a web page – www.riverside.org.uk/selcraig-house-and-bouverie-road – to host all of our general communications to all residents.

Have a question for us?

There are many ways to contact us, see which option works best for you.

Earlier this week, our Chief Customer Officer, Liz Fairburn, wrote to several customers at Selcraig House and Bouverie Road who had expressed concerns, to apologise for the issues you’ve been facing at the building and to begin to address them.

I’m now writing in follow up to that letter to set out what we’ve done so far, provide some information about the support you can get in the meantime and set out how we’ll communicate with you going forwards as we work through to a full fix.

Water leaks

The primary issue around water leaks is now being dealt with by our complex repairs service. They will look to fully resolve the issues and provide a long-term solution. They visited to carry out an inspection on April 22. A leak was identified on a stack pipe and a temporary repair is now being arranged. That is scheduled to be completed by Monday. Once that work is completed, we will know more about how to carry out a long-term repair that will solve the problem permanently and we’ll be able to set out timescales. As soon as we have further information on that, we will contact you again.

Resulting damp

Where water leaks happen, this can sometimes create a risk of damp and I know this has been the case in several of your homes. Our specialist damp and mould team are now working to inspect and address these issues. They may contact you during the course of these works as they look to treat the issues. Please do work with them to help them get access where they need it. This will help speed up the process.

A long-term solution

Earlier this week, we carried out a structural investigation. We have also instructed immediate works to help reduce the risk of further damage.  As leaseholders will be aware, we have already started a Section 20 consultation to put in place a long-term solution. No observations were received from customers so we are continuing that process to stage two and will be sourcing a suitable contractor.  We’ll confirm more details on a timeframe for that as soon as we can.

Information of leaseholders only

It’s important in these situations to provide some general guidance regarding insurance and the importance of notifying your insurers if you become aware of any damage within your property.

If you notice any damage to your home, it is essential that you contact your own contents insurers as soon as possible.  Early notification helps ensure that any claim can be properly assessed and that cover is not affected by delays in reporting.

Where damage may also affect communal areas or neighbouring properties, please ensure that you notify Riverside separately so that we can assess any potential impact on the building or shared areas and, where appropriate, notify the building insurers.

When contacting your insurer, you should:

• Provide clear details of the damage and how and when it occurred
• Take photographs or videos of the damage where possible
• Keep records of any correspondence, reference numbers, or guidance given by your insurer
• Avoid carrying out permanent repairs until your insurer has advised, unless emergency action is required to make the property safe

Please note that responsibility for notifying insurers rests with the leaseholder, and failure to report damage promptly may prejudice any future claim. If you are unsure whether an issue needs to be reported, or if you believe the damage may involve communal parts of the building, please contact us for advice.

Communication

We understand that, as this issue progresses, you’ll want to be kept informed. So, we will:

• Write to you weekly, at a minimum, until the issue is resolved, to provide a general update on progress.

• We’ll send this via email where possible so you can access that information quickly.

• We’ll post the information in the entrance to Selcraig House.

• We’ll create a web page www.riverside.org.uk/selcraig-house-and-bouverie-road to host all of that information so you can refer back to it.

• If you don’t have internet access, we’ll write to you directly.

Have a question for us?

There are many ways to contact us, see which option works best for you.