Havering council won’t give me back my house: TONY HETHERINGTON investigates

Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s chief investigator. He battles the reader’s corner, reveals the truth that lies behind closed doors, and wins victories for those left out of pocket. Below you can read how to contact him.

Mrs EM writes: In 2016 I rented a house to the London Borough of Havering as part of their scheme to provide temporary housing for families waiting for social housing.

I was assured that I would get my house back after giving three months’ notice to the municipality, as the municipality is legally my tenant and not the actual occupant.

Last January I gave the council three months notice but now he says he can’t return my property because he still can’t accommodate the resident.

Tony Hetherington replies: In fact, the council of Havering has become a squatter in your house. Unlike real squatters, the municipality does pay you rent.

But that’s just £1,150 a month, which isn’t even enough to cover your mortgage payments, maintenance and taxes. Meanwhile, identical houses on the same street are being advertised for £1,800 a month.

When you canceled, the municipality set a date in April to return the house. With interest rates rising faster and faster, at least you would have had a chance to sell the property before your own mortgage rates rose this month. But of course the municipality of Havering did not stick to his plan.

When you explained that you would be in very bad financial shape, the municipal manager gave a remarkable beep.

You were told that Havering had a partnership with a company that bought property and leased it back to the council, just as you had done. Why don’t you sell the house to them. A good idea, you thought. Except the council’s favorite property dealer only offered you £230,000 for your £350,000 home.

Why such a low price? Well, you wouldn’t sell with vacant property. And the reason there was no vacant property was that the council of Havering refused to hand over the house – the same council that gave you the name of the real estate dealer who would continue to let the house to the council.

As deals go, this was a real stinker. The dealer would get a house for sale. The municipality would keep the rent. And you would be the loser.

I have reached out to Havering Council for comment. A day later the council contacted you and offered to unconditionally increase the rent by £150 per month. The council also said it would cover higher mortgage payments.

However, the council had already offered the extra £150 six months ago, but on a three-year lease. In short, you are stuck making a loss, while Havering has a house cheap.

The municipality told me: ‘To date we have not been able to place the tenant of Mrs M’s building in replacement accommodation’.

It added that although the council recommended that you sell your house to his friend, the real estate dealer, he was not aware of the details of an offer. In what seemed like a breakthrough, Havering then said it would pay you the extra £150 a month, backdated to January, plus £1,999 in mortgage switching fees.

But there was a sting in the tail. From this month onwards, the extra monthly payment would only be paid to you upon delivery of the house itself. And that could be this year, next year – or Havering only knows when. The council admits it has a backlog of properties like yours that it has not returned.

I urged the council, and they backed off. The additional £150 is paid monthly and is not rolled up until the resident has been re-housed.

But this still leaves you at the nasty end of a nasty deal. You can go to court for the restitution of your property, but the council has millions of pounds in its treasury and lawyers. You have neither. The current financial settlement papers over the cracks, but nothing more.

Let this be a warning to anyone tempted to make the same deal. Ironically, the word “havering” means hesitant, indecisive, or wasting time. How true.

Virgin’s claim is hot air

Hot air: Virgin made a complete U-turn

Mrs MM writes: My husband received flight vouchers from Virgin Balloon for his 70th birthday.

He will be 77 this year and each of the five flights we have booked have been canceled due to weather or covid.

Virgin says the vouchers are non-refundable and are now void.

Tony Hetherington replies: When you explained that your husband’s health had deteriorated in recent years and he now feels unable to take a balloon ride, Virgin refused a refund.

When you said you would contact the media, Virgin told you, “Should you want to escalate to an outside source, that’s your prerogative, but it won’t affect the outcome.”

I invited Virgin to comment, and 24 hours later you were told that ‘given the unique circumstances surrounding your request, we have agreed to process a full refund for you’.

Virgin then informed me that in fact it has not received any invitation from me to comment on your complaint. It is pure coincidence that it made a complete turnaround within hours. The words ‘hot air’ come to mind.

Meter movement is not that smart

Ms MN writes: I had a smart meter, but it couldn’t connect to the network.

Three other meters also failed to connect and the electrician said he would return with a new one.

No one came, so I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Ovo Energy and was told it would be resolved, but nothing happened.

Failed: Ovo Energy said the smart meter issue would be resolved, but nothing happened

Tony Hetherington replies: Expect decent customer service from any utility company these days and chances are you’ll be disappointed.

You told me you spent another hour on the phone with Ovo sending pictures of the meter, which Ovo said would be examined over the next ten days.

Predictably, nothing happened. You were given a date for a new meter to be installed, so your husband waited at home. No one showed up. Ovo later said that the driver did arrive, but found that the license plates on the outside meter were not what he expected, so he left without knocking.

I picked up all this with Ovo. It seems that when the first faulty meter was installed, Ovo’s data was never updated, so the estimated cost added up as if the original meter was still there and still working.

After this there were more failures to update records, leading to more confusion, but the bottom line is that Ovo gave you £30 as standard compensation for a broken appointment, with the promise of a further payment in the pipeline.

A new meter has been installed and it works. And your bills for the past few months have been adjusted to show that you have £125 in credit.

If you believe you have been the victim of financial misconduct, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large number of questions, no personal answers can be given. Only send copies of original documents, which unfortunately cannot be returned.