Sherfield squalor: council responds

I've had a reply from the Conservative Council about the appalling state they've let Sherfield Gardens on the Alton fall into.

The good news is that they've admitted the area's in an unacceptable state, albeit denying that this is anything to do with them.

The bad news is that the Conservatives want to charge leaseholders - who make up about three quarters of the residents of Sherfield Gardens - an extra service charge to bring the area up to the standard they should be keeping it in the first place.

This is simply unacceptable.

The Council's known for years that there are a large number of buy-to-let properties in Sherfield Gardens, the bulk of which are rented out to students. They know that the academic year ends in June, and that at this point there will be a lot of moving-out rubbish needing to be cleared. They know too that the academic year starts in September, and that there will probably be a lot of moving-in rubbish created then. Not only do they know this, but they are in no small part responsible for it: the way the Conservatives implemented right to buy locally is directly responsible for Sherfield Gardens becoming a buy-to-let area.

My point is that none of the mess is unexpected. It should have been planned for and charged as part of the standard annual service charge. I suspect leaseholders will argue that they're already paying plenty for cleaning that's just not up to scratch.

But there's one other point the council needs to explain before it sends out new invoices. The fact that leaves and litter haven't been swept up for months has nothing to do with students moving out. The filthy state of the walls and stairs around refuse chutes is nothing to do with students. The water damage to the ceilings is nothing to do with students. The dumping of grit and salt on the road is nothing to do with students. These are all issues that should be rectified by the council as standard. They've failed in that responsibility.

So my response to the Conservatives is: provide the basic level of cleaning for which you're already charging leaseholders plenty before you try to squeeze even more cash from them.