Spelling out our concerns

It has come to our attention that some people are misrepresenting our concerns about the works being proposed for the Cremorne estate's communal heating and hot water system. We won't dwell on why anyone might wish to do this but we do want to ensure that everyone understands the issues we're concerned about and why. To that end we're going to quickly review and briefly describe those concerns below. 

Our primary, long standing concern is about the manner in which the Council has approached these works - with an absolutely minimal level of communication with residents and a complete lack of transparency. 

That the Council is intentionally progressing these works in secret and without the knowledge or consent of residents past the point where anyone might be able to influence them in any way. 

That concern has then led to others, and we would claim the following:

Claim #1: That the Council has failed to produce any real evidence that the works in people's homes are actually necessary. 

The Council initially claimed that the law required them to carry out the works. They did so repeatedly in writing and verbally and in public. We have seen the correspondence and there are many witnesses. They did write it and they did say it and it is not true. The law requires no such thing.

The Council are now claiming that some or all of the components of the existing heating and hot water system inside people's homes are old and unreliable and must be replaced. This is not what they originally claimed and we have to wonder why. They have, in any case, failed to produce any evidence to back up that claim. For all we know, it is also untrue. 

Claim #2: That the works inside people's homes will be extremely disruptive and that in some cases the works might require residents to be decanted (as per Calford Seaden's report). 

The Council have not denied this. They have instead given vague assurances that the works won't be as disruptive as we suspect, that the works will only take only a few days to complete in each flat, and that the contractor will make good any damage.

These assurances are quite simply not credible. 

The Council currently has no idea how the works inside individual blocks and inside people's homes are actually going to be carried out. No one has drawn up any plans, schematics or diagrams. They don't know where anything goes or where anything is going to be installed. If you don't know any of this are you really in a position to give anyone assurances about how disruptive the works are likely to be? We'd suggest the answer to that question is "no". 

The experience on other properties is that these works will take far longer and be much more disruptive than the Council currently claims. 

Anyone that has ever had Council or TMO contractors in their home will find it hard to believe that the contractor will make good any damage. That has never been the case in the past. Contractors have only ever repaired the most trivial damage. They leave anything remotely "complicated", such as painting anything that is not brilliant white, to the resident to sort out for themselves and the resident ends up footing the bill. Why would it be any different this time? 

If the Council's contractors go into your home and make a mess you will be the one footing the bill to put it right.

The Council has also given vague assurances about avoiding decanting residents if at all possible. An assurance that ends with "if at all possible" is basically worthless. Residents from the north of the borough can attest to that. 

Their experience has been that if the contractor says that your flat needs to be empty for them to carry out the work, you will be decanted. 

Claim #3: That if the works go ahead heat meters will be installed (as per the regulations). 

We have never claimed otherwise.

Claim #4: That if heat meters are installed residents will end up paying much more for their heating and hot water than they do now.

This is the issue that concerns many residents above all the others. 

That these works will cause their heating and hot water costs to increase dramatically, to double or triple what they pay now (as suggested by Calford Seaden), and that they will do so forever, not just for a few weeks or months. 

They may not be able to afford to heat their homes properly and even if they can, they will be permanently out of pocket. These works will make them poorer. 

Is there good reason to believe this? We think there is. The Calford Seaden report says this is the outcome. The evidence from other properties across London says this is the outcome. 

And despite it being the easiest issue for the Council to address they haven't. The recent letter and FAQ sent to residents doesn't even mention it. They appear to be trying their best to pretend that it doesn't exist and that no one has ever brought it up. Which suggests that it is true.

The Calford Seaden report is not wrong. Residents will end up paying a lot more for their heating than they do now. 

And those are our concerns and that is what we claim. No more no less. That's it. 

If anyone believes that any of these claims are incorrect or untrue then by all means point us at the evidence to the contrary. Believe it or not we would be more than happy to be proved wrong. In fact we would absolutely love to be proved wrong. 

Have you had sight of reports or surveys that contradict any or all of the above? Then by all means email them to us at savethecremorne@gmail.com or tell us where to find them.

News from the Chelsea Citizen

News of the public meeting organised by Ben Coleman MP has reached the Chelsea Citizen.

The Chelsea Citizen's latest email newsletter included the following: 

You can find the Chelsea Citizen's web site at https://thechelseacitizen.com/

Ben Coleman's meeting going ahead

Shortly after our last post a group of residents approached us to let us know that the Council had written to everyone and told them that they planned to hold a drop-in event at the same time and on the same day as the public meeting that had been organised by Ben Coleman MP.

These residents feared that this was a deliberate attempt by Council officers and Councillors to confuse residents and undermine a public meeting organised by the elected Member of Parliament representing their interests. 

Ben Coleman MP has since confirmed that the meeting at Ashburnham Primary School will be going ahead as planned.

There can be little doubt as to the MP's support and concern for the residents of the estate, and the residents wished to express their gratitude to Ben Coleman MP. 

They are extremely pleased that he has confirmed that he has no intention of cancelling or rescheduling his meeting whatever the Council's antics. 

To reiterate: 

Ben Coleman MP's meeting is taking place on the evening of the 8th of May, from 6pm in Ashburnham Primary School, 17 Blantyre Street, World's End Estate, London SW10 0DT.

It now remains to be seen just who will be attending the meeting from the Council and whether they will be able to address people's concerns and answer their questions properly. 

We encourage everyone affected by the Council's plans to attend.

Ben Coleman MP acts

We recently learned that a small group of residents met with Ben Coleman MP at the beginning of April to discuss their concerns with the proposed second phase of works to the estate's heating and hot water system and inside their homes.

Ben Coleman MP has now written to residents inviting them to a meeting at Ashburnham Primary School on the evening of the 8th of May 2025. 

This is the letter:

We're told that the residents are extremely grateful to Ben Coleman MP for taking a serious interest in this issue and their specific concerns and acting so decisively.

What the law says (and what it doesn't say)

Another of the claims often made by Council staff and Councillors is that the second phase of works to the estate's district heating and hot water system is required by law. That the law tells the Council to do it. 

Unfortunately, just like the claims about costs we discussed in our last post, this simply isn't true and we're now going to explain why. 

The law the Council is referring to is made up of the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 (as amended in 2015 and 2020) and the Energy Act 2023.

It is certainly true that these pieces of legislation require the owners of buildings with communal or district heating and hot water systems (“heat networks”) to do a number of things but the wholesale replacement of an existing communal or district heating and hot water system for the sole purpose of installing heat meters is not one of them. 

The law actually requires the owners of buildings with communal or district heating and hot water systems to register those buildings with the Office of Product Safety and Standards. 

They must do this before the 1st of September 2022 (and there's some doubt as to whether RBK&C have actually done this and complied with the law). 

And as part of that registration they need to determine, in the case of buildings that don’t already have heat meters such as those on the Cremorne Estate, whether it is possible to fit them. 

They are meant to work out whether it is technically feasible - if it is even possible - and whether it is financially viable - how much it would cost and whether that sum is reasonable.

And should they determine that it is not technically feasible, because it’s too difficult or simply can’t be done, or it is not financially viable, because it would cost too much to install heat meters in the building, they need to inform the OPSS accordingly as part of their registration.

And that’s it. That’s what the law actually requires a building owner to do. 

And there’s a very good reason why this is what the law actually requires.

Councils and Housing Associations own many buildings with communal or district heating and hot water systems that are affected by this law. Do you know who else owns many buildings with communal or district heating and hot water systems that are also affected by this law? Private landlords. And when the government wrote the law they had to take them into account. 

It would not be reasonable to require building owners of whatever kind to rip out and replace the otherwise perfectly functional district or communal heating and hot water systems in their buildings for the sole purpose of installing heat meters. Which is why the law doesn’t.

The closest the law gets to proposing anything like that is in the case of "major building renovation", when a building is most likely a construction site devoid of residents, the work can be carried out without impacting the lives of hundreds and the building owner has already committed to investing a large amount of money renovating the building. It would clearly be unreasonable to demand such a thing at any other time. 

Let us in any case consider the buildings of the Cremorne Estate:

None of the buildings on the Cremorne Estate currently have heat meters. 

The district heating and hot water system was designed and installed before heat meters even existed and, to be honest, the professionals who designed and installed it were more concerned about providing the residents with decent heating and hot water than billing them for it. 

As a result, and to no one’s surprise, the system does not lend itself to the installation of heat meters and it is impossible to install them. That is to say that it is not technically feasible. 

In order to fit heat meters you would have to rip out and replace the entire system. This would cost millions. Some might consider that an unreasonable sum. That is to say that they would not consider it financially viable.

And that is setting aside the disruption that such works would cause. The estate would be a construction site. For years. 

All the Council actually needs to do is to register all of the buildings on the Cremorne Estate with the OPSS having properly documented and collated evidence to the effect that it is neither technically feasible or financially viable to install heat meters. 

But that’s not what they’re doing. Why not? 

Only the Council knows but the following has been suggested:

Councils are many things but being able to demonstrate any real concern about how much things cost or what impact their latest schemes have on the lives of their tenants and leaseholders is rarely one of them. 

They may moan constantly about not having any money - and RBK&C’s housing department certainly does do that an awful lot - but they also spend rather a lot of it with wild abandon on ill conceived and poorly implemented projects. 

They are also rarely concerned about the disruption those projects cause their tenants and leaseholders. They may claim that they care deeply about the wellbeing of their tenants and leaseholders but in practice they repeatedly demonstrate otherwise. 

As a result, where a private landlord might deem it technically unviable to install heat meters to the existing district heating and water system and financially unviable to replace it for the sole purpose of fitting said heat meters (setting aside, for the moment, the disruption that such works would cause) the Council appears to have reached the exact opposite conclusion. 

Why? Because money is no object and they simply don't care how disruptive the work will be or what the end result will look like. 

Intrusive works in people's homes that might require them to move out for weeks or months on end? No problem. 

Unsightly pipes running through communal areas and inside homes that were never designed to accommodate them? No problem. 

A bill running into the millions? No problem. 

You only have to wander up to the north of the borough, to the Lancaster West Estate, site of the Grenfell Tower fire, to see all of this playing out. 

On the Lancaster West Estate there are ongoing works to replace a district heating and hot water system that have already taken many years and are going to take many more. Works that have required residents to be decanted. Works that are so well conceived and designed that they have resulted in large pipes traversing many communal areas and covering the inside of people's homes. Works with construction costs running into the millions (and counting). And residents paying much more for their heating and hot water than they used to. 

Everything that concerns us about the second phase of works to the estate’s district heating and hot water system has come true on the Lancaster West Estate. 

All because money is no object and the Council simply doesn't care how disruptive the work will be or what the end result will look like. 

Councillors and Council officers don't care about our elderly, disabled and most vulnerable residents. They will be extremely cold as they will not be able to heat their homes properly with the increased costs of heating and hot water.

Those residents with incurable conditions such as arthritis, kidney disease, cancer etc will become further unwell and have to be hospitalised and receive social care at an exhorbitant cost to the public purse. 

We will all suffer the consequences of the Council's and Councillors' selfish and ill thought out plans.

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