St. Marks Church Fire
Very sadly a major fire destroyed much of Grade II listed, 175-year-old St Mark’s Church in Hamilton Terrace. 80 firefighters from Kensington, Paddington and West Hampstead fought the blaze in the early hours of 27 January 2023. No injuries were reported.
The church now have a web page with updates on their recovery efforts and their latest news. Click
here for details.
Handyperson Assistance
Westminster residents aged over 60, or in receipt of disability benefit, can request free help from a handyperson.
The service covers minor works to a home such as replacing light bulbs and other small DIY jobs. It does not cover gardening, plumbing or decorating, and it is not an emergency service. Click
here for details.
Fibre Optic Broadband
The BT Openreach fibre network now reaches each flat. What this means is that if you would like you can subscribe to superfast full fibre through your preferred Internet Service Provider (ISP). Many ISPs provide this service and it's worth shopping around for the
deal that suits your needs.
You may be able to reduce your water bills
Most flats within the block are unsuited to being fitted with a water meter and so residents pay for their water according to their flat's rateable value. These rateable values can be quite high and this results in large annual water bills.
If you ask Thames Water to fit a meter and they discover they can't, they will switch you from being charged as per rateable value to being charged according to the size of the flat. This
link explains the charges which may be significantly lower than what you are paying now. Call them to discuss on 0845 9200 888.
Combustible Materials
GEHL are undertaking works to replace commbustible cladding from their penthouse extension development. They said the works would complete in Summer 2022, but this has not been achieved. The works are promised to improve the EWS1 rating from B2 to B1. Is this sufficient to ensure that flat valuations and ease of access to mortgages are fully restored to the situation prior to the first penthouse development?
Pipework Replacement Project
There have been various proposals over the years for how to replace the pipework at the block that runs to each flat. Currently the situation is unclear.
AGM
The block had a strongly independent residents association that did much to represent lessee and resident interests. Here are copies of past AGM minutes: