Ride London Sunday 26th May 2024

Ride London takes place on Sunday 26 May. This event will lead to road closures across London and Essex.

 As part of this festival, several roads, bridges, and bus routes will be affected throughout the day. We advise all residents to plan journeys accordingly and expected delays or diversions.

 For more information on specific road closures and alternative routes, please visit www.ridelondon.co.uk

Paws on the Wharf

Put your best paw forward and get ready for an unmissable free art trail - running for eight weeks, from 25 March to 17 May 2024 in Canary Wharf. https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/paws-on-the-wharf/

Paws on the Wharf has brought a collection of larger-than-life guide dog sculptures to Canary Wharf, each individually decorated by talented artists in vibrant designs. Pick up the scent and follow this outdoor trail of discovery for an accessible and fun celebration of our iconic much-loved guide dogs. A great free activity for all the family over the Easter holiday and early May bank holiday.

Brought to you by Guide Dogs and Wild in Art, supported by Citi and hosted by Canary Wharf Group and Canal & River Trust, Paws on the Wharf aims to raise awareness and vital funds to help people with sight loss live more active and independent lives.

London Marathon - Sunday 21 April

The London Marathon route will be going through the Canary Wharf estate which means extensive road closures and the closure of the Canary Riverside car park between 08:00 - 19:00.

If you need your car on Sunday 21st April you will need to leave the car park before 8am or move your car to a location where you can access it outside of the road closures.

Having the Marathon on our doorstep is a great opportunity for Canary Riverside residents to cheer on all the runners, including the elite athletes (who will be the first to pass us) through to club runners and fun-runners. The route passes in front of Circus Apartments and the Hotel and down into the underground roundabout on Westferry Road. You will get a chance to see the runners again as they run up Bank Street, after their lap of the Isle of Dogs.

Canary Riverside £1.6m unreasonable Insurance commissions raised by MPs at parliamentary committee discussing Leasehold reform.

Canary Riverside leaseholders’ on-going challenge of £1.6M of unreasonable insurance commissions paid to WMS, a Landlord-owned company, continues to be quoted by MPs as an example of why leasehold law must be reformed.

At yesterday (16/01/24) afternoon’s select committee hearing MP Barry Gardiner quizzed Matt Brewis, the FCA’s head of insurance, as to how at Canary Riverside there was no contract or documentation between Reich (the insurance broker) and WMS (the Yianis Group-owned company that was paid £1.6m) outlining the sharing of insurance commissions and fees [according to the Landlord’s oral and written evidence to the FTT].

Asked by Gardiner if the idea that an FCA regulated broker was unable to provide a FTT with a written contract was “strange” Brewis simply answered: “Yes”.

Scott McGee of the Insurance Post provides a summary of Matt Brewis’s evidence to the Select Committee here.

Council approves rooftop terrace - with conditions

Tower Hamlets Council has this week published its decision regarding the Landlord’s renewed application to create a 6th 5th floor open-air terrace/restaurant on top of the ‘Club’ (Virgin Active/Battery Club) building.

The Council’s planning committee approved the application - but has taken into consideration the concerns of the Canary Riverside residents regarding noise disturbance. Customers will only be able to access the roof terrace between 08:00-20:00 hours, and the terrace must not be used after 21:00 hours (ie, it must be closed-up by that time).

A copy of the conditional permission for development can be found here.

In a further development, the new Tenant for the former Battery Club has applied to the Council’s Licensing Committee for a premises licence that would enable it to operate between Noon and 02:30 hours every day, with entertainment including live music and dance, plays and films, and the serving of alcohol and late night refreshment. A copy of the application can be found here. The application proposes that entry/exit to the premises after 22:30hrs should be through the Canary Riverside car park.

The new Tenant is a company called E14 Lounge Ltd. Companies House records state the company is under the control of Mr Amar Ashraf, who was appointed as a director on 1st November 2023. His occupation is listed as ‘director’.

New door entry fobs - activation begins Tuesday 27th June

Parkste Aspen have advised that the activation of the new fob entry system will be starting on Tuesday 27th June 2023.

The sequencing of activation of the new system is planned as follows:

• Tuesday 27th: Berkeley Tower, starting with the main car park entry barriers at P2

• Wednesday 28th: Hanover House, including the main entrance gates from Westferry Circus and residents’ parking barrier at P1

• Thursday 29th: Eaton House, Circus Apartments and side gate beside the Hotel

• Friday 30th: Belgrave Court and the Club/Gym garden gate.

  Please keep both your existing card and your new fob with you until you are satisfied that the new fob access is working correctly for your needs. Additional security staff will be onsite to assist during the transition.

Sunday 28th May - Ride London Road Closures

From Transport for London:

On Sunday 28 May, there will be extensive road closures across central London, east London and Essex for the Ford RideLondon cycling event. Many bus routes will be on diversion or stopping short of their destinations between 03:00 and 22:00.

Stratford and Canning Town bus stations are expected to be very busy during the event as routes to and from the stations will be disrupted. You may need to queue before being able to board.

Tube and rail services will be the best ways to cross the river and get around London, as the majority of TfL Tube and rail services will be running as normal. For more information about the event, visit the Ford RideLondon website.

For customers using bus services, you are advised to plan ahead, allow more time for your journey and check before you travel. For information to help plan your journey and for a full list of affected bus routes, visit our website.

Canary Riverside helps pave the way for transparency in insurance commissions

The FCA has today announced proposals to give new rights and protections to leaseholders and improve transparency in the hitherto murky market of hidden commissions included within the buildings insurance premiums paid by leaseholders. As the Insurance Post notes, “[Canary Riverside] was the case that alerted the FCA to these poor remuneration practices and urged it to investigate further.”.

We were aware the FCA had been closely following our case, which was generating comment in the insurance press, and in March this year we wrote to the FCA (copied to Michael Gove’s department) setting out our story and calling for the FCA to change the rules.

Under the FCA’s proposals leaseholders would be defined as customers of buildings insurance - entitling them to the same information as the Landlord when it comes to information regarding commissions and other remuneration contained in the insurance premiums - and brokers would be required to justify to leaseholders the insurance policy premium provided ‘fair value’.

Our well-publicised FTT victory had necessitated a court order to be issued against the Landlord’s broker in order to compel them to disclose the commissions being paid to our Landlord (via WMS, a connected company) - because the Landlord had refused to provide this information and would not permit Reich to provide it either. More details of our FTT victory - whereby the FTT determined that the £1.5M of commissions (£1.6M incl IPT) paid to WMS, a company owned by our Landlord, were not payable - can be found on the Insurance S.27A page.

The Canary Riverside case first caught the insurance sector’s attention when the FTT ordered Reich (the Landlord’s broker) to disclose the commissions - eg, the Insurance Post and the Insurance Times. The disclosure confirmed what lessees had always believed: that the Landlord was earning substantial commissions through placing the buildings insurance. In ten years they had been paid >£1.5M, ie, £150k p.a, equating to £350 per flat p.a.

The FTT’s decision in December 2022 that none of the £1.5M commission paid to the Landlord via WMS was payable by leaseholders was also widely reported, including in the Financial Times and Insurance Post - scroll here to the Media heading to find more articles.

The FCA’s proposals, if implemented, would spare leaseholders from having to endure the two year battle we went through to obtain the scrappy piece of paper that Reich finally disclosed - which was enough for us to calculate the commissions and for the FTT to rule that the £1.5M paid to the Landlord between 2010 - 2019 was not payable by leaseholders*. However, the proposals do nothing to compensate leaseholders for the thousands of pounds in commissions already pocketed by landlords. Having finally acknowledged that leaseholders have not been getting ‘fair value’ the FCA needs to recognise that retrospective justice is required and set about securing this. The hidden commissions scandal should be recognised as being on a par with the PPI mis-selling scandal. It needs to be fully investigated by the FCA, with fines imposed and leaseholders compensated. 

*The FTT ruling only applies to the 98 leaseholders who were party to the S.27A application, and is being appealed by the Landlord.

Gas safety notice

Important notice for flats with gas hobs.

Say no to the restaurant and bar roof terrace on top of the gym - object by 20th April

The Landlord has made a second application to Tower Hamlets Council for planning permission to develop a rooftop restaurant and bar for upwards of 90 patrons on top of the gym building and former Battery Club.

PA/23/00513/NC is for a design that is virtually unchanged from the application that was rejected by the council last summer. Instead of addressing the noise concerns that caused the Council to refuse the first application it appears the Landlord is relying on a new ‘Environmental Noise Assessment’ report that claims the rooftop terrace “would not be introducing a new or different noise to the area”.

According to the new noise assessment Canary Riverside residents already live in an exceptionally noisy location and so a new rooftop terrace with 100+ patrons would be unnoticeable above the ‘usual’ noise levels that residents already endure on a daily basis. ??? This is news to residents who enjoy living at Canary Riverside because it is a peaceful location…

The proposed terrace would impact all flats with windows and doors facing into the gardens, particularly in Belgrave Court and Eaton House. Eaton House and Belgrave Court ‘A’ residents are sheltered from the noise from the Mala terrace by the large wall and the gardens and noise from the Hotel terrace is negligible. Traffic noise is also not an issue for garden-facing rooms and the report presents an entirely different reality to that experienced by residents.

The Council rejected the first application on the grounds of unacceptable noise levels, particularly for flats above the rooftop terrace:

“…environmental health officers have confirmed that [the 1.8m glass balustrade] would only reduce the noise for residential units at the same storey or lower than the terrace. Given, that a number of the resident units are located at higher storeys than the terrace, this mitigation method would not be effective.”

The new application provides no additional noise mitigation. There would be nothing to protect residents from noisy gatherings on the rooftop terrace - which could range from corporate drinks events through to wedding celebrations or ‘bottomless brunches’ of the sort previously hosted by 28 West. We ask residents to object to the application, either by way of the on-line portal [click here: NB you have to register first to be be able to use the online portal] or by sending an email [click here for email address]. If appropriate please attach photos to your email that show the impact of the proposals to you. Objections must be made by 20th April.

The principal objection is in relation to noise disturbance. The terrace is open air and its location in the centre of our estate will result in significant noise disturbance through its extensive operating hours. Eg, from customers when dining/drinking, when leaving, staff clearing away plates and bottles and possibly music. Just a dozen lively people enjoying themselves on a warm summer’s evening can be noisy enough: imagine 80 talkative diners or a stand-up reception/roof-top wedding party with 100+ guests. Our buildings act to amplify the noise, with sound waves bouncing off hard surfaces. You may have your own memory of past disturbances when the Battery Club’s noisy patrons left through our gardens, or the clatter of dishes from the Ubon kitchens late into the night.

The Council dismissed residents’ concerns regarding loss of privacy, light pollution, nuisance/security etc. Please familiarise yourself with the Officer’s findings from last year before penning your objection to the new application.

Please use examples to illustrate your objections - eg, from past experience, or how the proposals directly impact you/your flat.

You might also be concerned about issues such as loss of view, or the impact on the value of your apartment: these are not things that the council are allowed to take into consideration. For examples of what is/is not a relevant planning consideration please click here.

The Landlord has already obtained planning permission to redevelop the 3rd and 4th floors to add bi-folding doors and a terrace on the river-facing walls. This application was approved without residents having been notified of the application. However, it has been granted and these enhancements to the existing two floors would make it an attractive venue. The roof terrace will cause considerable noise disturbance to residents. Please ensure you submit your objections to the roof terrace by 20th April 2023.

Companies House Register of Overseas Entities reveals Christodoulou as the owner of the 'BVI Companies'

As part of the UK Government’s effort to improve transparency when it comes to property ownership, ‘offshore’ companies that own UK property are now required to register details of the company’s beneficial owner with Companies House.

This Register has revealed that Yiannakis ‘John’ Christodoulou, the owner of Canary Riverside, is the beneficial owner of three BVI companies (Palm Trees Paradise Holdings, Everest Investments Trading Limited and Hermitage Lane Investments) that together own 25 flats in Canary Riverside.

The significance of this is two-fold:

• In 2018 Palm Trees Paradise (PTP) undertook a concerted effort to remove the then-S24 manager, Alan Coates and sought to solicit support from leaseholders. This included a solicitor’s letter, sent to every leaseholder, and a written denial that PTP had any connection to the landlord. Residents also reported a representative from Murray Hay knocking on apartment doors in July 2018. PTP subsequently applied to the FTT to remove Mr Coates and again denied any connection to the Landlord. At the FTT hearing in June 2019 PTP and CREM had separate legal representation and put forward separate nominations for a S24 manager. The FTT treated them as if they were separate entities - but determined that neither of their nominees were appointable. PTP did not participate in the subsequent hearing that led to the appointment of Mr Unsdorfer (albeit the Landlord put forward two nominee managers).

• The flats owned by the BVI companies appeared to have been assigned to them from the previous owner (Morgan Lodge) with service charge and utility debts still owed: this was highly irregular. In addition, the companies apparently continued to withhold payment of service and utility charges, requiring the S24 managers to engage in lengthy legal proceedings to recover the substantial debt. This was made more difficult because of the offshore ownership and further lease reassignments between the offshore companies (from Gold Capital to Hermitage Lane). Mr Coates highlighted this issue to the FTT in his report of June 2018 and Mr Unsdorfer referred to recovering the BVI companies’ debt in his November 2022 newsletter to leaseholders - which illustrates the time it has taken to recover the monies owed to the service charge, from companies we now know to be Landlord-owned.

Financial Times article highlighting the issue of insurance commissions paid to landlords and their agents

The Financial Times today highlights in an article the issue of insurance commissions paid to landlords and their managing agents, and refers to the recent Canary Riverside Tribunal decision which determined that £1.6M in commissions (incl. IPT) were not payable.

The FT article also refers to New Providence Wharf, another estate on the Isle of Dogs. Following an FT report in 2021 Ballymore, the landlord and managing agent at NPW, stopped taking commissions (which had been in excess of £150k p.a. and now levies a £10k ‘placement fee’.

Michael Gove sets out intention to ban insurance commissions for freeholders

Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has outlined plans to ban freeholders and managing agents from taking commissions when taking out buildings insurance.

Mr Gove has written to the CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) setting out how he plans to move forward on the issue of commissions and transparency in relation to leasehold buildings insurance. Commentary on Mr Gove’s letter by the Insurance Post can be found here. The Insurance Post references the Canary Riverside FTT decision.

Government vows to scrap 'feudal' leasehold system

Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, yesterday vowed to scrap the ‘feudal’ leasehold system including ditching the ‘25% rule’ that currently prevents estates like ours being able to obtain the freehold (‘enfranchisement’) and Right to Manage. In TV interviews with Sophy Ridge (Sky News) and Laura Kuenssberg (BBC) Gove said that the government will make it easier for leaseholders in flats to take over their buildings and bring them into common ownership.

The press release on the LUHC website states that Gove “will also take action to ban managing agents and freeholders from taking commissions when they take out building insurance. This is in response to a report from the Financial Conduct Authority that suggested commissions make up almost a third of premiums.”

The FTT application by Canary Riverside leaseholders attracted publicity in the insurance industry last year when the Leaseholders obtained a decision ordering Reich, the Canary Riverside landlord’s insurance broker, to disclose the commissions paid to it and the landlord. That disclosure, which confirmed that a landlord-related company was receiving between £150,000-£200,000 pa in commissions, was pivotal in the FTT determining that £1.5M of commissions had been unreasonably charged to leaseholders.

The Residents’ Association of Canary Riverside has actively campaigned for leasehold reform, supporting the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, the National Leasehold Campaign and the End Our Cladding Scandal campaigns.

New entry fobs ready for collection

FTT decision regarding insurance commissions

Following an application by 98 leaseholders at Canary Riverside challenging the reasonableness of insurance premiums paid between 2010 - 2019 the FTT (First Tier Tribunal) has determined that commissions totalling £1.5M and associated Insurance Premium Tax of £121k was not payable.

The Tribunal’s decision, issued on 22nd December 2022, can be found here, and further information about the Tribunal proceedings here.

This is a significant result for the applicant leaseholders at Canary Riverside and further helps push the issue of secret insurance commissions into the open. The FTT’s decision was reported by the Financial Times on Saturday (link here).

Commentary on the decision can also be found on the Nearly Legal blog here and on the LKP website here.