CBWRA’s absurd attempt to rewrite history

The latest email update to leaseholders from CBWRA ‘co-chair’s Larisa Villar Hauser and Louis Sebastian Kendall gave me a good laugh. In their email of 22.10.23 they state:

” We thank you for your support in making it possible for us to replace Rendall & Rittner and ensure that we are never again in the position of our petitions for a change of agent falling on deaf ears over a period of years during which, in our view, service standards have dropped while service charges have risen exponentially.”

Which petitions/petioning for change of agent would this be? The CBWRA committee were insisting up till very recently that Rendall and Rittner were improving, that they needed to form a ‘collegiate relationship’ with them, and that Right to Manage was impossible.  I was forced off the CBWRA committee by Stephen Thompson and the CBWRA committee 2 years ago (October 2021) for refusing to take down a petition against Rendall and Rittner, following lobbying from Richard Daver at Rendall and Rittner. Mr Thompson banned the CBWRA committee from petitions against Rendall and Rittner in September 2021.

My CBW app account was closed for pointing out that Right to Manage was possible and that CBWRA were misinforming residents in saying that it was not. CBWRA circulated a newsletter in May 2022 shortly after closing my CBW app account stating that I was misleading residents by stating that Right to Manage was possible. Anyone criticising Rendall and Rittner on the CBW app was told they were being ‘negative’, ‘toxic’ etc. Had I not got independent advice from Canonbury estate management in June 2022 the CBWRA committee might still be telling residents that Right to Manage was not possible.

So not only is it untrue in my view that CBWRA have been “petitioning” for a new managing agent for the last 2 years, the literal opposite is the case – CBWRA have tried (unsuccessfully) to stop a petition against Rendall and Rittner and tried to silence those who said that Right to Manage was possible. All of 2022 was wasted in a futile attempt to “retender the management contract’ which was never going to work as it required Berkely Homes to voluntarily participate which they were never going to do. CBWRA misinformed residents that this process WAS Right to Manage when in fact it had nothing to do with Right to Manage.

IN my view this is a really shabby attempt by CBWRA committee to rewrite history with themselves as the heroes when in fact they have in my view wasted two years when Right to Manage could have been pursued, so an apology would be in order, both to me and other residents. Hilariously, CBWRA also point out that ”service charges  have risen exponentially  and service standards fallen” – Yes they have – on your watch!, What have they done about it? Very little indeed IMHO.

How far have CBWRA actually got with Right to Manage? What percentage of leaseholders have been signed up? When will notice be served to freeholders? We seem to have a continually slipping timeline and irregular updates to residents.