Brent Council accused of double standards over Barham property rents

Cllr Paul Lorber has returned to the issues revealed in the Barham Park Trustees accounts in an email to Kim Wright, Brent Coucil Chief Executive Officer:

You will recall that last year when challenging the accounts and the poor way officers were managing the Charity’s property and finances, I made the specific point that rent reviews in line with Leases in place were not implemented as a result of Trustee and Officer failures to notice.

 

I raised and pursued this issue despite knowing that this would cost Friends of Braham Library (an organisation running a Community Library in Barham Park of which I am a Trustee) substantial amount of money.

 

I was proved to be right and the Property Unit eventually addressed this oversight and pursued the rent reviews and backdated the collection of the correct amounts due. The extra amount due to the Trust up to 31 March 2024 came to around £20,000.  Friends of Barham Library’s rent increased by around £750 a year and we paid over almost £2,000 backdated amount.

 

I get the impression that one of the large tenants has not yet paid the extra £15,000 or so due to them because of the failure to uplift their rent from 2019. 

 

The Barham Park Trustees have now agreed to embark on a commercial approach in dealing with the buildings in Barham Park. The intent is to renew leases which the Council Officers decided to run out - deliberately or by oversight - for a limited number of years only. 

 

The new approach will have a serious impact on some of the small charities operating in Barham Park including the Barham Veterans Club who were originally set up by a partnership between Wembley and Middlesex County Council as far back as 1947. The days when the Veterans could use their premises free of charge and were supported with a £4,000 a year grant are long gone.

 

I will pursue the issue of commercial rents another time. My concern in this email is the double standards employed by Brent Council when dealing with itself as compared to how they deal with the voluntary sector and charities.

 

The affairs of the Barham Park Trust are managed by Brent Council Officers. While ultimate responsibility lies with the Trustees - currently all Labour Councillors including the Leader - they have effectively washed their hands of responsibility and delegated virtually everything to officers.

 

Any arrangements between the Trust and the Council have to be at “arm’s length” and not on any favourable terms.

 

The Council has been allowed to lease one Unit in the Barham Buildings for a Children Centre. That Children Centre was closed many years ago and the supposed replacement use and activities of the unit is highly questionable.

 

The Lease prepared by Council Officers between the Trust and the Council is highly unusual.

 

While Leases with 3rd party charities or community organisations have an upward only rent review every 5 years - and I have high lighted extra rent this generates above - surprisingly the Lease with the Council has no such clause and no rent increase has been applied.

 

This is clearly very odd and very unfair. While expecting charities to pay more the Council has ensured that it does not have to. The Council has a clear conflict of interest but has also clearly failed to follow the simple ‘arm’s length’ rule to ovoid it.

 

Officers also ensured that the Council benefit is amplified allowing the lease to expire while continuing to pay the old rent rather than a newly and independently determined market rent.

 

So, while imposing market rents on others the Council has ensured that the impact of pursuing a market rent policy is avoided by the Council itself.

 

This clearly is not right. The Barham Park Charity has lost out as a result of this cavalier approach while Charity tenants have been treated less favourably while also being threatened with eviction if failing to agree to pay market rents.

 

As I was denied the right to speak at the recent Trust Meeting, I am making my concerns public.

 

I look forward to an equal public explanation and justification as to why in relation to the Unit the Council leases from Barham Park Trust the Council is not treated the same as everyone else.

 

Paul Lorber