Repair work at Loxford Gardens

A DREAM move into a Highbury development has become an “endless nightmare” for residents who say they are living with leaking pipework, broken heating and a cavernous hole on the estate.

But when leaseholders complained to the managing agents, an email came back accusing them of throwing “childish tantrums” and the chair of the residents’ association was advised to seek “anger management” help.

The dispute over works at Loxford Gardens comes while bills for service charges run into thousands of pounds.

Residents have asked Y&Y management to show them what work has actually been completed.

Louis Leigh took on the mantle of being the chair of the Loxford Gardens Residents’ Association three years ago, and has been engaged in an ongoing to and fro with Avon Ground Rents, which owns the freehold, and Y&Y management over the costs.

He has sent dozens of emails asking the managing agent for paperwork that shows work on the heating system, for which leaseholders were billed more than £100,000, was ever finished.

“When we’ve asked for any form of evidence – engineers’ reports, times and date-stamped photos, photos of water meter showing leaks – when we’ve asked for these things they can’t supply them,” Mr Leigh told the Tribune.

“It has been a living nightmare. We want transparency and accountability from Y&Y, Avon Ground Rents, and Mount Anvil, and we want control of our development, and hence our lives.”

He said there had been ongoing problems with the development’s plant room, underground pipework, rainwater flooding, and sewage flooding.

Louis Leigh at Loxford Gardens

Mr Leigh wrote to Y&Y management in June 2024 asking its director to address residents’ concerns.

In response, managing director Joe Gurvitz said the behaviour of the residents’ association chair resembled a “spoiled child” and he “seriously need[ed] to get some anger management help”.

He wrote: “I am done with your childish tantrums and kicking everyone when you don’t like something.”

Mr Gurvitz then went on to threaten Mr Leigh with legal action saying that the private complaint made against the management company was “defamatory”.

Mr Leigh felt this amounted to intimidation, adding: “I just think it’s disgusting.We are in the middle of something that is really wrong, and shouldn’t be happening in London.”

Luke Hubbard, a teacher who purchased his flat back in 2012, said he felt “trapped” and wished he had never bought the home in the first place.

“You are sold this promise of affordable accommodation, but you can’t promise that when there is a lever for managing agents and freeholders to exponentially increase the service charge,” he told the Tribune.

“We’ve had Christmases in the cold with no hot water, pipes burst, they’ve dug up the place for the third time and they still don’t seem to be doing the works. The system is utterly broken.”

In April 2025, the residents’ association filed an official Stage 1 complaint with Y&Y management.

The complaint was acknowledged, but a later response from an unnamed individual at the company suggested that residents would be charged for the time it took for Y&Y to look at it.

A dig in 2020

The email response said: “This will require Adam to spend hours to respond and he is advised to keep a record of the time and to make a charge to the service charge for any time he spends on this.”

Mr Hubbard added:  “There’s no trust, no reliability, and no sense that you can ever be clear on what you are going to be charged for next.”

Y&Y Property Management said in a statement to the Tribune: “Y&Y has successfully managed hundreds of residential developments for almost 20 years and we bring that experience to Loxford Gardens.

“The issues affecting the site arise from the original building development, which
pre-date Y&Y Property Management’s appointment as managing agent.

“Since 2020, specialist engineers, insurers and the original developer have been engaged in extensive investigations and remedial works, with Y&Y maintaining an increased on-site presence and providing regular monthly updates to residents and leaseholders.

“We recognise that the prolonged building works at Loxford Gardens have been frustrating for lease­holders and residents.

The current hole on the estate as work continues

“Fortunately, the root cause has been identified within the original communal heating and plant room infrastructure, and the developer is undertaking corrective works at their own cost, including funding a temporary plant room and also contributing to the boiler replacement, in order to maintain heating and hot water for residents at all times.

“Although disruptive, these works are necessary to secure a permanent resolution and prevent further recurrence.”

The statement added: “Service charges reflect the real cost of maintaining essential services, specialist investigations, temporary measures and professional oversight during a prolonged infrastructure building works and are raised strictly in accordance with provisions of the lease.

“We are confident that the correct steps are being taken and that the works are now moving toward completion in the coming months.

“We also acknowledge that an email sent by Y&Y Management used language that fell below the standard we expect; this has been addressed internally, and Y&Y is committed to respectful engagement with residents.

“Furthermore, Y&Y does not operate a policy of charging residents for making complaints and has never done so.

“Our focus remains on completing the works, improving communi­cation and maintaining a positive and constructive relationship with residents going forward.”