BARNET Homes vastly overcharged a group of residents for repair work to their houses, a tribunal has ruled.

Twenty-eight leaseholders in the Whiting Hill area of Barnet appealed to the independent Government body after being hit with cost estimates of up to £7,000 each for improvements to their homes.

They claimed the prices quoted were excessive, and much of the work was poor and incomplete.

The Leaseholders Valuation Tribunal upheld many of the Quinta Drive estate residents’ complaints and knocked £184,591 off the final cost for the 14 housing blocks.

Original estimates for work in Hackford Close were nearly four times what they should have been, at £29,457. The tribunal ruled £8,674 was a “reasonable” amount.

Maxine Green, 56, who part-owns a leasehold property with her parents in Hackforth Close, was pleased with the result.

“It’s been a long haul and the council tried to stop us at almost every move, but we feel vindicated now its over,” she said.

“All the issues we raised and were concerned about have been addressed by the tribunal, such as the bad management of Barnet Homes and the unreliability of the costings.

“We have been bullied the whole way along, but somehow we managed to pull it off.”

The bills, which were on top of the leaseholders' monthly service charges of between £30 and £50, included costs for external decorating and the replacement of windows and roofs.

The cost estimates were lowered after the group filed their official complaints, but still £75,000 higher than the final amount agreed by the tribunal.

The report, published on April 16, found that the standard of management “fell below the contractual standard and what the applicants had been charged for”.

It also ruled that many repairs charged to residents had not been done.

The report added: “Upon receipt of apparently inflated demands, it is not surprising that long leaseholders, many of whom are elderly and of limited means, became extremely anxious and applied to the tribunal.”

But it ruled the general standard of the work was "reasonable and satisfactory".

Barnet Homes' chief executive, Tracey Lees, said it had accepted most of the tribunal’s findings, but planned to appeal “some aspects” of the decision.

"The tribunal upheld over 80 per cent of the charges made to leaseholders on the Quinta Drive estate,” she said.

"However, it has found in favour of the leaseholders on some issues which we would accept. We have raised these with our contractor and have already resolved some of these issues identified by the report.

"We will also look to learn from this process as we seek to meet our commitment to getting the best possible deal for all of our leaseholders.

"However, the tribunal does raise some other issues which appear to have implications not just for Barnet Homes, but for other social housing providers across the country.

"We are taking some time to consider these and it is likely that we will appeal against some aspects of the decision."

Elaine Luxton, 52, of Ryecroft Crescent, said the group would continue the fight if Barnet Homes appealed.

“This was the little people against the big people, and the little people won,” she said.

“It has now been proved that these repairs were a complete rip-off, a terrible job. If Barnet Homes appeals any of the decisions, we will fight them.

“We’ve come this far, we are not going to stop now.”