Barbican Resident Guide

 BEO have released a new version of the Barbican Resident Guide ...

 

Click here to read

 

Lease Length and the 80-Year Threshold

From the BEO:


---------- Forwarded message ---------

Dear Leaseholders,
 

I hope you are well and that 2026 has begun positively.

I am writing to Barbican leaseholders to draw attention to an important matter concerning lease length and statutory lease extensions. This information will be most relevant to leaseholders who have not yet extended their leases, though it may not apply in all cases.

Many residential leases at the Barbican expire on or around 1 July 2106, with some variation between blocks. For leases that have not been extended, this means the remaining term will fall below 80 years from early July this year.

Under current leasehold legislation, once a lease has fewer than 80 years remaining, any statutory lease extension is subject to an additional element of premium known as "marriage value" (see the Leasehold Advisory Service definition Marriage value - The Leasehold Advisory Service). The inclusion of marriage value can significantly increase the cost of a lease extension and will usually require a professional valuation.

You may be aware that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions to abolish marriage value. However, these provisions have not yet come into force, and there is currently no confirmed timetable for their implementation. Until the law changes, marriage value remains payable where a lease has fallen below the 80-year threshold.

While the City of London Corporation is unable to advise individual leaseholders, we wish to ensure that residents are fully informed. Leaseholders who have not yet extended their leases may therefore wish to consider beginning the statutory lease extension process before July this year. Serving the required statutory notice before a lease drops below 80 years would mean that marriage value does not apply under the current legal framework.

If you would like general information about the lease extension process, including the procedural steps involved, please contact: 

dccs-beo-servicecharges@cityoflondon.gov.uk

We recognise that the current uncertainty surrounding future legislative reform is unhelpful, and we will continue to monitor developments and keep leaseholders informed.

Our aim is always to support Barbican leaseholders by providing timely and transparent information, enabling leaseholders to make informed decisions.

1 Silk St. Planning Application - Huge Building

The planning application for the new building at 1 silk street is now live. Here is a letter from the Silk Street Campaign Team:

Dear Neighbours,

Many of you may now have received formal planning application letters from the City. Please find attached the latest Silk Street Campaign update, with details of a briefing meeting for residents to be held on 22 October.

Thank you for your support.

Silk Street Campaign Team
silkstreetcampaign@gmail.com

Here is the update which includes images showing just how big the proposed building is:

Another whopper - click to open the update

Proposed "art screen" for 1 Golden Lane - What is it?

 DP9 Limited, on behalf of the re-developers of 1 Golden Lane have submitted a planning application to add a requirement for an "art screen".

What is an "art screen"?   I have no idea and the application does not make this clear.   Have a look for yourself by visiting the City of London planning portal and searching for "25/00824/LBC".

I have raised an objection just to note that there is no explanation of what an "art screen" is.

Here is the letter about the application from the City.  Notice the signal to noise ratio of ~1% which is typical for such letters from the City ...

Click to read the whole leter

White Cross Street Ramp Closed Thu 21st March

From the BEO:

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Dear Residents,

I am writing to inform you that the ramp on White Cross Street by Staircase 64, Ben Jonson House, will be closed tomorrow (Thursday 21 March), all day, due to repairs taking place on the drains and associated pipework.

There will be barriers in place as well as signs directing to the ramp round the back of Ben Jonson as an alternative.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Kind Regards,
Barbican Estate Office

1 Golden Lane - A post demolition pause before the build?

The good new is that we have the atrocious noise of the demolition behind us.  The less good news is that the construction phase is due to begin and this will bring a whole new set of aural delights.

But it is not clear when the construction phase will begin.  Mc Gee have completely vacated the site, even the scaffolding has gone (a bit surprising).

So, time to enjoy a bit of quiet while at the same time hoping that we won't be left with a half completed building project as a neighbor for too long!

Here is the farewell note from Mc Gee:

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Good morning,

As you may have seen we have been demobilising on the 1 Golden Lane site as our phase of works are now complete. We officially left the site on Friday 23^rd February 2024.

At this moment in time, the contractor that will be carrying out the next phase of works at 1 Golden Lane has not been confirmed. However once confirmed we will have a handover where things including neighbourly matters and sensitive receptors will be discussed.

In the meantime, if you need to contact anyone regarding 1 Golden Lane, please contact Thomas Woolf, t.woolf@gardiner.com.

Please can you confirm If you would like me to pass on your email address to the client so they can give it to the next contractor, to include their mailing list. Until we receive approval from you, we will not share your email address.

Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you for your patience, understanding and feedback whilst we have carried out our work. We appreciate fully how our works impacted you at times, and by incorporating your feedback we have remained committed to carrying out our project in the least impactful way possible.

It has been lovely speaking to and meeting with so many of you and I wish you the best for the future.

Thank you from the whole of the McGee 1 Golden Lane team!

Kind regards

Top balcony inspections

The Projects Department inform that on Tuesday 9 January from 10:30am, the City of London Project Manager, Graham Sheret will be walking along the top floor balconies of John Trundle Court, Bunyan Court and Ben Jonson House. He will be accompanied by a contractor.

I'd guess they will be looking for leaky doors etc.

1st Dec Heating Webinar docs

 In the 2022-12-16 newsletter the BEO gave a link to the notes and slides shown at the 2022-12-01 webinar about the underfloor heating:

Click to read the whole document

1 Golden Lane - How Big?

The redeveloped 1 Golden Lane will be much bigger, and more intrusive, than the current building.

Planning permission for the proposed redevelopment has been submitted (see the notice here).

You have until 5th May to make representations.  If you object to the plans make sure you include the word "object" in your objection otherwise it will be taken as merely a comment.

Send your representations to PLNComments@cityoflondon.gov.uk 

I have also received a flyer which gives a good sense of just how much bigger the proposed building will be: higher by no less than 20.39 meters (66.89 feet).  The flyer also points out that the proposed building will built out to be closer to Ben Jonson House, that there will be new entertainment terraces, and that refuse containers will be placed immediately in front of Ben Jonson House.

Click to read the whole flyer

Reporting Podium Lights on the Estate

From the BEO:

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Reporting Podium Lights on the Estate

As some of you may be aware all Podium light issues are the responsibility of our colleagues in the Highways Department of the Built Environment.

May we ask residents to please help us with reporting and use the following email address: dbebarbicanlighting@cityoflondon.gov.uk , to report these lighting issues on the Barbican Estate.

If you contact the team directly, may we request that you also copy in your House Officer, so that they may track and follow up on the repairs on your behalf.

This inbox will be monitored on a daily basis via the electrical group which in turn will allow them to address problems as soon as possible, whilst also providing direct feedback.

We hope by working together, we can manage things a bit more proactively.

UBS building re-development

1 Golden Lane, previously known as the Cripplegate Institute and more recently as an office for UBS, is being redeveloped.

There was to be a consultation meeting next week, but with the recent restrictions it will now be a Zoom session:

From the BEO:

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Consultation for the refurbishment of 1 Golden Lane

Castleforge has recently launched a public consultation for their proposals to sensitively refurbish 1 Golden Lane. The proposal presents an opportunity to modernise the building, secure its long-term success and enhance the local area.

Please click here to visit their consultation website which includes further details, and the opportunity to leave your feedback.

Please note: A planned in-person exhibition on Tuesday 14 December from 3pm – 7:30pm has been postponed due to changing Government advice around Covid-19.

An online webinar will instead take place on Tuesday 14 December at 6pm - please click here to register for the webinar.

Noisy Work Hours

The rules for noisy works (e.g. using power tools) have been updated.  In particular there is no longer a defined quiet period from 12:00 to 14:00 for resident/private contractor work.

I understand the quiet period was dropped because it was deemed to be unenforceable.  If you are being disturbed by works and/or need some quiet time to work (e.g. for a meeting) the recommendation now is that you knock on the door of the flat which is the source of the noise and ask for some quiet time, or that you ask the BEO or your house officer to contact the flat for you.

From the BEO
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Noisy Work Hours

Barbican Contractors: 9am – 5pm

Works carried out by our contractors (Metwin etc). They will try to not start before 10am but certain works need a full day to complete and may have to start from 9am. Emergency Works may have to take place outside of these hours.

Residents Private Contractors: 10am-4pm

Alterations in Leaseholder's flats (please note there is no quiet period). If there are complaints of noisy work starting before 10am or after 4pm please contact the House Officer for your block.

City: 

8am – 6pm eg road works, gas, electric water repairs & work not controlled by the Barbican Estate Office.
(Quiet times of 10-12 and 2-4 stipulated)

Culture Mile meeting - 19:00, 26th June

From our common councilors:

____

At the recent  Ward Mote meeting it was agreed that there should be a further Ward meeting specifically to discuss the Culture Mile. 

We have been fortunate in that Peter Lisley (Culture Mile Director) and Tim Jones (Culture Mile Manager) have both agreed to speak to us on 26 June at 7pm in the Frobisher Rooms.

Click to read the whole flyer