Barbican Estate resident involvement

Following a vote by residents and a decision by the Barbican Residential Committee (BRC) in 2003, the Resident Consultation Committee (RCC) was formed.

RCC normally meets four or five times a year, two weeks prior to the BRC. Reports are submitted to this Committee for their comments prior to decisions being made at the BRC.

Each House Group sends a member as a representative, and their contact details are available from your House Officer.

For more information about the list of minutes, meetings and agendas, visit the Residents Consultation Committee (RCC) meeting and minutes.

The Barbican Association (BA) is an independent organisation founded and run by residents. It is a recognised Tenants' Association under Landlord and Tenant legislation. The Barbican Association sends one representative to meetings of the Residents Consultation Committee (RCC).

Any resident may join. To find out more, go to the Barbican Association website.

Residents have their own independent lifestyle magazine which is delivered free of charge across the Estate.

Barbican Life is a high quality, A4 glossy publication, produced professionally and published quarterly. Copies are also available from the Barbican Library and from local estate agents.

Editorial articles focus on the unique lifestyle of Barbican residents and the facilities and associations available within the complex and in the surrounding area, as well as more general articles written by local authors.

Regular sections review local restaurants, preview forthcoming theatre productions, give updates on the Barbican property market, cover what is coming up in the local arts scene, give advice on personal finance and investment, give pointers to ways of maintaining fitness and health and cover Barbican-related news and business activities.

They both represent residents and they both include representatives of house groups; so why are there two bodies?

Essentially the RCC represents residents in their relationship with the City as their landlord. The BA represents them in all other matters.

The RCC was set up a few years ago as a subcommittee of the Barbican Residential Committee, the City Corporation's committee responsible for running the Barbican Estate, to provide a voice for leaseholders in the way the estate was run, recognising the fact that long leaseholders pay for most of that management through their service charges.

Each house group has a seat on the RCC, and the BA also has a seat.

The BA was set up shortly after the estate was first occupied and represents residents on all other issues that affect them other than direct landlord issues (though it does have a voice in these through its seat on the RCC). Individuals join the BA, and pay a subscription, and they elect people to the BA General Council, which also has a representative from each house group. In practice the BA deals mainly with planning and licensing issues, but it also represents residents in discussions with our neighbours such as the Arts Centre and the Girls School and in discussions with bodies like Crossrail.

Many of the same people sit on both committees. This is because cross representation is useful – especially as residents don't necessarily know the difference between the two and the BA has funds and the RCC doesn't.

In addition some elected City of London common councilmen from the two Barbican wards sit on both the RCC and the BA, as either house group representatives or elected members to the BAGC.

Contact your House Officer at the Barbican Estate Office for details of how to contact your House Group Chair.

Most of the individual blocks on the Barbican Estate have a House Group to represent the views of their residents and each House Group may also send one representative to the meetings of the Residents' Consultation Committee (RCC). Some of the House Groups are also recognised by the City Corporation as Recognised Tenants' Associations.

The City Corporation is obliged to regularly monitor the membership levels and constitutions of House Groups to ensure that those who wish to be formally recognised as Tenants' Associations have met various criteria outlines in the guidance pursuant to Section 29 of the Landlord and Tenants Act 1985. The approach adopted by the Barbican Residential Committee is for this monitoring to be undertaken annually and so the City Corporation writes to each House Group to request various documents to assist in formally recognising the House Group as an RTA.

The City Corporation is obliged to consult with and inform residents of the costs and scheduling of capital and programmed works in accordance with Statute and the terms of the lease.

All major programmed works will be subject to an initial evaluation process, the commencement of which is reported to the Residents Consultation Committee (RCC) for recommendation and the Barbican Residential Committee (BRC) for approval. Following the initial evaluation, an Evaluation Report, including an estimate of costs and an outline brief, will be presented to the RCC for consultation prior to submission to the BRC and (if approved) the commencement of the Statutory consultation process with residents and leaseholders under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as amended by Section 151 of the Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act, 2002). Section 20 applies to all affected leaseholders, where one leaseholder's charge exceeds £250 for works or £100 for a long-term service agreement. The programme of works is included in the 'out-turn report' which the RCC sees before it is approved by the BRC.

Working Parties are set up by the Residents' Consultation Committee (RCC) and the Barbican Residential Committee (BRC), to enable Members, City Corporation officers and resident representatives to work together to deal with various issues on the Barbican Estate.

If you require further details on a working party or would like to receive copies of previous minutes please contact your House Officer. For the latest updates, please see the Committee papers.

Gardens Advisory Group

Attended by:

• Barbican Estate Office (BEO) officers
• Open Spaces officers
• Resident representatives

Service Level Agreements Review

Attended by:

• RCC representatives
• BEO officers

Background Underfloor Heating

Attended by:

• BEO officers
• Property Services officers
• City Corporation officers
• Resident representatives

For the background to the project see item 5 of the BRC March 2014 committee papers.

Asset Maintenance

Attended by:

• BEO officers
• Property Services officers
• Resident representatives

Electric Vehicle Charging

Attended by:

• BEO officers
• Property Services officers
• City Corporation officers
• Resident representatives

Leaseholder Service Charge

Attended by:

• BEO officers
• Property Services officers
• Resident representatives