Question 1

Recycling Rejection

Accepted Answer

Recycling Rejection Q: We are an estate of 30 flats in west Oxford. Seven are fully owner-occupied, three are second homes intermittently occupied, and 20 are sub-let. The residents’ company owns the freehold, and all thirty flats participate in this ownership. We have separate council-provided waste bins for landfill/incineration and recycling. They are just about sufficient for the population. Both types of bin are very full on collection day. Oxford Council has strict and well publicised rules governing what can be put in the recycling bins, and also how it can be put in. The council is increasingly taking a hard line about enforcing these rules, with the penalty being non-collection from the affected recycling bins. The penalty is being widely applied, not just to our estate. One particular contravention is dumping recycling material in plastic bags which have been tied up: the rule is that all items be presented separately. Of course many occupants use the tied up route to transport recycle easily from the flat to the bin. We believe, but without much hard evidence, that our problems come from the sublet flats. The residents’ company has provided hard copy information on Oxford City policies to each flat, and has also informed flat owners of the requirements. We can and will do much more in this area, both through our agents and through our own efforts. Do you have any suggestions? Could clauses in our lease (complying with regulations; nuisance) be used against owners of flats if their tenants are demonstrated not to be behaving compliantly with the rules? FPRA Director Shaun O’Sullivan replies: In order to meet increasingly stringent recycling targets, local authorities (or contractors working on their behalf) are known to be taking steps to try and ensure compliance with local arrangements. Although 100 per cent compliance is probably an unrealistic aspiration, non-collection - or at least the threat of non-collection - is, nevertheless, one of the devices used by some. Although I don’t believe that there is any stock or easy answer to this issue, my own experience in a self-managed block of 24 flats in one of the London boroughs, is that we engaged positively with the local authority and their appointed contractor at the outset and during the first few months after introduction in order to ensure that our bin capacity (we are required to use 4 types of bin) was as consistent with usage so far as was reasonably possible. As the result of this, bin capacity, and the number of bins provided, was adjusted accordingly. Although the local authority circulated details of the new recycling regime to every household (and flats were different to houses) we placed copies in all of our four bin stores. In addition, we wrote to all our residents (whether owner-occupiers or sub-tenants) giving details of the new arrangements and encouraging compliance. We also included details in our estate regulations (circulated at least annually) and we make new residents (whether owner/occupiers or sub-tenants) aware of waste collection arrangements as part of a ‘letter of welcome’ as soon as they take up residence. This generally works for us although, occasionally, we have to remind residents of their obligations in this regard. A simple e-mail, or general circular to all, is normally sufficient. Your lease places an obligation on the lessor to ‘keep in a reasonable state of cleanliness’ the ‘estate external areas’, of which ‘shared refuse bin stores’ form part. Should your ability to do so be compromised by uncollected waste, then I believe the lease could be invoked in that it includes both the ‘premises’ (largely that which had been demised) and ‘the remainder of the estate’. However, I would positively encourage you to adopt other means of encouragement, as you appear to be doing, before taking lease enforcement action. [Submitted September 2019]

Question 2

Recycling Rejection

Accepted Answer

Recycling Rejection Q: We are an estate of 30 flats in west Oxford. Seven are fully owner-occupied, three are second homes intermittently occupied, and 20 are sub-let. The residents’ company owns the freehold, and all thirty flats participate in this ownership. We have separate council-provided waste bins for landfill/incineration and recycling. They are just about sufficient for the population. Both types of bin are very full on collection day. Oxford Council has strict and well publicised rules governing what can be put in the recycling bins, and also how it can be put in. The council is increasingly taking a hard line about enforcing these rules, with the penalty being non-collection from the affected recycling bins. The penalty is being widely applied, not just to our estate. One particular contravention is dumping recycling material in plastic bags which have been tied up: the rule is that all items be presented separately. Of course many occupants use the tied up route to transport recycle easily from the flat to the bin. We believe, but without much hard evidence, that our problems come from the sublet flats. The residents’ company has provided hard copy information on Oxford City policies to each flat, and has also informed flat owners of the requirements. We can and will do much more in this area, both through our agents and through our own efforts. Do you have any suggestions? Could clauses in our lease (complying with regulations; nuisance) be used against owners of flats if their tenants are demonstrated not to be behaving compliantly with the rules? FPRA Director Shaun O’Sullivan replies: In order to meet increasingly stringent recycling targets, local authorities (or contractors working on their behalf) are known to be taking steps to try and ensure compliance with local arrangements. Although 100 per cent compliance is probably an unrealistic aspiration, non-collection - or at least the threat of non-collection - is, nevertheless, one of the devices used by some. Although I don’t believe that there is any stock or easy answer to this issue, my own experience in a self-managed block of 24 flats in one of the London boroughs, is that we engaged positively with the local authority and their appointed contractor at the outset and during the first few months after introduction in order to ensure that our bin capacity (we are required to use 4 types of bin) was as consistent with usage so far as was reasonably possible. As the result of this, bin capacity, and the number of bins provided, was adjusted accordingly. Although the local authority circulated details of the new recycling regime to every household (and flats were different to houses) we placed copies in all of our four bin stores. In addition, we wrote to all our residents (whether owner-occupiers or sub-tenants) giving details of the new arrangements and encouraging compliance. We also included details in our estate regulations (circulated at least annually) and we make new residents (whether owner/occupiers or sub-tenants) aware of waste collection arrangements as part of a ‘letter of welcome’ as soon as they take up residence. This generally works for us although, occasionally, we have to remind residents of their obligations in this regard. A simple e-mail, or general circular to all, is normally sufficient. Your lease places an obligation on the lessor to ‘keep in a reasonable state of cleanliness’ the ‘estate external areas’, of which ‘shared refuse bin stores’ form part. Should your ability to do so be compromised by uncollected waste, then I believe the lease could be invoked in that it includes both the ‘premises’ (largely that which had been demised) and ‘the remainder of the estate’. However, I would positively encourage you to adopt other means of encouragement, as you appear to be doing, before taking lease enforcement action. [Submitted September 2019]

Recycling Rejection

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