A RESIDENT has been refunded more than £5,300 in service charges from a council error going back more than a decade.

The homeowner, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been repaid after an administrative error dating back from their Right-To-Buy purchase of a council home in 2003.

Housing campaigners have criticised how long it took for the council to notice the error and said many more cases could exist across the city dating back up to 30 years.

The Justice For Tenants (JFT) group called for an “independent and comprehensive investigation” claiming the problem was raised two years ago but ignored by council officers.

Brighton and Hove City Council said it had apologised and repaid the money following an investigation.

JFT founder Steve Parry said he believed there were currently up to 100 complaints with the council concerning costs, quality, and necessity of work on housing.

He said: “What has not been explained is how the incorrect costs charged to individual residents could have gone on for so long.

“Why has this discrepancy not been identified by annual audits?”

“The city council must thoroughly investigate how this has been allowed to happen and refunds must be paid automatically to anyone who has been charged incorrectly.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “Following an investigation we recently repaid – with our apologies – the figure quoted to one of our leaseholders who had queried the proportion of the service charge due for their flat.

“The mistake dated back to the original Right to Buy purchase in 2003 when an incorrect rateable value was used to calculate the flat’s percentage share of the total expenditure.

“If any council leaseholder disputes or disagrees with any aspect of their service charge we have a three-stage disputes procedure so that cases can be thoroughly investigated.”