Leathemarket JMB is Southwark’s largest resident-managed housing organisation. managing 1500 homes in Borough and Bermondsey between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. A full list of the addresses that the JMB cover can be found on the Which TRA page, together with details of the tenants and residents association that covers that area.
Who are Leathermarket JMB?
Leathermarket JMB is the organisation which runs your estate, managed by the people who live in your area.
Residents are the reason we are here.
Our vision is
To provide excellent housing services for our residents, better than those provided by other organisations with similar resources
To do this we aim to
To spend no more than we earn over a five year period
To have high resident satisfaction rates compared to other local landlords
To encourage residents to get involved in managing the JMB
To be a good employer for our staff
To win the JMB continuation ballot every 5 years. (every five years all the residents living on the JMB Estates are asked if they want the JMB to continue to manage their homes)
Services
what do we deliver for residents?
Rent Collection
We collect rent from tenants. We also give advice to tenants in difficulties. However, if this fails we must take tenants to court to recover lost rent.
Repairs
We deliver a repairs and maintenance service including:
Weekday repairs for tenants
Estate maintenance
Empty property repairs
A 24-hour, seven day-a-week, emergency repairs service
Customer Services
Our customer services team carries out a wide range of duties including:
Providing housing advice
Investigating and dealing with neighbour nuisance and antisocial behaviour
Carrying out tenancy checks to catch unauthorised residents
Helping to resolve neighbour disputes
Attending Tenants & Residents Association meetings
Taking prospective tenants to view properties and signing up new tenants
Dealing with parking issues
Providing a visible presence on the estates
Improvement Works
The JMB manages major improvement works within the budget we are given by Southwark Council.
Cleaning
Leathermarket JMB estates are cleaned on weekdays (except for bank holidays) by JMB cleaners. Health and safety matters can be attended to on weekends (up to 4pm on Sundays) by calling the out of hours service on the JMB’s main phone number.
Bulk rubbish
We will collect your bulk rubbish for free by appointment during the week.
Please telephone 020 7450 8000 or call in the office to book a removal.
Gardening
Leathermarket JMB employs two experienced gardeners to look after our estates.
History of the JMB
1994
Setting up the JMB
In 1994 the Tenants on the Leathermarket Neighbourhood Forum (a group set up to relate to the neighbourhood council housing office) thought that the service they received from the council -particularly repairs and cleaning – could be done much better.
The Neighbourhood forum thought that things needed to be done more locally where local residents could make their own decisions.
The neighbouring Tabard Estate had started looking about becoming locally managed in 1991 and had split from the rest of the Leathermarket Area.
Setting up a TMO
So in 1994, a steering group of 10 people from the Neighbourhood Forum started the process for looking at residents taking over the running of the Leathermarket homes by setting up a TMO (a Tenant-Managed Organisation, under the Goverment’s ‘Right to Manage’ legislation).
An indicative ballot of Leathermarket area residents was held – the vast majority of residents were in favour of setting up a TMO.
This was followed by an 18-month process of agreeing a management agreement – the legal agreement with Southwark Council that would allow residents to independently-manage their services.
1996
Becoming a TMO
Early 1996 was the formal ballot of tenants on the formation of the Leathermarket Joint Management Board. The vast majority of Leathermarket residents voted and there was a huge majority of residents in favour of becoming a TMO.
Leathermarket JMB was born
On 1 April 1996 Leathermarket JMB was born. The first big change is to employ JMB’s own cleaners. JMB also started to employ ‘handy-people’ to do minor repairs.
Over the years the JMB’s repair team has grown in skill and ability – growing from being able to carry out 20% of jobs on the estates to now being able to carry out almost all the types of repairs needed.
2001
First continuation ballot
In 2001 the first JMB continuation ballot was held (every five years, residents have to vote to say whether they want the JMB to continue to manage the estates, rather than going back to having Southwark Council directly manage the estates).
Also in the early 2000s a separate organisation, Leathermarket RSO (Resident Services Organisation) was set to provide local employment as part of a Government pilot.
The RSO took over the gardening services for the JMB and provided the weekend cleaning service.
2006
Second continuation ballot
In September 2006 the JMB’s second continuation ballot was held with more than four out of five residents voting for the JMB to keep providing housing services for the Leathermarket area.
2011
Third continuation ballot
In September 2011 the JMB’s third continuation ballot was held. The ballot demonstrated the largest mandate for the continuation of the JMB in its history. Approximately 72% of tenants took part in the ballot and 93% voted in favour of retaining the JMB as managers.
2013
Self Financing
In April the JMB became the first tenant managed organisation in the country to become self financing. This means the organisation is able to retain all rent and service charges and thereby model a business plan over 30 years to deliver continuing improvements. In effect this was a huge vote of trust in the JMB, not only by the local authority but also by central government in the form of the Department of Communities and Local Government.
2014
New build programme
The JMB commences discussions with residents of the Lawson Estate and Southwark Council on the development of new homes on the former Joseph Lancaster Nursery site.
2015
Building homes at Kipling Estate
In June the Leathermarket CBS submits a planning application for new homes on the Kipling Estate. The plans consist of 27 new genuinely affordable homes on the former garage site. The homes are designed in accordance with lifetime homes standards and the London housing design guide. Importantly the properties will be low maintenance and low cost for residents to run. The future residents and Kipling Estate residents have shaped the design of the new homes from the very beginning.