Get Up Stand Up for Esther _ HELP SAVE MY FLAT

A CALL TO ACTION
#GetUpStandUpforEsther

Esther Anderson is being threatened with the Possession of her flat in just 8 days!!!

We are raising money to save the home where Bob and Esther wrote the Iconic hit 'I shot the Sheriff' and where she has lived since 1968. Bob would have been 75 this year and this household name would not have the same resonance and impact it retains today if Bob never met Esther in 1972 .

Esther Anderson is a living legend, pioneer, activist, filmmaker, Oscar nominated and NAACP award winning actress and artist who has spent most of her life breaking boundaries and paving the way for others. Some of the most iconic photographs of Bob Marley and the Wailers were taken by Esther at the start of their career on the steps of Prince Albert Bridge, a stone throw away from the property in 1973.




Esther who is now 76 years old is currently being threatened with the forfeiture of her lease and possession of her home based on trumped up service charges. Her legacy and security are now at risk at a vulnerable stage of her life because of England’s complex and arcane leasehold property laws.

TPS Estates took over as management agents responsible for the maintenance of the building in April 2018.

TPS introduced inflated charges which Esther disputed. Despite numerous complaints nothing was done to fix cracks in the wall and stairs caused by water leaks.The common parts of the building are dirty and the gutters have not been cleared since their appointment.

She is now facing the loss of her home if she does not pay the extortionate amount of £8,500 they are demanding for non existent services.


Esther was served with a Notice of Forfeiture of her lease on 7th January 2020 to take place at Wandsworth County Court on 24th February 2020. Cheyne Row Management ltd (CRM), is the company she set up in 1986 when the freehold was purchased from Lord Armstrong to safeguard, manage and protect the building from deterioration.

In her capacity as Chairman and a Director of CRM Esther completed and submitted a Discontinuance form to have the motion dismissed,which the court accepted.

The acting secretary of Cheyne Row management and owner of TPS Estates, Nigel Cross, has failed to acknowledge her position as chairman and demanded another Possession Hearing which will take place on March 18th at 11.45am.

He is asking the court to give him possession of Esther’s home if the disputed sum is not paid in full before the hearing.


TPS Estates have used a tried and tested method to ensure Esther is in default. On Jan 21, 2020, the ground rent she had paid weeks earlier was returned in the form of a cheque made out in the wrong name. She has been unable to cash the cheque and does not have the resources to pay the money TPS is demanding as she is on pension credit.




Esther who co-wrote 'Get Up Stand Up-Stand Up for your Rights', is no ordinary pensioner, but this situation is testing her inner strength. She refuses to give in without a fight.

Esther is part of a more idealistic generation that gave their time, energy, resources and creativity out of the goodness of their hearts.It was a form of protest and an act of liberation. She did not ask for copyright or royalties for her contributions to these works, viewing the process as one of necessity in pursuit of a greater cause.

She says: Every night for the past month I have gone to bed in tears, anxious, in a state of disbelief. It has been so upsetting and nerve-wracking... I can barely sleep and know I have to overcome this nightmare somehow...'

'I arrived in England in 1962 before Jamaica's Independence, as a young girl with nothing except my easel, paint brushes, pageant dresses, a hunger to succeed and desire to put my native country on the map.
“Doing jobs from djing, working as a model, dancing in Don Cellar cigars commercials to setting up Island records. I went to acting school, got my big break in Hollywood and gave it all up to help Bob and the wailers fulfil their destiny.

I bought my flat in 1968 in Chelsea with the money I made, it has been my home ever since and I have lived here for over 52 Years. '

The injustice she is currently facing as a result of England’s outdated property laws. It is an automated bureaucracy that could have been designed to force the elderly and pensioners without massive resources out of their homes in favour of ruthless developers and property management companies that profiteer from the traumatic displacement of others.

Sebastian O’Kelly, a partner in the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, said many freehold owners like Esther believe they are in a strong position but the fact they only own a portion puts them in a similar position to a tenant even though there is no mortgage attached to the property and it was bought outright.
He said: “Unfortunately her case is not that unusual. Some of the most toxic leasehold disputes are among neighbours in affluent areas of London using England's extraordinarily vicious leasehold laws to settle old scores or forcibly acquire the property of someone else.’

“Lease extension and enfranchisement – the buying of the freehold – are two highly lucrative rackets. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jul/19/radical-plans-to-end-huge-costs-of-buying-a-freehold-unveiled?CMP=share_btn_link 


Lord Taylor of Warwick raised a question in Parliament in January to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on Leasehold Reform asking Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to reform the leasehold sector.
Viscount Younger of Leckie answered: The Government is taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market.

We are moving towards legislation to ban the sale of new leasehold houses, restrict ground rents to zero for future leases, give freehold home owners equivalent rights to challenge unfair charges, and close loopholes to prevent unfair evictions. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2020-01-08/HL233/ 


Unfortunately this reform will come too late to help Esther and those in similar situations. Unless we rally together and help she could lose her home in a week!


The court hearing is listed for March 18 and she needs to find £10,000 which will include court and initial legal fees before then. It is ridiculous that her lease will be forfeit and she will lose her share of the equity of her own flat for such a relatively small sum. Anyone who can help will have earned her eternal gratitude.


So Get UP and Stand Up for Esther.

PLEASE Share this link on your platforms, raise awareness about the elderly being bullied, treated unfairly in their homes and losing their life work to unsubstantiated systems of extortion.

#GetUpStandUpforEsther

This is not the only property dispute involving Nigel Cross and TPS Estates that question the role, power, scope of services and legality of his position. As in the case with Ms Alexanda and Ms Danos an examples of a similar dispute
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c9e127ae5274a527e5238cd/egertondecision.pdf