LANDLORDS have hit out at the council over “excessive and inflated” prices quoted to carry out work their properties need.

Barry Kilpatrick, 39, said West Dunbartonshire Council was quoting £30,000 to re-roof his building – while he could get a contractor for half the price.

But the council said the charges detailed to Mr Kilpatrick were nationally set and locally agreed and ensure “value for money”.

Mr Kilpatrick owns one property that is part of a four-in-a block on Duntocher Road, Parkhall. West Dunbartonshire Council owns a flat in the same block.

As part of a review, the council determined the roof needed repaired and, as they are one of the owners, they are responsible for instructing and arranging any necessary common works.

A quote of £30,000 was given to Mr Kilpatrick, which he is objecting to due to it being overpriced.

He said: “Any work needing carried out, it has to be them that does it, and they do it at a very inflated price.

“The council have stated they have jurisdiction as property manager while retaining ownership of the common block and this feels like draconian bully tactics.

“They are surveying properties saying, ‘that needs a new roof’ and billing only an estimate of £30k, which is split between the four owners.

“That bill can go up to £35k due to a 14 per cent management fee, and they have still not explained what that will cover.

“Several local roofers have given me £15k quotes for the same job. I have passed these on to the council and they have rejected them.”

Mr Kilpatrick added: “We should be allowed an option – it’s just ridiculous. In times of austerity, why would they not get someone half the price to do the job and pay their share – £3,750, instead of £7k – and save the money that could be spent elsewhere?

“This seems to be a blatant flaunting or disregard to providing best value to taxpayers.”

“With uncertainty surrounding leaving the European Union, people need to balance household budgets, albeit in a smaller scale compared to that of a council.”

Another property owner, who wishes not to be named, has had the same issue and branded the council “ridiculous”.

He received the same quote from the council – but it included £1,400 for work on lead valleys, of which he says there are none on his roof.

Mr Kilpatrick added: “I think they have one general bill for the whole of Parkhall – they are sending the same bill to everyone.

“They charge an absolute fortune and people just need to swallow it, but this has brought things to another level.

“They have quoted it will be six to eight weeks for the work to be carried out and my legitimate quote gives a detailed time-frame of eight working days.

“They have been doing this for years and people think, ‘I need to go with it and just bite the bullet’ – but it’s not fair.

“Why pay £30k to get it done when they can get it for half the price? If the other three of us are paying £7.5k each then that’s £22.5k and is more than enough to cover the council’s cost.

“The work has only been put back for now because I’m objecting to it and I will just keep pushing with it and get it to a homeowner’s panel.”

A spokeswoman for the council said: “As part of a review of council properties to highlight potential future issues, we identified work which will be required to upgrade the roof of the block which includes Mr Kilpatrick’s property.”

“We have written to owner-occupiers within the block to provide an estimate of the cost of the works and ask whether they want this work to go ahead at this time.

“Mr Kilpatrick has declined, and we have removed his property from the list of proposed works.”