Leaseholders have been left facing a potential £22,000 bill for repairs to their homes.

Residents in Reynolds Avenue, Chessington, have reacted angrily to letters from Kingston Council detailing plans for the work, claiming if routine maintenance to their homes had been carried out regularly, the repairs would not be necessary.

Christina Fowler, one of 21 leaseholders in seven blocks who are being consulted on repairs, said: “I’ve got no money – I don’t know how I’m going to afford it.

“It just seems like a kick in the teeth for people who own their own place.”

Maintenance work, for which leaseholders pay a regular fee, had not been carried out, she claimed.

She added: “If [the homes] had been maintained in the first place this would not be happening.”

A Kingston Council spokesman said: “Although day-to-day repairs are carried out to properties there comes a time when major works are required.

“On this occasion these are planned Better Homes works which we have just started statutory consultation on.

“The council, as freeholder, is legally obliged to outline the proposals which are needed to bring the properties up to a good standard of repair.”

He said all leaseholders have been given a period of at least 30 days to raise concerns and arrange surgeries to discuss proposals on a one-to-one basis.

Proposed costs include £7,000 for scaffolding, £6,000 for roofing works and £78 for window washing.