£11k Service charges on leasehold flat.

chilihead

Hi Ulfar - we had 4 quotes - ranging from £231k to over £335k exc VAT. It is for one flat roof on a corner block development of 24 purpose built flats. The current issue we have is that the prop/man/co only gave us the quote values, and have not given us visibility of the breakdown of the charges. Several owners have asked for full copies of the quotes. If/when we get them, then a chartered surveyor my partner works with has offered to review them and advice us whether the charges are reasonable.

somethingcorporate

Could you not try and organise a couple of quotes on your own? Rather than having to scrutinise someone elses you will have your own ammo to suggest that they could be having a laugh!

chilihead

Hi sc - yes, our own quotes is definitely an idea. I think we would need to be careful about contractors accessing the roof. The terms on the lease state only authorised persons can access the roof - and those persons are authorised by the property management company and the freeholder. The lease states insurance and safety as a concern for roof access (it's flat with no safety guard and 3 stories high), plus possible damage to the roof covering. We could be held liable for breaching the terms of the lease.

There is no loft access and only one spot suitable for ladder access. It would be hard to do surreptitiously.

chilihead

Thank you for making me smile geoffky. I bought the flat as a 20 something single female with absolutely no knowledge of property maintenance. I thought a leasehold flat would be perfect for me as there would be a company managing the property. In hindsight, how foolish of me to assume a property management company would actually be managing the property.......... :-)

If I knew then what I know now, a flat roof would have been avoided, as would leasehold. Hey ho - we live and learn.

somethingcorporate

That is a tough one. Considering they want to spend over £250k I'd argue that they should give you some time, permission and access to the areas concerned.

Ulfar

For the sums they are talking about I would make sure to get my own quotes.

As for the safety and access issues, a good roofer will have their own insurance and insurance to cover any damage they do. They shouldn't do any damage if they are a proffesional.

As for the freeholders permission I wouldn't even mention that you are getting your own quotes. If they object after the fact, just plead ignorance.

patman99

So just who are the ProManCo ?. Sound like a right bunch of crooks to me. A ProManCo should take either a fixed yearly fee, or a % of the total service charge. They should not get a % of any repair costs.

The job of a ProManCo is to act on behalf of the lease/freeholders and take care of the day-to-day stuff such as collecting S/C's, paying for site insurance, dealing with repairs and acting as a point of contact for residents and contractors. So arranging quotes for the roof would be part of their daily responsibilities.

patman99

Just wonder how much it would cost to buy-out the freehold?. This happened at a site just down the road from me. The freeholder (Tarmac Homes) wanted £500k (they thought this would be 'to rich' for the residents so would shut-them up).

Trouble is, the residents had other ideas. They worked-out that collectively they were paying £30k p/a in ground rent + £20k in service charges, so they took these figures and approached a few banks to enquire about a business loan.

That was 15 years ago, they are now the proud co-owners of a resident-owned company that in turn owns the freehold. They no longer need to pay ground rent and have appointed the same ProManCo as the site on which I live.

I will admit than when looking to buy 21 years ago, I looked at 2 flats on the site down the road, but it was the extortionate ground rent that put me off.
The site I live on is common-hold (which is exactly what the site down the road now is). We are so good at managing our finances that in 21 years, the s/c has only risen from £15 p/m to £60 p/m.

chilihead

For anyone in a similar situation and following this thread..............

Buying out the freehold is not really an option for me due to at least 10 of the flat owners not living within the block. The freeholder owns 4 flats within the block and is pushing for the works to go ahead.

These are the organisations I've contacted so far and the outcomes.

http://www.lease-advice.org
Waiting for response

Coalition for the Abolition of Residential Leaseholds
http://www.carl.org.uk/
Waiting for response

Association of Residential Managing Agents
http://www.arma.org.uk/
My Property Management Company is unfortunately not registered. :-(


The Federation of Private Residents' Associations Ltd.
http://www.fpra.org.uk/
Responded with info on how to set up a Resident Association. Suggested that all lessees need to be in close contact.

http://www.rics.org/
Checked the register (my property management company name was not listed - however, the manager (a CS) was).

www.leaseholdadvicecentre.co.uk
Directed me back to
http://www.lease-advice.org

College of Law legal advice centre
http://www.college-of-law.co.uk/About-th
e-College/Legal-advice/
Responded to me promptly and courteously. However, they are extremely busy and my case is not as urgent as others.

Cyril

chilihead wrote: »

Thanks Cyril - yes. I've gone to Lease-advice.org and have submitted a request to them - still waiting on a response. What was the outcome for your flat?

TBH in my situation they weren't terribly helpful. I think the problem is that I wanted to go through the paperwork and they are on the end of a phone so really I needed someone local who I could visit to help me really.