Freeholder wants £18,500 for first phase of works

glicky

pinkteapot wrote: »

Couldn't agree more with !!!!!! - I'd bet good money it's £18,500 for the first phase in total, not per flat.

If it's definitely £18,500 per flat, what work are they doing?!

Are you really serious?

I did mention above what works need to be done

Fire_Fox

glicky wrote: »

The freeholders/managing agents did let them know. My friend was the only one who responded out of all the other leaseholders. They (apart from my friend) didn't take it seriously..... until now of course.

My friend gave the freeholders/managing agents names of double glazing companies to deal with but they ignored it.

EDIT: Just to let you know .... service charge is separate (which is about £2,000 per year per flat), which is all up to date and paid up. There is no sinking fund.

Who is the freeholder, is it part of the Peverel family? Have you checked if the contractors have any links to the freeholder or agents? Does your friend have proof of submitting her comments and contractors? How do you know this was ignored, have you asked if the managing agents got a quote/ estimate?

Your friend must read LEASE website, inside out and back to front. Also read the long lease, the consultation paperwork sent, copies of the the service charge accounts, formally request to view the service contracts and invoices that go with these accounts. You need to know where £2K a year is going if they "have been left for 20 years without any work done".

Having done this myself it is a lot of work but it is well worth it, wholly enlightening finding out what freeholders claim to be doing. We were being charged for cleaning and window cleaning that was simply not being done, so many lamps being used in one year that you could have changed every bulb every week! :rotfl: Service charges and major works can be challenged at the LVT, even those already paid.

jbainbridge

Indeed - what were they getting for £2,000 a year?

SuzieSue

Your friend needs to ensure that the charges are reasonable. The following Channel 4 programme was very informative about such things:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-111/episode-3

You might be able to get a copy of the programme from them (my friend used to work at C4 and she said that she would often send copies to people who asked, but that was 10 year ago so things might have changed).

The MA have no incentive to keep costs down as they get a percentage of the costs as a fee, so you need to make sure that he work isn't being done by a related company as it was on the programme.

Fire_Fox

From the perspective of a leaseholder who has been involved in a long running dispute I didn't actually think that programme was that helpful, LEASE is a much better source of information. At the stage the OP's friend is at she needs a working knowledge of the legislation surrounding consultation and probably the LVT.

SuzieSue

jbainbridge wrote: »

Indeed - what were they getting for £2,000 a year?

Yes, what were they doing for the £72k a year they were getting?

SuzieSue

Fire_Fox wrote: »

From the perspective of a leaseholder who has been involved in a long running dispute I didn't actually think that programme was that helpful, LEASE is a much better source of information. At the stage the OP's friend is at she needs a working knowledge of the legislation surrounding consultation and probably the LVT.

I agree, it will take months if not years for the OP's friend to sort out the problem, and the programme dedicated about 5 minutes at most to a similar case, but as the OP's friend has no knowledge at all, I still think it is worth the effort of sending an email to Channel 4.

Fire_Fox

SuzieSue wrote: »

I agree, it will take months if not years for the OP's friend to sort out the problem, and the programme dedicated about 5 minutes at most to a similar case, but as the OP's friend has no knowledge at all, I still think it is worth the effort of sending an email to Channel 4.

The programme is on 4OnDemand. Not necessarily years but certainly months, most often time is wasted with leaseholders not knowing their legal rights/ not finding out about or following the proper procedures, which was shown but not explained properly in the programme. I felt that programme gave the impression that leaseholders have few rights which is not the case at all with privately owned blocks.

LEASE is government funded so impartial, the legislation is discussed in plain English, and the free telephone advice line is there for more complex cases. LVTs often have printed or video guides and are specifically designed to be fair but user friendly. Even with no knowledge LEASE is the right place to start, it should be read by everyone even thinking of buying a leasehold apartment.

propertyman

glicky wrote: »

Are you really serious?

I did mention above what works need to be done

Ok all opinions aside here's the answer - it's what I do

The residents let's assume are in similar shock and too might face financial difficulty.

1. Form a residents association to take coordinated action

2. Challenge whether the works that they propose are recoverable under the lease

3: That the costs of the works are fair and reasonable

4; That the lease allows them to charge in advance for the works and in the 60 day timing- frankly, very few do.

5: That,and there are several cases on this, that the failure to repair in the past, even if it was another freeholder.agent, has increased the cost, that you are not now liable for the whole cost of the work.s eg if they had painted then you wouldn't have to pay for new windows as the old rotted out.

6: While the Courts don't say that ability to pay is relevant, they do expect landlords in this situation to take that into account as to how they organise the work over time.

The leasehold Valuation tribunal deals with these cases but you are going to need expert assistance from a chartered surveyor and perhaps solicitors /counsel for lease matters.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?11-Long-Leasehold-Questions
http://www.lease-advice.org/
http://www.lease-advice.org/information/advisors/

glicky

Another question regarding the above:
My friend and 35 other leaseholders have been ordered to pay 18k by Dec for external works on the block of flats they live in via service charge.

The management say that if all monies are in the work will begin around May.

They are concerned that if they pay monies before any guarantee of a commencement date that their monies could be tied up for a long time until they actually do the work.

They have asked (twice) for a commencement date in writing but this has not been answered. The only reply was that if leaseholders did not pay by Dec they would proceed with actions towards taking a charge on leaseholders' property
.
The only way that they can see to safeguard their money is to open an escrow or some kind of holding account with a third party e.g. a solicitor.

Anyone know about this? Pro's & Cons?

Also how much extra roughly would it cost them?

If the managing agents do not agree to this (I suspect not) where do they stand legally?

If the managing agents proceed with a judgment would this holding account show good faith of payment?

I would appreciate any information that you may have.

Thanks in advance.

Other posts regarding this issue:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4280619
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4293051