Residential Management Group problems

Rtype

Hi,

I bought my flat a year ago and am currently paying around £1000 a year to 'Residential Management Group' for them to 'manage' the 6 flats in my block.

Firstly, I feel that this is a very large amount of money considering the small lawned garden we have, the quality of the cleaning that we recieve in the communal area and the fact that my windows havent been cleaned once (when I'm paying for them to be done)!

My problem is that they have fitted locks onto the tiny cupboards that house the electricity meters (2 flats per floor share one box so 3 boxes in total) and are telling me that they 'had' to do this because of health & safety law saying that people were storing things in the cupbaords (which is 1 - Not true and 2 - Impossible as they are tiny).

I am now unable to submit my monthly meter readings which is costing me money and they are refusing to give me a key unless I pay for one!!

Can they legally do this??

I know for a fact that there is no law saying that the cupboards should be fitted with a lock (they have been without a lock for the 20 years that the flats have been built) and nobody was consulted about this matter either, they just did it with 'our' money and are now trying to charge me even more money for something that, imho, they had no right to do.

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated, I am considering contacting the other residents and managing our block myself as I'm pretty sure most of the £6000 we all pay gets wasted on admin or jobs that either aren't done or are undertaken to a very low standard!!

I know this may seem like a small thing but it feels like they have me over a barrell as they've got my money and seem to be doing whatever they want with it without being accountable to anyone!

Many thanks in advance for any help given.

mailmannz

We have the same complaints with RMG on our estate as well. Basically it seems these clowns are a law unto themselves!

However in your case things might be a little easier for you. I think as long as you have 50% of the residents in your building in support you can take over the management of your block yourselves???

I wish you all the best!

Regards

Mailman

propertyman

There are several things here.

1 Annoying as it is, doing something about it is going to take a lot more time and expense than paying a few £ for a key.

2 If you want to take issue then check your lease to see if the cupboard is the responsibility of the freeholder and recoverable under service charge, or if the lease allows a right to access those meters which they are impeding and have changed from the original rights and interfered with.

It was rather daft of them not to have simply put locks on them and posted a key into each door at the time.

3 As in 1 even if the basis for doing so is sound, you end up paying for the keys one way or the other, unless under 2 you can show otherwise.

4 You argue that there was no need to lock the cupboards and challenge the expense.

Frankly its just a bit of stupidity by the PM as they have made a rod for their own back.

Washing of windows is a very expensive job- heath and safety- and often excluded in leases, while the local "shiner" will do it as they have always done

As for the £1000 record and complain about it, but check that the problem is not part of their specification eg washing down walls.

You are overlooking the 3 biggest parts of the expense , managing agents fees, audit and accountancy fees and building insurance, not to mention communal electricity repairs and the like, as well as the risk assessments for fire and common parts which occur every couple of years.

Exercise the right to inspect the invoices and look at the cleaning spec and see if you can find an alternative working with the agent.

if not you can always exercise the right to manage.

mailmannz

Rtype,

A number of residents in the block of flats next to us have been complaining repeatedly that the cleaning isnt getting done nor are the windows being washed, inspite of the cleaning contract costing over £6k a year.

Additionally RMG claime that they have no control over the cleaning contractors. When it was pointe dout in the last residents meeting (only the second in 5 years) that they actually do have a responsbility to MANAGE the cleaning contract they quickly changed the topic to something else.

As I said before, basically these guys are a law unto themselves! Them and their little stooges in PDC are much the same kind of scum!

Heres some links that may be useful;

http://www.ombudsman-services.org/property.html
https://www.gov.uk/leasehold-property/right-to-manage-and-management-disputes
http://www.companylawclub.co.uk/topics/property_management_companies.shtml

Regards

Mailman