Management Fees for Industrial Unit

Industrial_unit_owner

I own a small business unit on an industrial estate. A management company oversees the running of this industrial estate and all the business units on this site pay this company an annual fee for water, electricity for pumping sewage, security / roads and general service charge.

I have asked this management company for a more detailed explanation of their charges. In addition I have paperwork, obtained via our solicitor when we purchased the unit, which shows that certain occupied units are not paying the electrical component of the bill. I have queried this but have received no explanation from the management company. In fact, the management company are avoiding answering any of my questions and requests for transparency in relation to their charges.

I have requested a copy of the accounts of the management company eg balance sheet, information on sinking funds for roads and security, profit & loss account, how funds are allocated and what is held in reserve but have been given nothing. We have also requested a copy of the minutes of the AGM of the Board of Directors but again nothing has been forthcoming.

Surely a company that is taking considerable amounts of money off each business unit owner should be open to scrutiny and be publishing accounts that should be available to unit holders on their request?

Would really appreciate any advice / information anyone could give. Many thanks.

propertyman

While there are extensive protection for residential leaseholders it is not so for business owners.

How the charges are calculated and reported will be set out in your lease.

Unless the ManCo is one made up of the industrial unit holders, then you have no rights to things you have asked for under company law. Even if it is you can only see the accounts, not the records, and only minutes of general meetings, and accountability and appointment of officers is set out in the articles.


You can of course buy the annual accounts on line at Companies House.

If the services they provide are unsatisfactory then you may have redress under the Supply of Goods and Services legislation as well as the terms of your lease,

This may help to but you have to buy it

http://www.rics.org/uk/knowledge/professional-guidance/codes-of-practice/service-charges-in-commercial-property-2nd-edition/

dotdash79

You might be able to get a copy of the company finance accounts via duedill, it's a free site to use and you can find out some interesting stuff including details of any court cases.

Industrial_unit_owner

Many thanks dotdash79 for putting me on to Duedil website as I managed to get a lot of really useful information.

Many thanks too to PropertyMan and totally agree that there seems to be very little protection for business owners. Will look into the Supply of Goods and Services legislation as there appears to be something 'dodgy' going on with the electrical charges as we seem to be subsidising other businesses as well as incurring electrical charges for things other than the running of the septic tank.

Thanks again and really appreciate your help with this matter.

daveyjp

Enjoy the read.

http://www.bpf.org.uk/en/files/bpf_documents/commercial/Service_charges_in_commercial_property_second_edition.pdf

You may also need your lease to cross check details.

Industrial_unit_owner

Many thanks daveyjp for link to really useful document which will definitely help me in trying to sort out the issues I have.