Management pack has arrived, advise

heytoki

Hello all,

i have received the management pack from the seller's solicitor and my solicitor has pointed the following:

There are currently plans maintenance in 2015 which are due to start in two months (leaseholders have been notifided the 19th of May). Also, that letter dated the 19th of May gives two months to the seller to repair garage door frames which fall under the ownership of the flat (this repairs are not included in the maintenance works planned and must be done by the owner of the flat).

My solicitor has advised to request a retention amount to be held in order to cover the costs or another option would be to have the Seller conduct the repairs ( i dont understand these two points)

At the moment, we dont know the cost of the works as the leaseholders are in consultation. My solicitor has requested information to see if there is a reserve to cover those costs (not the garage).

Also, my solicitor advised me to have my surveyor to look into the garage to know the cost of the repairs of the door frames of the garage.

Shall i do this? or shall i wait until i know the information about the maintenance costs?

Hope it makes sense

Thanks

chanz4

Why pay a surveyed, ask a local garage door firm

eddddy

heytoki wrote: »

My solicitor has advised to request a retention amount to be held in order to cover the costs or another option would be to have the Seller conduct the repairs ( i dont understand these two points)

A 'retention' means that your solicitor keeps back, say, £500 of the purchase money. Once you own the flat, you get the garage door frame repaired.

If the repairs cost, say, £400 - the bill is paid out of the £500 retention, and the seller gets the £100 that is left over.

OR

The 'seller conducts repairs' means the seller gets the garage door fixed before you buy the flat

heytoki wrote: »

At the moment, we dont know the cost of the works as the leaseholders are in consultation. My solicitor has requested information to see if there is a reserve to cover those costs (not the garage).

So if there is a reserve, effectively the work has been paid for in advance.

If there isn't a reserve you will have to pay your share of it once you own the flat. Once again, your solicitor could hold a 'retention' to cover those costs, if the seller agrees.

eddddy

chanz4 wrote: »

Why pay a surveyed, ask a local garage door firm

This would be a good option - but many firms won't provide free quotes for prospective buyers.

They know that

- the buyer may not buy the property at all
- if they do eventually buy it, the job will not happen for weeks/months
- buyers will be looking for expensive quotes for negotiation purposes, but then use cheap firms to actually do the work

However, some will do so if you pay them for their time.

Hoploz

The planned works beginning now.... You need to know whether this is a big job or a small one. If small then it could be overed by a sinking fund, if its a large job like a new roof or something then there could be a huge bill coming your way. The current owner would have been given an idea of cost beforehand. They get quotes in advance before work starts, so the seller would already have been aware of this, and should have declared it at the outset or accept paying part of the cost. Exact figures will be worked out after the work is done, the invoice is issued, and the annual accounts of the flats are finalised. That won't be for ages.

Regarding the garage door frame, just get it done when you're in. The seller may not have been aware that they would be asked to do it right now. If the letter had come next month they would have left without knowing anything about it and the new owner would have to get on with it. It won't be much, a couple of hundred quid probably. Point is, you're in control of this. A huge maintenance job on the block you're not, so concentrate on that aspect.

eddddy

heytoki wrote: »

...
At the moment, we dont know the cost of the works as the leaseholders are in consultation.
...

Just to add... this will be what's called a section 21 consultation.

Depending on how far it's got, the freeholder/managing agent should be getting quotes for the work. But the consultation may not have reached that stage yet. Normally, they would go with the lowest (acceptable) quote.

The freeholder/managing agent will usually then collect all the money from the leaseholders before the work starts (because the freeholder doesn't want to be out of pocket if some leaseholders can't/wont pay up.)

So if your seller pays up before before you buy (even though the work hasn't started) you should be reasonably safe.

But if the seller hasn't paid up before you buy, you might want to consider a retention (as mentioned previously).

heytoki

Hoploz wrote: »

The planned works beginning now.... You need to know whether this is a big job or a small one. If small then it could be overed by a sinking fund, if its a large job like a new roof or something then there could be a huge bill coming your way. The current owner would have been given an idea of cost beforehand. They get quotes in advance before work starts, so the seller would already have been aware of this, and should have declared it at the outset or accept paying part of the cost. Exact figures will be worked out after the work is done, the invoice is issued, and the annual accounts of the flats are finalised. That won't be for ages.

Regarding the garage door frame, just get it done when you're in. The seller may not have been aware that they would be asked to do it right now. If the letter had come next month they would have left without knowing anything about it and the new owner would have to get on with it. It won't be much, a couple of hundred quid probably. Point is, you're in control of this. A huge maintenance job on the block you're not, so concentrate on that aspect.

Thats my concern. The maintenance works. I have read the survey report but i dont have the expertise to know if it is a major issue or just small maintenance.

I am not sure if the seller was aware of this when the flat was put on sale. The flat came on the market the 7th of March and the date of the survey was the 1st of April. The initial contact to the leaseholders was between 3 and 6 weeks before the survey. So at this point they didnt know about the jobs that have to be done (but the seller could have an idea...)

Now they are in the process of nomination of contractors and that will be until the 22nd of June. The planning doesnt say how long is between nomination of contractors and "out of tender". Then from the latter will be between 4-5 weeks to 2nd consultation and publish costs.

Basically, i believe that all i need to do then is sit and wait. The garage doesnt bother me because the seller will have to repair it within 2 months anyway as i dont think that i will know about the cost of the works before that time.

Hoploz

I don't see how they can say on the one hand that work is starting in two months time (as you said in your first post) and yet they have not yet finalised a contractor. This doesn't make sense.

heytoki

You are right. I misunderstood the letter. 2 months notice have been given to repair the garage door frames. I mixed up the information..

Hoploz

Ah, ok, that changes things. I was thinking the seller was trying to hide something, like they knew it was going to be £20k per flat for some huge project and they were pretending they didn't know ...

heytoki

Another doubt i have is about the service charge. It is paid every 6 months and next payment will be the 24th of June and will cover until the 24th of December. The amount to be paid is £1000.

What happen if finally we exchange, let's say in July and then completion in mid july? What happen with that amount paid by the seller that covers until december 15?