I pay service charge for nothing

MichaelF

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a flat and I was very happy until I had to deal with the property management company.

The problem I have is that they seem not to care about the Estate at all (specially common areas).

This is a list of issues :

The backdoor of my building is partly broken and anybody can access the building simply by pushing it hard enough. My neighbours flat has been recently broken into.

The garden is a total mess.

The bin store is extremely filthy, it hasn't been cleaned in years and there are rats all over the place.

Non-domestic waste is being dumped everywhere and we have to pay extra (on top of annual service charge) for it to be collected. Management company says they cannot identify culprits.

Although we have private premises (parking and gardens) at night there isn't any security measures and non residents seem to hang around freely in the middle of the night, making lots of noise causing lots of distress among neighbours.

I´ve tried to speak to them and apart from being very polite there´s no reaction.

If anybody can advise me on how to deal with this situation I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance.

princeofpounds

Who owns the freehold? Different options depending on this.


In the meantime, visit lease-advice.org, government funded advice service for precisely these issues.

MichaelF

princeofpounds wrote: »

Who owns the freehold? Different options depending on this.


In the meantime, visit lease-advice.org, government funded advice service for precisely these issues.

Im the leaseholder, the freehold seems to be owned by another company... Will they be responsible for making sure the management company does its job properly ?

Thanks for that link. I´ll check it out now.

StevoCally

How much is being paid and how many flats?

The block I live in is a small 18 flat development with charges of £850-900 a year.

I'd suggest requesting a residents meeting with the management company to discuss concerns, we hold one annually though turnout is poor (5 owners, 13 renters, with just 3 attendees).


Our original management company did nothing and £10k's went missing from our fund due to insolvency / takeover by major. In the end the leaseholders formed an RTM (right to manage) which enabled the appointment of another management company. The link princeofpounds posted likely covers this but owners need to band together. If you're the only person complaining about issues it's unlikely they'll do anything.


We've just this year started to get itemised breakdowns to the degree of light bulb replacements, rather than grouped headings and it's amazing how quickly charges are eaten up by buildings insurance, electrics, general repairs (that I didn't even know had happened) and cleaning so it's likely you are getting more than nothing.


Any extra work I want is discussed at the annual meetings, if others agree the management company get quotes and our charges are adjusted as needed.

Worst case, as I've done in the past is to do the work myself – I've taken fly-tipping to the recycling centre, adjusted door mechanisms, cleaned the grounds etc, whilst I pay for these if it means an extra £100 a year I just do it.

G_M

1) You ned to look at your lease to see what responsibility the freeholder has (directly or via the management company) for these issues.

2) You also need to look at the annual accounts for the management company. They should be available at the AGM or on request (check lease-advice). Are they accounting for those activities (ie billing for them) but failing to provide the service? If they are not being paid to do gardening, you cannot expect them to do gardening.

3) Speak to neighbours (leaseholders, not tenants!). are they happy? Might you all get together and take over management?

4) you say "I´ve tried to speak to them...." but have written to them? If not, do so. But before doing this, check that these are matters they are meant to be dealing with.

MichaelF

StevoCally wrote: »

How much is being paid and how many flats?

The block I live in is a small 18 flat development with charges of £850-900 a year.

I'd suggest requesting a residents meeting with the management company to discuss concerns, we hold one annually though turnout is poor (5 owners, 13 renters, with just 3 attendees).


Our original management company did nothing and £10k's went missing from our fund due to insolvency / takeover by major. In the end the leaseholders formed an RTM (right to manage) which enabled the appointment of another management company. The link princeofpounds posted likely covers this but owners need to band together. If you're the only person complaining about issues it's unlikely they'll do anything.


We've just this year started to get itemised breakdowns to the degree of light bulb replacements, rather than grouped headings and it's amazing how quickly charges are eaten up by buildings insurance, electrics, general repairs (that I didn't even know had happened) and cleaning so it's likely you are getting more than nothing.


Any extra work I want is discussed at the annual meetings, if others agree the management company get quotes and our charges are adjusted as needed.

Worst case, as I've done in the past is to do the work myself – I've taken fly-tipping to the recycling centre, adjusted door mechanisms, cleaned the grounds etc, whilst I pay for these if it means an extra £100 a year I just do it.

I pay about 1.4K (which seems to be average in London) . Problem is most of the residents are tenants and care very little. The only landlords I spoke to we're really upset. I agree with you the only way is getting together.

G_M wrote: »

1) You ned to look at your lease to see what responsibility the freeholder has (directly or via the management company) for these issues.

2) You also need to look at the annual accounts for the management company. They should be available at the AGM or on request (check lease-advice). Are they accounting for those activities (ie billing for them) but failing to provide the service? If they are not being paid to do gardening, you cannot expect them to do gardening.

3) Speak to neighbours (leaseholders, not tenants!). are they happy? Might you all get together and take over management?

4) you say "I´ve tried to speak to them...." but have written to them? If not, do so. But before doing this, check that these are matters they are meant to be dealing with.

Thanks. Ive written and spoken to them on the phone but I have the impression they just listen but don't care.

Again, from your comments it looks like they solution needs to come from landlords pushing together.

Btw, all thew points I mentioned are meant to be covered by the managemmt company, they are simply not doing their job.

Thanks everyone .I'll try to update this thread with any developments