Property Management Company Responsibilities

Chris1199

Morning All
Not sure if this is in the correct section so feel free to move it or let me know and I can re-post it.
I am a leaseholder in a small block of flats which has a management company.
The communal tv feed has been off now for 2 weeks, I believe they need new equipment. 
I was told at the start of this week it would be sorted hopefully this week, however there is still no fix.
I have spoken to sky and because its an "internal" issue they wont reduce my bill for the period I have been without access.
Do i have any redress against the management company to cover out of pocket costs due to the time it is taking to fix the issue?
Thanks in advance 

eddddy

So is the situation like this:

• You have a contract directly with sky for providing tv
• It is delivered via a communal TV feed which, according to your lease,  belongs to, and is maintained by, your freeholder's management company (and you pay for it via your leasehold service charge).
• The communal TV feed hasn't been working for some time

The laws relating to leases and leasehold service charges tend to be based on what is 'reasonable'.

If your freeholder's management company have not taken 'reasonable' steps to fix the problem in a 'reasonable' time - in theory you could take legal action against them. But it may not be cost effective.

How exactly do you pay the management company for the TV feed? For example, do you just pay a share of any repairs they do, or do you pay a monthly/yearly fee for using it?

If you pay a monthly/yearly fee - you might have s stronger case to argue that it is not 'reasonable' to charge you for a service that's not being provided.

user1977

Chris1199 said:

I am a leaseholder in a small block of flats which has a management company.
The communal tv feed has been off now for 2 weeks, I believe they need new equipment. 

If they're trying to source the new equipment (rather than simply doing nothing at all) then I don't see what they're doing wrong - you'd be in the same position if it were your own aerial and you couldn't immediately sort it out.

Chris1199

eddddy said:

So is the situation like this:

• You have a contract directly with sky for providing tv
• It is delivered via a communal TV feed which, according to your lease,  belongs to, and is maintained by, your freeholder's management company (and you pay for it via your leasehold service charge).
• The communal TV feed hasn't been working for some time

The laws relating to leases and leasehold service charges tend to be based on what is 'reasonable'.

If your freeholder's management company have not taken 'reasonable' steps to fix the problem in a 'reasonable' time - in theory you could take legal action against them. But it may not be cost effective.

How exactly do you pay the management company for the TV feed? For example, do you just pay a share of any repairs they do, or do you pay a monthly/yearly fee for using it?

If you pay a monthly/yearly fee - you might have s stronger case to argue that it is not 'reasonable' to charge you for a service that's not being provided.

yes I pay sky for the services but its delivered via the communal dish.
also a yes for paying maintenance fee per year and ground rent charges per year however individual charges are not broken down it is just a lump sum that is paid 

Chris1199

user1977 said:

Chris1199 said:

I am a leaseholder in a small block of flats which has a management company.
The communal tv feed has been off now for 2 weeks, I believe they need new equipment. 

If they're trying to source the new equipment (rather than simply doing nothing at all) then I don't see what they're doing wrong - you'd be in the same position if it were your own aerial and you couldn't immediately sort it out.

I was told when it I first reported the loss of services it would be sorted by the end of the week ... then this week I was told they have spoken to the contractor and it will be sorted now before the end of this week, 
Basically they were aware there is an issue but didnt want to act until it fully broke which it did 2 weeks ago

JJ_Egan

What are these out of pocket costs ??

You could quantify them and submit bill after minimizing your losses  .But more than likely T&C of contract will reject this  .

user1977

There's no implied term in your lease that the freeholders will indemnify you from any costs you think you've incurred because something is broken.

JHW1942

What out of pocket costs have you incurred?

Chris1199

Im just paying for sky but due to them not fixing the systems I cannot access it and because its and "internal" issue say wont reduce my subscription as its not their problem which does kind of make sense. it isnt sky's fault i cannot receive the signal they are sending its down to having a faulty communal issue.

eddddy

Chris1199 said:

yes I pay sky for the services but its delivered via the communal dish.

also a yes for paying maintenance fee per year and ground rent charges per year however individual charges are not broken down it is just a lump sum that is paid 

Slightly unrelated to this - but you should ask for a service charge summary to see what you're paying for.

Here's some info on what details the law says you are entitled to, and what details your lease might (or might not) say you are entitled to: https://www.lease-advice.org/article/seeking-information-on-service-charges-remedies-at-leaseholders-disposal/


TBH, the answer to your main question depends on whether the management co has acted reasonably, what the lease says about the TV feed, how the TV feed is paid for through your service charge, what the lease says about the freeholder reclaiming legal fees via the service charge, etc

You might (or might not) win a legal case, but then you might (or might not) have to pay your freeholder's legal costs. 

Perhaps the best plan it to just keep chasing the management company.

JHW1942

Chris1199 said:

Im just paying for sky but due to them not fixing the systems I cannot access it and because its and "internal" issue say wont reduce my subscription as its not their problem which does kind of make sense. it isnt sky's fault i cannot receive the signal they are sending its down to having a faulty communal issue.

I don't think you have "out of pocket expenses", I would say you're lacking a service you've paid for.  It will come down to your lease agreement, what you're supposed to be receiving for your charge and whether a two week delay is reasonable.  You might be entitled to a partial refund of that charge, but you'll have to determine how much effort and expense is worth paying out to get what might be a small sum back.

You'd have out of pocket expenses, for example, if it was your broadband that was down because of a landlord problem, you needed the internet for work and had to buy a data package to enable work.