Management Pack causing delays ....

Weathergirl_76

Evening all. I had my offer accepted on a property beginning of July. It’s a freehold, with shared allocated parking for residents. The management company is run by the residents. I have found all the info on companies house and it does show the address of the ‘lead’ resident. 

My conveyancer told me about 3 weeks ago, he was missing the management pack in order to raise his enquiries. I chased this up with the agent, who informed me the vendor had tried chasing this up, by putting a note through the lead residents door. 

My concern is we are 2 months in, enquiries are being made on my sale, and this issue with the management pack is going to cause a delay. Ideally I want to be moving in mid September. 

I don’t want to be a nuisance to the vendor’s agent, but equally, I don’t want to pay an extra £2700 approx if I miss the deadline of end sept for the stamp duty reduction. 

What exactly does the lead resident have to do? Is it a case if they need paperwork from elsewhere (ie other agencies we have no control over) or is it just a case of them not getting round to it. I want to put a note through the door or write asking for this to be pushed along, or is that a bit too much? 

The vendor took his paper to his solicitor around the 23/24 June, so I’m guessing the pack may have been requested around that time. Thank you 

eddddy

Weathergirl_76 said:

What exactly does the lead resident have to do? Is it a case if they need paperwork from elsewhere (ie other agencies we have no control over) or is it just a case of them not getting round to it.

So it's a freehold house - but is the parking area leasehold?

A management pack should include things like a ground rent statement, a service charge statement, 3 years of service charge accounts, details of future planned maintenance, details of past disputes, etc.

If the 'lead resident' is a bit 'slap-dash' maybe they haven't kept proper accounts etc - or they might just do stuff informally. (e.g. "We need a new sign for the parking area, it'll cost 80 quid. So if you each give me a fiver, I'll get it sorted.")


If that's the problem, maybe the lead resident can just write a statement saying things like:
- Maintenance fees are collected informally, as and when required.
- There are no outstanding service charges as at 3rd Aug 2021
- There is no outstanding ground rent as at 3rd Aug 2021
- There are no specific planned maintenance works as at 3rd Aug 2021
- I am not aware of any disputes in relation to use of the parking area
etc

...and see if that satisfies your solicitor (and you).

Weathergirl_76

@eddddy thanks for your reply. 

My apologies, I had my offer accepted beginning of June (not july). 

I don’t think the parking is leasehold. Each property has two allocated parking spaces, there are 13 residents in total paying monthly towards maintenance. The vendor has told me he pays £10 a month, and the management company has formal accounts (i have found the information on companies house which confirms the number of ‘shares’ are 13 (each resident) and there is around £3.5K in the kitty. 

I don’t understand why it’s taking so long, if it was an external company I would understand the delay, but this is run by the residents, and 2 in particular deal with the running of it. 

My conveyancer has told me he is at a standstill waiting for this. Searches etc are all in, they were requested weeks ago.  

HopeAndDriftWood

In my experience, residents associations tend to be the slowest for management packs... because it's just someone who lives there, who has to sort it all out. 

I'm selling my flat at the moment - it's all set up correctly and legally, with accounts and a treasurer etc, but getting anyone to do anything for someone else's sale is a nightmare. We prepared ours ourselves to speed things up, but this is the reason that leasehold takes longer, according to my solicitor. 

It was a pain getting everything together, but we were at least motivated to chase often, as we were selling... there's little impetus on the lead resident to do anything swiftly if they've got other stuff on, really. Can the vendor not piece together the pack?

Tiglet2

SaucySecrets said:

In my experience, residents associations tend to be the slowest for management packs... because it's just someone who lives there, who has to sort it all out. 

I'm selling my flat at the moment - it's all set up correctly and legally, with accounts and a treasurer etc, but getting anyone to do anything for someone else's sale is a nightmare. We prepared ours ourselves to speed things up, but this is the reason that leasehold takes longer, according to my solicitor. 

It was a pain getting everything together, but we were at least motivated to chase often, as we were selling... there's little impetus on the lead resident to do anything swiftly if they've got other stuff on, really. Can the vendor not piece together the pack?

It is unlikely that the solicitor would accept information given by the vendor.  The information must come from the person responsible for managing the estate.  Usually the solicitor would send them the LPE1 form to complete and return, but as eddddy says above, the lead resident can confirm what the arrangements are in relation to the maintenance and upkeep of the parking area and how they pay for it.  Do you know if the lead resident has asked the seller to pay some fees for providing the information and, if so, have they paid?

Weathergirl_76

I have asked my solicitor if he can proceed with all the other things, pending the management pack, and he has said it’s not really advisable to. I already know there are 13 residents paying into the management company every month and I know from the vendor he pays £10 a month. 

I didn’t ask if the vendor had to pay fees, but I know from the vendor’s agent that he has been trying to chase it up, so I would hope he has paid if that’s what is needed. 

The pack is only for the parking, so I don’t understand why there is such a delay. I’m getting twitchy because if I complete after end of September I have to pay an extra £2.7K, for absolutely no fault of my own. I have a cash buyer for my property, and my onward purchase has no chain as selling and moving in with his partner. I respond to any queries the same day, or the day after. It’s very frustrating to say the least. 

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

What you won't know is what other nasties are in the documents the vendor and other residents have failed to declare or are sugar coating. 

Resident run and owned management firms do not work. Too much conflict of interest, often run by some numpty who wants to feel like a someone in their own little world. 

Go knock their door if you want, after all, they will be a neighbour... if they get uppity over it, walk away. 

BTW sorry to say, if you have one eye on a deadline to save money, plan for that deadline to pass, if you achieve it, then its a bonus

Weathergirl_76

Yes, I need to wait, I don’t want to take a chance. 

For the reduction in stamp duty, I know there is no guarantee to meet it, but I would rather not pay it (neither do my buyers). 

Interesting that resident run management companies seem to be more difficult. I guess I am relying on the goodwill of one person to sit down for an hour and put some paperwork together, and then send it on. 

HopeAndDriftWood

Tiglet2 said:

SaucySecrets said:

In my experience, residents associations tend to be the slowest for management packs... because it's just someone who lives there, who has to sort it all out. 

I'm selling my flat at the moment - it's all set up correctly and legally, with accounts and a treasurer etc, but getting anyone to do anything for someone else's sale is a nightmare. We prepared ours ourselves to speed things up, but this is the reason that leasehold takes longer, according to my solicitor. 

It was a pain getting everything together, but we were at least motivated to chase often, as we were selling... there's little impetus on the lead resident to do anything swiftly if they've got other stuff on, really. Can the vendor not piece together the pack?

It is unlikely that the solicitor would accept information given by the vendor.  The information must come from the person responsible for managing the estate.  Usually the solicitor would send them the LPE1 form to complete and return, but as eddddy says above, the lead resident can confirm what the arrangements are in relation to the maintenance and upkeep of the parking area and how they pay for it.  Do you know if the lead resident has asked the seller to pay some fees for providing the information and, if so, have they paid?

Ah I never knew that - it's never been questioned when we've bought or sold. Fingers crossed that doesn't change this time! I'm not sure we have a lead resident - it's a residents committee with equal shares and a treasurer. 

Thanks for confirming! 

Weathergirl_76

UPDATE: the management pack has finally arrived (after 6 weeks) with my vendor’s solicitor.....BUT.....vendor’s solicitor is away this week, and needs to review it before it’s sent on to mine.  So another week to wait, potentially 2 by the time it reaches my conveyancer, then he needs to raise his enquiries. 

I fail to understand why in this day and age, with emails and fax’s etc, it still takes so long for the buying and selling process. I am in a simple chain, cash buyers for my property and my vendor is selling up and moving in with his partner. 

cheeky-peach

@Weathergirl_76 glad to hear that you have the management pack at least.

I could not agree more. The whole process is one big stressful sham of hurry up and wait. I do feel that there are lots of conveyancers over subscribed and should be firm to push back and say that they don't have capacity. Fingers crossed for you.