Voting on AGM

Skag

I live in a block of flats and we have an AGM every year.

I would like to know how the voting on the AGM agenda items happens.

Say we want to plant a tree in the shared garden. Out of the 20 residents (they also own a share in the freehold) only 10 show up. Will these 10 people only vote for whether or not they want the tree to be planted? And does it then go by the majority? i.e. If 51% or more objects then the tree cannot be planted?

user1977

An AGM of...what? If it's some sort of residents' association, you'd ideally have a constitution with the rules for this sort of thing. So have you read that, if it exists?

Skag

user1977 said:

An AGM of...what? If it's some sort of residents' association, you'd ideally have a constitution with the rules for this sort of thing. So have you read that, if it exists?

AGM of residents/shareholders of the block.

user1977

Skag said:

user1977 said:

An AGM of...what? If it's some sort of residents' association, you'd ideally have a constitution with the rules for this sort of thing. So have you read that, if it exists?

AGM of residents/shareholders of the block.

So if you mean a limited company, you look at its articles of association to see how general meetings are meant to be run. 

canaldumidi

Skag said:

user1977 said:

An AGM of...what? If it's some sort of residents' association, you'd ideally have a constitution with the rules for this sort of thing. So have you read that, if it exists?

AGM of residents/shareholders of the block.

Which? Or both?

If all the residents own equal shares in a limited company that owns the freehold, then the voting will be done in accordance with the Articles of Association of that Ltd company.

If it is an informal Residents Association, it may or may not have formal rules, and may or may not have authority to plant trees....

another_casualty

Fwiw, I am a leaseholder in a small block of  7 flats ..
what happens regarding our AGM; we receive email ( unless you receive paper gd rent / service charge invoices ) informing us of the date/ time of meeting which is at the offices of the property management company . 

We receive a list of directors of the block we live in . We can tick to carry on with the usual directors or object / abstain . 

If you have things you want to suggest such as a door closer for communal front doors  , or if you have issues with the window cleaners etc you can discuss this at the meeting .
You can ask beforehand about things you would like done before the meeting , and these are voted for or against .
I haven't been to the meetings as I don't drive ,and if I have things that I would like mentioned then I can contact the managing agents and they would discuss at meeting if I would like them to .

Regarding the tree issue I think that you can only ask . If you have previous correspondence from previous AGM's you may see how many out of the 20 voted / discussed certain issues. You don't have t attend to ask questions . 

By all accounts the meetings don't seem to last long and are very pleasant , with a tea and biscuits approach .

Hope this helps ..

Skag

Thanks.

Happy to hear that not all meetings are doom and gloom. Unfortunately, we have different fronts: people who want things to change/modernize, and people who don't want to change the slightest. That's making things a bit more complicated and tedious without a reason.

Skag

I've found the articles of association and they point to Table A of Ltd.

I then found this, but doesn't state anything about absentees.

another_casualty

Sorry but I haven't the time to look at the link , as it has many pages .
The only thing I would suggest , is if you attend the meeting and look at it as a friendly chat getting to know the people there who are holding it ( mgt co ) and a few of your neighbours who may attend . 

I would let everybody have their say and you would be asked if there is anything to add and that would be your chance to have a say .

Looking at various posts here and my own ltd experience of managing agents in general , it does look like the different managing agents and directors have their ways of doing things . The idea is not to rock the boat,  pay gd rent / service charges and be a decent leaseholder. From time to time things may be raised like poor window cleaning or gardening and the managing agents should rectify as and when .

I'm not sure if you get the decision there and then at the meeting , but you should see the decisions which are sent to you via email or post . All leaseholders should be listed , and the ones who don't attend have absent next to their name .
Hope this helps ..