Management company extortion!

butered_toast

So me and 2 other flat owners live in a victorian converted house with 3 self contained flats, and last year a new management company took over the general maintaince of the property! this is where it got fun, they charged each of us £2000 (6k total) for emergency repairs and minors works, in that year we had a surveyor with a drone and a fence post fixed, yet no emgerncy repairs done! this year April 24 bill has come in and its now £1500 for more non existent emergency repairs! what can i do here! i need help, we cant afford this considering we used to pay £700 per year 

DE_612183

Who is the management company?

scaredofdebt

As a commercial drone operator I can confirm that they would have paid around £300 for that survey, depending on the exact type of survey done.

DullGreyGuy

You've spoken to your fellow leaseholders and none of them know about the repairs either? If so then ask the management companies for copies of the invoices etc. Its always better to pay these things under protest and then reclaim the monies via tribunal if required than incur late payment charges 

butered_toast

im not going to disclose the management company, but thankyou for the speedy responses!, last year we where told of a possible emergency repair done to a property dividing wall that needs a day or so to rebuild (7 feet by 8 feet, single skin) and that was really it! now obviously nothing was really done apart from a single fence post and a drone survey, but theyve just claimed "emergency repairs" again so we cant reall contenst anything AGAIN! 

eddddy

So I guess you mean that the management company charged you £2000 each as an estimated service charge for the year 2023/24

• Did they give you a break down of the estimated service charge? (The management company should really be able to justify how they came up with the figure of £2000)

• And similarly, did they provide a breakdown of the £1500 as the estimated service charge for 2024/25:

I'm guessing that the 2023/24 service charge year ended on 31st March - so it might take a few weeks for the management company to finalise the accounts for that year.

It would be good practice for the management company to provide you with a summary of those accounts when they're ready. If you're unhappy with the summary, you can ask to see invoices, bills, etc.

You can challenge any amounts that you think are unreasonable.

butered_toast

eddddy said:

So I guess you mean that the management company charged you £2000 each as an estimated service charge for the year 2023/24

• Did they give you a break down of the estimated service charge? (The management company should really be able to justify how they came up with the figure of £2000)

• And similarly, did they provide a breakdown of the £1500 as the estimated service charge for 2024/25:

I'm guessing that the 2023/24 service charge year ended on 31st March - so it might take a few weeks for the management company to finalise the accounts for that year.

It would be good practice for the management company to provide you with a summary of those accounts when they're ready. If you're unhappy with the summary, you can ask to see invoices, bills, etc.

You can challenge any amounts that you think are unreasonable.

after a month of back and forth They stated for 23/24 that a surveyor was needed, a "emergency repair" was needed for a rebuild of a wall(dividing wall between properties (single days work for a good two man team no scaffolding required about 7x8 feet) and some general maintaince. BUT the only thing that was done 23/24 was a single fence post and the surveyor. 

SallyDucati

I would ask to see the invoices for the "emergency repair" costs.  You have a right to see that detail, and also the breakdown of the prior years expenditure and income.

Home - The Leasehold Advisory Service (lease-advice.org) - this is a useful site.

eddddy

butered_toast said:

after a month of back and forth They stated for 23/24 that a surveyor was needed, a "emergency repair" was needed for a rebuild of a wall(dividing wall between properties (single days work for a good two man team no scaffolding required about 7x8 feet) and some general maintaince. BUT the only thing that was done 23/24 was a single fence post and the surveyor. 

So is the Management Company claiming that the wall has been rebuilt?

Or is the Management Company saying that the money still sitting in the Service Charge bank account - earmarked for rebuilding the wall?

You really need to drill into the details to find out what the money has been spent on and/or where it is.