Free holder , management company

Cornchicken

Hello all 
Im very new to this and i would really appreciate some advice.
I own, well mortgage my home, i have a management company that doesn't want to show receipts for the service charges, he says i would need to pay to see these and i should have requested then 1 month after the invoice, i have already done this on previous occasions and he has ignored my emails or said no !!! ( it would take up to much of his time) 
can someone out there help me please ... Thank you 

gwynlas

What does it say in your lease regarding  service charges?

Is the managing agent a company or individual?

user1977

Receipts for what? Your payments to them? Or the costs they say they've incurred to contractors etc?

gm0

There are many forms of freeholder/agent arrangement from a house split into two  to a big block of flats. 
At the small end - with one of the two the freeholder and doing things themselves.  To bigger and (supposedly) more professional setups.  Freeholder (silent) - using an MA.   RTM company formed by leaseholders or actual share of freehold.  Both these latter - for flats/groups with 10-100 say - with directors (unpaid) from among the leaseholders.   So the laws such as they are and case law about disputes covers a wide range of situations between freeholder (and subcontraced agent) and lessees.

Nobody - a fixed fee paid agent or unpaid director much likes doing additional unpaid work where they don't have to.  And if the conversation begins with - I demand more transparency and to check all receipts because I fundamentally don't trust you - and love detail. Expect follow up questions. Then this does not endear.  And ignoring/saying no/backpedalling slowly is completely normal.  This is not the same as the answer to the question "what can I legally INSIST be done".  Which is best answered "it depends".

Service charges for maintenance recharged by freeholder to leaseholder via an annual budget and annual payment or monthly charge.  Do require communication.  It is often the case that a budget in ~10 or so fairly arbitrary categories will be presented to show last year's spend by category - alongside a proposed rise each year - in larger and more professional setups.  Communal electric, garden, lift contracts that sort of thing.  This is not generally a walk through of every invoice/receipt etc.  Though clearly for actuals to exist - accounting has been done.  For a "split house" - that level of sophistication may not be needed nor exist.

Do FIRST understand that what the law on leases says. And the widespread and variable practice of property management don't line up 100% and it can be fools errand to try and force them to - to some arbitrary barrack room lawyer POV of what "should" be done.  What is needed here (size/situation) and effort/cost effective needs to play in.

It is not very common for a freeholder to spend time sending receipts for costs incurred to each leaseholder or dealing with queries on same for no charge.   Context larger site. In a site with 2-3 of you.  Circulating a few items annually would not be onerous and an alternative to more rigorous book keeping.

Access to the materials on a web drive opened up read only to all leaseholders would be an option.  Cheap agent contractors are often not very IT savvy.  And don't like the transparency as it causes calls and time spent and work for no pay.  So they don't do it willingly if at all.  Happier to present the budget and get on with it without much scrutiny.

eddddy

Cornchicken said:

Free holder , management company

The title of your thread is "Free holder , management company".

I interpreted that to mean you are a freeholder (i.e. you own a freehold house)

Others have interpreted it to mean you are a leaseholder (i.e. you own a leasehold flat or house)


Maybe you could clarify, as the situation is very different for a freehold house owner vs a leasehold property owner.