MORE ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Yet again we’re having to deal with anti-social behaviour – this time in the shape of a barbeque accompanied by a 2-300w sound system and over 40 guests! Funnily enough whilst we said OK to the barbeque we didn’t OK that! As if this wasn’t bad enough, some ‘guests’ saw fit to urinate in the common areas (how much nearer did they need a toilet to be – their host has actually got one!).
We subsequently sent a letter to the landlord as tenant behaviour is within his remit but this didn’t work as another barbeque was hosted just two weeks later (but without the sound system).
At this point we (and everyone else) had had enough.
Outdoor Parties And Barbeques Banned!
We sent a letter to all landlords and tenants saying that in order to keep our development a pleasant and secure environment for all and as a result of recent events we had taken the decision to ban all outdoor parties and barbeques until further notice.
Although it just the one tenant that was having the barbeques and causing the problems I don’t think anyone else minded – our letter stated that the welfare of all residents was paramount in our decision.
Barbeque Tenant Gets Aggressive!
After speaking to the tenant ourselves regarding the office chairs we agreed to leave them there until we had put a garden bench in place, so he and his friends would have somewhere to sit.
However, when the day came the work was prioritised so that the rubbish (including the office chairs) would be removed first with the bench being done later that same day.
The tenant however kicked up a right stink because his chairs had gone and we hadn’t yet put the benches up even though they were on site ready to assemble!
His attitude was so bad we decided to ask our property manager to write to him as he was in no mood to listen to us. He was subsequently advised of our management roles – Andy as the Director of our RTM Company and myself in that I act with the full authority granted to me by both Directors.
He was advised on Health and Safety issues, tenancy breaches and finally told that we have a legal duty of care to all residents in the block and the right to go about our business without getting abuse from anyone.
Blocked Drain
On the same day as the rubbish was being removed, the drain to the side of the premises of Flat 12 was rodded and although the drain was able to empty and flow again, the rod was still meeting an obstacle.
This could be contributing to our collapsing boundary wall that was recently shored up.
DRAIN SURVEY QUOTE
We had a quote for a replacement inspection cover and frame for one of our drains to the rear of the property and an interceptor trap for one of the drains at the front as I saw two large rats come into our drainpipe.
We also requested a CCTV quote to establish the state of the whole of our drainage system but this practically doubles the cost.
JUST FOR A CHANGE, SOME GRAFFITTI!
Had to request that someone come to site and remove some grafitti from our neighbours wall on our side. We know who is responsible (it’s friends of our young next door neighbour who is Lithuanian and it has the word ‘Lithuanian’ with a crown painted next to it!). Only problem is, we didn’t actually see them do it (and if I had I would have found a new home for the spray can!)
NOT OUR IDEA OF GARDEN FURNITURE!
We have been putting up with the office chairs and a grotty home made barbeque (from an old oil drum) for far too long now and a health and safety risk assessment confirmed them as a breach of health and safety.
We requested they be removed 7 days from the date of the letter we sent otherwise we would have them removed ourselves and the cost added to the owner’s service charge. An invitation to discuss the matter further was also added to the letter.
Removal Date Extended
We extended the date for the removal of the furniture and barbeque another week to tie in with our agent’s workload and sent another letter accordingly, again with an invitation to discuss the issue.
Crap Cupboard Added To The Garden Furniture!
When another tenant moved out, this large tatty cupboard was just left in the garden. A letter was sent, this time to the letting agent (whom I had recently spoken) advising that them that if they did not remove it themselves then we would but the cost would be charged to the owner. The letter also invited futher discussion on the matter ahead of a removal date. As usual we were ignored so we removed it ourseles and charged accordingly.
I also did a bit of research on this particular owner and he was not pleasantly surprised that I had tracked him down through another company.
The Wrong Image!
This is hardly the image we want to display! We have people here who would like to sit out in the garden but how can they when they are greeted with all this?
The tenants responsible for most of this can be very aggressive but again we didn’t sign up to have to deal with rental issues ourselves. We’ve got enough to do!
HANDBAG DOG!
We were put in a bit of a tricky position a while back because we had just refused to allow one of the tenants to have a dog as per the lease terms. Unfortunately another tenant had snuck one in via a handbag! Transpired that even though the letting agent had been instructed by the landlord that no pets were allowed I don’t know whether they passed it on and were ignored or didn’t actually pass it on!
INSURANCE VALIDATION AND BREACHES OF THE LEASE
As we had gotten got little or no response from leaseholder landlords regarding tenant information and a Licence to Sublet, I wondered if the buildings insurance would be invalidated if any damage to the interior of the flats extended to the exterior for which we would have to make a claim. When it comes to Private Sector Leasing I know for a fact that councils don’t have the resources to check that a landlord has permission to take up the scheme, they simply take him at his word.
I was therefore somewhat comforted to note that our property manager checked the insurance documentation and under the T’s and C’s there id nothinG to say that a breach of the lease should affect a claim or renewalof the buildings insurance. As long as we adhere to the T’s and C’s and submit prehistoric or current claims history along with prompt payment of premiums we should be OK.
A HAPPY NEIGHBOUR! 
Our next door neighbour had expressed concerns about a few bricks on our side wall that were leaning over her property, looking as if they would fall any time as they also had a large crack behind them. As her flat roof wouldn’t be able to take anyone standing on it directly, in order to move them we got some timber to be used as a platform, removed them, sealed the crack and replaced them.
She also had water bouncing off the hopper that served the same flat onto her flat roof so we sent a letter to the owner asking for access in order to repair the leak coming in from the inside.
Loose Chimney Stack
It was also noted that the chimney stack above the leaking flat was loose and requires stabilising.
FLYTPPING LETTER SENT TO LANDLORDS & LETTING AGENTS
I decided to draft a letter for our agent to send out to all landlords and agents reminding them that it is their responsibility to remove all furniture, electrical appliances etc from their premises, not dump them in the communal areas.
I went on to remind everyone that when our managing agent took over they sent out a welome pack to all landlords which included the telephone number of the council’s special refuse collection service and advising that each flat is entitled to 3 free collections per year.
I finished by saying that if we knew which landlords/agents were responsible for any future fly tipping then we would charge them directly if we were forced to remove it ourselves as a blanket charge was unfair. The individual cost would be the cost of disposing the items at the tip and whatever the hourly rate of our agent’s employee.
QUOTE TO REPAIR FIRE DAMAGED AREA
We got a quote for the fire damage sustained in 2006. £3,390 + VAT!
Having had excellent work carried out by this particular contractor in the past it’s not the amount that’s the issue.
It’s the fact that the fire was a deliberate act of vandalism caused by the brother of a former tenant chucking a lighted cigarette into a pile of dumped, highly flammable furniture after a family row.
At the time we had no management in place and no buildings insurance and to add insult to injury no one was ever held accountable as the miserable git disappeared!
UNSCHEDULED VISIT FROM THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE
We got a visit from a inspecting officer of the London Fire Brigade but myself and our property manager weren’t sure why as she had requested a fire risk assessment two or three months previously and been told they were no longer carried out.
The inspecting officer was also unsure because where risk assessments are carried out they are usually only on developments that are a mix of residential and commercial.
Anyhow, after giving him a bit of background to our development he said that because this was not a closed block of flats we did not require an external fire alarm.
What he did suggest though was some kind of early warning system such as an alarm that interconnects all flats with each other. If a fire starts in one of the flats then the alarm will go off in all of the flats. He did also say that this might not be too clever if someone simply keeps burning toast!
On the other hand its also possible to install an alarm in one flat on each floor so if a fire breaks out in that flat then others in the block will be warned. These are not legal requirements though, just suggestions for future reference.
A LOAN FACILITY OFFERED (but not from the Council)
Our managing agent contacted a bank which provided us details of a loan we could take out with them. It was based on major works being required and a figure of £100,000 being borrowed. They would want us to raise around 30% -40% of the cost up front from a sinking fund (which we don’t have) and payment from leaseholders with the bank funding the balance over a 24-36 month period, payable by way of quarterly capital and interest payments.
So, if the loan was £100k over 30 months the quarterly reductions would amount to £10,558.20 calculated at a margin of 3.5% over base rate with an additional 1.2% fee. Therefore the total amount would be £106,832.08.
The bank would also want a clause in the contract allowing our agent to retain management and they also wanted the majority of the leaseholders to be liable through the service charge for the loan repayment.
Finally, because the loan would be unsecured they would want the necessary legal recourse in place to ensure that in the event of individual leaseholders getting into arrears, they would have the means to recover funds even if via landlord action (i.e. forfeiture, a right that we don’t have).
OUR KITCHEN LEAK TRACED BUT…
The leak in our kitchen has been traced to a dripping valve on the water tank but even though we have a number of holes in the roof above our ceiling its not worth just replacing the valve or having other cracks and holes above our kitchen/bathroom sealed without replacing the tank housing which is completely rotted.
It’s also likely that water has seeped into the roof decking above our and it’s highly likely the same thing has happend elsewhere.
We’re Leaking In The Living Room (depending on which way the wind is blowing!)
We were somewhat surprised to see rainwater coming in over our windowsill in the living room again as we had the flashing sucessfully replaced some time ago with no recurring problems.
It could be that during heavy rainfall and with the wind in a certain direction, it’s coming in via some pointing that needs re-doing.
Hopefully we will have enough funding to do both the water tank valve, housing and re-pointing all at the same time.
A NICE NOICE LETTER SENT TO ALL
We instructed our property manager to send a nice generic letter to tenants and landlords reminding them that there should be no noise (other than general living noise) between 11pm and 7am, along with the relevant clause in the lease.
2012 DIGITAL SWITCHOVER QUOTE
Our managing agent is having surveys carried out on all the properties they manage in order to prepare quotes in readiness for the 2012 digital switchover. This is at a cost of £77 which is apparently refundable if the switchover work is carried out by a particular company.
PROBLEMATIC LEASEHOLDER LANDLORD: MANAGING AGENT CEO STEPS IN
The leaseholder landlord who threatened to withhold his service charge payments in retaliation for his tenants witholding their rent at the beginning of the year has prompted our managing agent’s CEO to step in.
He said that he saw the position as quite simple in that being faced with the possibility of lengthy and expensive litigation to resolve the matter or taking a more pragmatic approach, we should take the latter.
The repair has been carried out at what appears to be a reasonable cost so he suggests we pay his invoice so he pays his service charges and we move forward.
My Response
From our perspective the landlord rented out his property in the full knowledge that it had a defective roof. We tried everything to ensure that his tenants didn’t suffer as a result by getting his section repaired as quickly as possible when funding allowed. The roof was so bad though that our approach didn’t work and his tenant subsequently witheld rent.
I made it clear that my partner (one of the Directors) and myself had not approached the problems with our part of the roof in similiar fashion, instead continuing with the patch and seal approach despite the fact that we were still suffering with water ingress.
The situation was made all the more galling because the landlord (and his agent) were not even aware that a food preparation business was being carried out inside the flat and as a result we got a cockroach and mice infestation!
He admitted that his tenants had done this because he wrote to tell us he had got them to agree not to do it again!
It was also interesting that the first quote for repairing his part of the roof was for over £7,000 so I supposed we should be grateful that it came down to £1,800 for bitumen cover instead.
A Directors Response
My partner, the resident Director also responded by saying that whilst he could see the perpective of our CEO he too felt railroaded. He recalled court threats issued by the landlord if we didn’t allow the work to be carried out and he also remembered agreeing to the work on the understanding that the landlord would cover the costs himself as we had no way of knowing if his contractors were any good.
He is however willing to swallow the situation this one time to preserve further expense but if any further requests or demands like this occur where the leaseholder is refusing to go through the proper channels and use our agent- approved contractors he will expect them to cover all costs and insurances to get the work done.
It will be incumbent upon the leaseholders to expedite speedy maintenance of that work should further problems occur. If we have to deal with repairs and the fault lies with the contractor secured by the leaseholder then the remedial bill will be added to their individual service charge bill.
He also said that he would have been happier if the leaseholder had accepted a quote that had already been submitted by our agent’s contractor which was several hundred pounds cheaper and for the same type of solution.
In finishing he requested copies of the guarantees and receipts for the work for our records.
REVISED WITNESS STATEMENT REQUIRED
The CEO of our managing agent has been advised that more information needs to be supplied to the Court on what efforts to trace to the freeholder have been made.
This revised statement has to be submitted within 7 days in order for another hearing to be scheduled.
EXPOSED AND FROZEN WATER TANKS
One of our owner-occupiers advised us that he had no water feeding through to his bathroom. On going up to the roof to investigate, my partner found that the two water tanks servicing their flat and others on their side were completely exposed and whilst one of them still had free flowing water, the other was completely frozen over.
When a plumber came to assess the situation he advised that placing temporary plastic sheeting over the top wasn’t really an option, even as an emergency measure. This was because whilst the sun defrosted the tank to a certain degree, it wouldn’t prevent the same situation from occuring if the temperature were to drop to the same level or lower.
This happened over a weekend but we were fortunate on two counts: firstly the owner-occupiers are pensioners but ‘old school’ who didn’t have a problem with boiling a kettle for use in the bathroom and the other was that flats on their side of the block were mostly empty, although one tenant on the floor above did report the same problem.
Our regular contractor was away over Christmas, so our agent got another company to come to site to carry out repairs.
All they did was to loosely rope some tarpaulin over the tanks which a strong wind would easily remove. The insulation remained wide open to the elements.
Yet, whilst there wasn’t a request for any work to be carried out on an adjacent tank, there was more work done on that one than there was over the correct one! Granted it may as well stay there but I didn’t want us charged for work done that we didn’t request!
PREPARING FOR WINTER: A ROCK SALT BIN!
Our managing agent came round to read the electricity meter and in the course of conversation I was told that some of the other developments have rock salt bins to use in the event of snow and ice.
We thought it was a great idea and asked for a costing. The bins were £150 and bags of rock salt were £20.25 for 25k bags. We went ahead and ordered.
Where Is It?
Wondered why our order was taking so long. It transpired that at the exact time the order was placed, the system crashed at the other end and so our order disappeared without a trace!We did get it the Tuesday before Christmas though!
THE NERVE OF THIS LEASEHOLDER LANDLORD!
Our Directors got a really snotty letter from one of the leaseholder landlords saying that he had been requesting from our managing agents a breakdown of the repairs carried out during the period ending this year. He stated he was fully entitled to see what works had been carried out and the costs which of course he is. He was also querying the estimated repairs and maintenance costs for 2009/10 as well as the management costs.
He also asked what company the Directors were Directors of and how did they get elected?
His requests were absolutely fine were it not for the fact that he has received answers to every single question he has raised from day one!
Considering that he was also invited in the Notice of Participation (as a qualifying leaseholder) to become part of the management company and he never replied, I found his letter staggering in its ignorance and tone!
A Director Responds
The letter didn’t even come from the leaseholder but from a letting agent of whom we knew little or nothing about. So when the resident Director responded he said that it would be helpful if any further communication were signed by the leaseholder because if he were to answer any queries himself, (rather than the managing agent), it would help if he knew who he was dealing with.
He then went on to say that it had been fully explained as to why service charges could be considered high (inheriting around twenty years of neglect would do it) and the management charges were considered reasonable by the Directors because of the high level of service the agents were providing.
He also made a pointed note that repeated nonpayment of service charges (from this leaseholder among others) has exascerbated the problems and further delays in obtaining them will result in further degradation to the building.
Finally he said that our records show that most,
(if not all) of the information requested to date has been supplied and if the leaseholder still has issues with information provision and charges then he should escalate it to the managing agent’s CEO.
