LETTERSOpinion
email
info@flat-living.co.uk tel0845 257 6374 fax0845 257 6319
Clamping ban
IreadBobSmytherman’s articleinthe lastissueof Flat Living andagree with himthat the Coalition’s understanding of the clampingsituation as regardsblocksofflatsis totallyunbalanced. Bob’s articleput thepointsso clearlyand so completely that only an idiot could comedownon the side of
thedriver.............maybe that is the problem! Iamthe company
secretary of asmall flat management company with an interest in only the 16 apartments in ourdevelopment but weDOhave parking problemsand weHAVE contemplatedwheel clamping in the past. If there is any way
that we can lend our small weight to the FPRA campaign,pleaseget in touch.
MTJDennis Director&CompanySecretary,
RichmondMews(Management) Limited,Swansea
Know your lease
I wish to endorse your campaign to promote theuse of specialist conveyancing solicitors forthe purchaseof leasehold properties.We areasmall groupof19 leaseholders,who used 16 different solicitors for purchasing.Wehad19 different interpretations of howleaseholdworks. Needless to say, theonly solicitortospecialise in leaseholdpurchase was the only one to be remotely correctinhis interpretation of the reams of covenants, schedules andother paraphernalia contained within the lease. Consequently, we allsufferedmonths of agonising until his advice wasfinally, albeit reluctantly by some, accepted and acted upon. Needless to say, apart from
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Flat Living
Ifyouhaveaquestionorwouldliketosharewithotherreadersyourideasorexperiencesof livinginaleaseholdblock,wewant tohearfromyou.
Addressyourcommentsorqueriesto theFlat Living teamat
info@flat-living.co.uk
COnsIsTEnCyInbAlAnCE shEETACCOunTIng
ThenewICAEWguidance note does not go far enough.Weneed a prescribed formfor service charge balance sheets. Oneaccountantmay disguise anydeficit or balancing charge by writing it off against reserves on the balancesheet - buy in this block and as a leaseholder cashflowand getting anything done may becomerather uncertain. Then you’ll getanother accountant putting the balancing charge in current assets (even if it has not yet been billed) – and what if it never is?
Aclean balance sheet should not
havemorethanone year’s balancing charges brought forward. If it does, a leaseholdermay getasurprisedemand relatingtoaperiodbeforetheyeven owned the property. someaccountantsandmanaging
agentsmergeall thereserve funds
together.notgoodif, forexample, you own a house and don’t pay into the flats
fund.Itmeanswhen theyget roundto themajorworks you’ll be subsidising someone else’s property! Many accountants will tell you it is
not their job to read or understand the lease – thismust becomean express and absolute requirement, even if the lease does not require an audit.how else canthe opinion of theaccountancy profession be independent andhow else can it therefore comply with the RICsCode of Practice forManaging Residentialproperty?
Mary-AnneBowring
ManagingDirector,Professional ServicesDivision
RingleyCharteredSurveyors
19 copies held by the companyand 19 copies held at theLandRegistry Office)beamended at an approximate cost of £15K. To the uninitiated this seemstobeagravy train forsolicitors. Can other readers offer any thoughts on this subject
ofamending clauses? Nameandaddresswithheld
Constructive criticism
I’msureIwasn’tthe only Flat Living reader whowas interested to watch Channel 4’s recent Dispatches programme on leasehold flats. The presenter raised some important points and with somany property programmes on TV,it wasgood to watchone aboutleasehold.What was depressing was the very negative view taken by theprogrammewhen, formanypeoplelivingin a flat is a positive choice. Owning a leasehold property is not necessarily just thefirst step on the property ladder or somethingweare forced into becausewecan’t afford a house. Living in a flat suitsmany people, includingme, very well. Iknowthere areplenty ofmanaging agentswho don’t do a very good job but we don’t all have to constantly battle with a ‘dodgy’ propertymanager to get repairs done or fight our landlord at every turn. It wouldbegood to see
time,money was also wasted at this time. What is notexplained
in the lease is howto amend, add to or delete covenants or clauses therein. Oneclausestates that theaccounts will be auditedeachyear. This wouldcost in theorder of £600 p.a. forlessthan 100transactionsper year.Onthe advice of the specialist solicitor, we put
aresolutiontoaGeneral Meetingofshareholders andsubstituted “will be prepared by the Secretary and signed off by two Directors” in placeof“audit”.This has never been queried by subsequent solicitors acting for potential purchasers. Our accounts areaccepted,without question. Within ourcommon
parts we have a tennis court,whichisinneed ofmajormaintenance at a cost of £10K. It is very rarely used,isan eyesoreinthe winter andmost people wish it to be convertedto alternative use. Our specialist solicitoris no longer availableand ourcurrent solicitor advisesthatall 57 leases (19heldbyshareholders,
moreprogrammes likethis but with a more balanced approach.Ofcourse living in aflat brings its ownproblemsbut it’s unfair to portrayonly blocks of flats that are the ‘propertynightmare’ that Channel 4 showed us in the
programme.Many of us have agood experience ofwhere we live and constructive criticism
would be more helpful. JaniceSandwicke Bournemouth
Autumn2012 Flat Living
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