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Surgery Guidance Directory


Findanagent


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Information needed


QUESTION Iliveinaflat belowalargebalcony


aprocedure (written or in theirmind) forhandlingnuisances,neighbourly complaints,allegedbreachesoflease,etc. Always thefirst step is to confirmthe


facts.You cannot evermake good decisions if youhavepartial facts,wrongfacts or only oneperson’ssideofthe story. Do not just check themwith the people directly involved, check with neighbours, passers-by, etc. Step twoisalwaystolistenand talk to the people involved: be objective, impartial andfair.Those twosteps will lead tomany confrontationsbeing resolved.Whena problemgrows to thepoint where youneed outsideadvice, youwanttwothings:advise uswhat to do, and advise uswhat advice wouldbegiventoyouropponentifyou were acting forhim. If you are told that your opponent has a


hopeless case, perhapsyou need to change your adviser. As a general rule,work on theassumption that if youtry to harm theinterestsofapersonwithavaluable investment to protect, he is goingto vigorously defend hisinvestmentand that mightleadtoafull-frontalattackagainst you. Youmay win, butrecognise that it’s not possible to winevery fight youtakeonand thepersonwiththe deepestpockets has a statistical habit of winningmore often than he loses. There is evidenceemerging that,just


as youand your fellowlesseescollectively bought your freehold, so investorsare acting collectively to manage theirinvestments. When they comeunderattackfrom an RMCo fordoingwhat they seeasreasonable, they have threechoices:(a) argueitout; (b) sell up; (c) acquire amajority and take control. If there is long-termdevelopment potential, theinvestorsaremore likelyto start to acquire amajority in order to take control. Weare all familiar with lessees of a


blockfalling into twofactions: (i)proper management at reasonable cost; (ii) minimummanagementatminimum cost. Lesseesofblocksofflatsatwar with themselves are unattractive toowner/ occupiers, so price levels in the market for flats in that blockfall. Cheapflatsattract buy-to-let investors. You askmeif there is anything youcan do.Myadviceistostop spendingmoney on fee-earningprofessional advisers.Instead, spendthemoneyon maintainingthe blockand itsservices thereby creating acommunitywhichis attractive to purchaserswho care (whether they beowner/occupiersorbuy-to-let investors).


Flat Living Issue 13, Winter


belongingtothepenthouse flatabovemine.Fortwo yearsI’vehadleaksin severaldifferent places, badenoughtoneed bucketstocollect the drips.Myceilingsare damaged,mywifehas anxietywhenevershe switchesonthelights in casetheybloworgiveher anelectricshock,andit seemsno-onecansolve the leaks.Ayearago,the penthouseownerrenewed thebalconysurfaceand thewaterproofmembrane. Themanagingagentshave hadaspecialistroof leak firmin, it stillleaks.How doweget thissorted?


ANSWERThereisatendency to assumetheobvious (in this casethe balconyflat roof), afailure to look forthe notsoobvious:defective parapetwalls,pipes built into the concrete,water per-


penetration. Fortwoyears your landlord has failed. Youhaveafewchoices: (a)serveNoticeunder


It is the


landlord’s job to protectyourflat


colating fromelsewhere, all sortsofother possibilities. If aspecialist is instructed to report on aroof, that’s probablywhat he will do. Rooferswillquote foranew roof,plumberswillquote to renewthewaterstorage tanks, dampspecialistswill quote to dampproof the sur- rounding parapetwalls,and someoneisbound to sayit is only condensation -Ikid younot.Itmight bemerely that the rainwater outlet oc- casionally gets blockedup! So farasyou are


concerned, it is the landlord’sjob to protect your flatfrom water


thePre-ActionProtocolfor HousingDisrepair Cases requiringthemtoerect a temporaryroofuntil they’ve sorted it or face legalaction; (b)start theprocessof


asking theLVTto appointa Manager, especiallyifthis problemistypical of other badmanagement; (c)get a competentsurveyor, agree accesstothe penthouse andall otherroofareas so that youcan getyourown report,serve thereport on thelandlord andclaim costswithdamages as appropriate.Donot shout, scream,throwatantrum, getinvolvedinthe blame game,orwithholdservice charges:itmightmake youthink you’re doing somethingpositive, you arenot.The defectmust be properly identified, andthen it will be resolved.


Battling Big Brother


QUESTIONOurblock isownedbythe lessees.OurBoard of Directors is dominatedbyone person.Afewyears agoshewasreallygreat at getting things done but, if one of the other Directors disagreed, itwas herway or noway. It’snowher and two poodles, weonly everget the basic statutory consultation,wehaven’thad anAGM fortwoyears, andifanyone challenges her,themanagingagentcontactsthe complainantfor an appointment to inspecttheir flattosee if thereisany disrepair,unauthorisedalterations and whoisliving there. It’snowlike living in a Big Brother society.What canwedo?


that they feel they have to provokewhat ought to be anunnecessary


An LVT Order is a desperate last resort


LVTapplication or go on servicechargestrike. Ifmattersare so bad


that even thosesorts of tacticsdonotwork,an


applicationcan bemade forthe appointment ofaManager by Orderofthe LVTfor ashort period,say twoyears,whilethe companysorts outits problemsandreconstitutes itsBoardsof Directors, or,when a company has been struck off the Register and no longer exists,while thelessees getthe companyreconstituted or replaced. An LVT Order is a desperate, last resort


ANSWERIt is very disappointingwhen a group of lessees find that the dialoguewhichought to existbetween Directorsand lesseesissoabsent


process, butthere areafew cases inwhichit hashappened, andafew otherswhereithas beenthreatenedinorder to break downan otherwiseimpenetrable dialogue barrier.●


37


Ifyouhaveaquery, email it to


info@flat-living.co.uk


Allnamesand addressesare withheld


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