Owner Deceased

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Owner Deceased Q: A neighbour died nine years ago and his flat is still registered with the Land Registry in his name as having title absolute. We think we know the name and address of the beneficiary, who has promptly paid the service charges but not, apparently, notified the Land Registry. The company secretary can […]

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Yearly maintenance fee

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Q: We have a situation that has arisen which the residents’ association is unsure about. At the last bi-annual meeting it was agreed by three directors that the yearly maintenance fee should be increased by £500 per year to cover the costs of the redecoration bill (to be done in 2017) as well as cover […]

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Boiler Room

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Q: The old boiler room at our block is no longer in use and it has been suggested that it could be sold. As the majority of the flat owners now hold the freehold, what are the tax implications if it was sold, and the money distributed among the shareholders? Alternatively, could the money raised […]

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What Fees Can We Charge?

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Q: Could you offer guidance as to the fees that can be charged by ourselves as managers during a lease transfer? During recent sales we have been approached by existing owners, their solicitors, the buyer’s solicitors, and on occasion by the buyers themselves, seeking lease and property details. The requests have been by email, telephone, […]

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Disabled Parking

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Q: We are a residential block of 42 flats with our own private car park for around 20 cars.  There has always been a “Disabled” parking space which was used by one of the original residents, who now has sadly passed away. A question raised at our committee meeting yesterday was: “Do we have to […]

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Wheelchair User

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Q: I am a director of the management company of a block of 16 flats whose shares are divided equally between the current 16 leaseholders, of which I am one. Most of the flats are owner-occupied, but some are let out. Recently a potential purchaser of one of the ground floor flats, who was confined […]

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Legionnaires’ Disease

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Q: We are a development of 40 flats arranged over three floors and like many others we have the ground and first floors flats’ cold water tank in the roof space in the communal stairwell (the top floor flat has its tank in the loft space above the flat ). Each flat has a hot […]

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Accounts and Bank Accounts

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Q: We have three bank accounts: 1, company bank account;  2, service charge account;  3, tracker account. 1,   Company account:  This account has income from registration/administration charges from flat sales and the 10 per cent discount we receive on ground rent invoiced by the head lessor (the freeholder)  Outgoings from this account are such as […]

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Crumbling Garages

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Q: We have a line of adjoined garages separate from the main building. There is a fault in the structure between two of the garages to the effect that the walls of one of the garages can be moved slightly – clearly an issue that needs to be sorted. One of the two residents involved asked […]

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Danger to Volunteer

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Q: We have many volunteers that help around the property we manage, including a couple of people that help with gardening and outside tasks.   One gentleman has offered to trim hedges but has asked that we purchase an electric hedge trimmer for him to carry out the work. I am concerned that if we provide […]

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