Fire Door Safety Week – Shutting the door on fire and smoke 11 July 2018 Fire door safety campaigners are, through Fire Door Safety Week (FDSW), working to ensure public and private sector landlords and building owners stop risking the lives of tenants and ensure fire doors are correctly inspected, specified, fitted and maintained. Fire …
10 September 2018 Residents urged to increase recycling in flats and shared housing in Chichester This month, residents in a number of flats and shared houses in Chichester will get a visit from the West Sussex Waste Partnership’s team of doorsteppers. The team will be delivering information packs (which include a free reusable bag to …
7 September 2018 To: Select Committee on Housing, Communities and Local Government Dear Sirs Call for evidence by the select committee on Leasehold Reform This response to your call for evidence is on behalf of The Federation of Private Residents’ Associations, which as far as we know, is the only national body that represents the …
Q: I am on the board of two large blocks which are five weeks into an 18 week contract to have our roofs replaced. We have employed surveyors to help us with this large project. There was a contingency of £20,000 built into the cost, however, now the scaffolding is completed on the first block, …
Q: We were built in 1996 and according to plans the flats are compartmentalised. We’re checking safety, and are wondering about the “stay put” recommendation found in all the guides from Government and ARMA. It feels intuitively right for tall blocks (even after Grenfell) but wrong for our three/four stories with five separate staircases. …
Q: If within a 12 month period, as a result of collecting extra monies from the leaseholders specifically for the replacement of two large water tanks, our income rises above the £85,000 threshold, will the company become VATable? A: FPRA Hon Consultant Gordon Whelan replies Service charges raised for the upkeep of the common …
Q: Our development comprises two types of properties: one section is made up of flats for which all the residents pay rent to a housing association (our landlord); the other section is a block of flats which are sold leasehold on the open market. Both sections are for the “over 60’s”. Our Board of Directors …
Q: Our Fire Risk Assessment suggested we should consider a lightning conductor. Of course, we have never been struck by lightning, but there is always a first time! And of course, any risk assessor would put in anything possible, even if unlikely, to protect themselves. We are six stories high and next to the sea, …
Q: Could you advise us on the legal requirements for an annual AGM for a limited residents’ company such as ours. We have been holding formal AGM meetings for some years but with declining attendance a less formal format would be preferable, if permitted. A: FPRA Committee Member Bob Slee replies: The lack of interest …
Q: We have a problem with tenants in one property dumping rubbish outside the maisonette (on our land). The landlord is not being as cooperative as we would like. Legally are we entitled to bill the tenants for clearing up the rubbish or should the bill go to the landlord who is the leaseholder? Some …