Need a commercial or residential block management service? Find answers to some common questions here.

Most leases and transfers include restrictive covenants prohibiting alterations to either the plan or the elevations of the property without prior written consent. Such alterations will include the replacement of windows, the removal of internal walls, installing external lights and the construction of an extension. Residents wishing to make alterations should apply to FPE Management in writing, detailing the precise works to be undertaken including the appropriate plans and specification relating to the proposed works and any Building Regulations and Planning Permission required.

Most leases allow sub-letting of property, subject to obtaining prior consent of the landlord/directors of the RMC, which cannot be unreasonably withheld. It is not normally permissible to sub-divide or sub-let parts of the property. Any resident wishing to sub-let their property should contact FPE Management. It is vital that FPE Management has been advised so that contact details are maintained so we know who to contact in the event of an emergency or other urgent matters.

Your responsibilities as a Residents’ Management Company (RMC) Director are the same as for any company director. Consequently you have statutory and fiduciary duties that must not be taken lightly. In simple terms however you will be responsible for ensuring that the development is managed properly and cost effectively. For this you will need to work with your fellow Directors to agree a budget with the management agent and to ensure that your members then contribute on time and in full. You will need to hold meetings in accordance with statute and ensure that you consult with your members/shareholders regularly. We also recommend that you consider taking out a Directors & Officers insurance policy.

Please advise us of any change of correspondence address in writing. For legal reasons, we cannot accept such advice over the telephone. You must write to our accounts department who will then make the necessary amendments. Also for legal reasons, any new address must be within the UK.

It is the leaseholder’s obligation to pay the service charges and ground rent promptly by the due dates stated on the invoices. We have a robust arrears regime which is effective in getting payment in most cases, where the leaseholder genuinely forgets to make the payment on the due date. If they are not paid and the landlord is able to show that the charges are reasonable, then he can begin forfeiture proceedings. If approved by a court, this can lead to the landlord repossessing the flat. However, the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, the right of the landlord will be restricted.

Normally a lease will state that sub-letting is not permitted without the landlord’s written permission. Once we are contracted to take over the management of a block of flats, we ensure that, for the sake of all the leaseholders’ “quiet enjoyment” of their properties, we take the details of all the existing sub-lettings, so we know who to contact if there are any issues relating to a sublet flat.

Of course, whether you are our Client or a leaseholder, if you feel that work being carried out, for instance under a regular maintenance contract such as gardening or cleaning, is not being done according to the agreed standard, then we would appreciate hearing from you as soon as possible, so this can be put right by us. In addition, our regular inspections are aimed at monitoring the quality of the work carried out by contractors.

This is a requirement, under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which basically states that any work, such as redecorating the outside of your building, that is going to cost more than £250 per flat, must go through a consultation process with all the leaseholders. During the process, leaseholders are able to make their comments or to suggest an alternative contractor to give a quote. If more than one alternative contractor is suggested, we would have to select one of these to add to the contractors already invited to quote, provided the nominee complies with liability insurance and health and safety requirements. Once quotes have been received from the selected contractors, and again communicated to the leaseholders, one quote would be accepted and the work would commence.

As it is a fairly involved process it can generally take about four months from the decision to carry out the work to when the contract can commence. If the work in question is urgent, and any delay would have a serious or detrimental effect on the building, then a dispensation can be sought from the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) to bypass the Consultation process and enable to work to be carried out quickly.

You can pay by cheque and send it to us by post. Alternatively you can make your payments through online or telephone banking. Details are provided on your service charge bill. We do not currently offer a standing order or direct debit service for several reasons. These include ensuring that payments are made in accordance with your lease terms and the difficulty in ensuring adequate cash flow from sums paid in this way.

Yes. You should pay all of the charges due on the property prior to any sale taking place. To protect the purchaser’s interests, their solicitor must establish that there are no debts outstanding on the property. Part of the usual pre-sale enquiries that solicitors make, is to ask if there are charges due or outstanding against the property. If you have not paid in full it will, in most cases, delay completion of the sale of your property. Your own solicitor will apportion any money due back to you in the final completion statement.

This could be for a number of reasons. The cost of providing maintenance services is assessed annually but is initially based upon our knowledge and experience with other similar properties. In future years we have the benefit of actual expenditure, but even with this, there are some matters that are impossible to accurately predict. The costs of repair in one year may be minimal but may be quite substantial in the next year. Additionally, we may have to take into account outside influences such as changes in Government legislation which have recently led to substantial increases in the costs of providing management services generally. In addition, with new developments, it is often difficult to accurately predict the levels of expenditure in the first year or two. As a result there may be increases in the costs of providing certain services for the first few years of a new development. Another reason could be that the contractors who provide services to your property will normally increase their prices yearly to cover their inflationary costs. Insurance costs have changed significantly due to such things as September 11 2001, global climate changes, the increase in personal injury claims etc, and these have led to large increases in premiums.

Yes. As part of the contract of sale there should have been an agreement that the previous owner of your property would still be liable for a proportion of any balancing charge. The solicitor who acted for the previous owner may well have kept back a sum of money from the sale as retention to cover this additional charge. You should contact your solicitor in order that any recovery of monies due to you can be made.

Individual properties and lease particulars can vary enormously, making comparisons of service charges between different blocks of flats difficult, if not impossible. There are probably good reasons for the two sets of charges being very different. Here are some typical reasons:- (1) you may have a more comprehensive set of services funded through your service charge (eg all windows cleaned, lifts, car parking, entry systems etc); (2) Does your friend’s service charge include sinking funds as yours may well do? If not, their charge is likely to fluctuate dramatically from year to year as large expenditure falls due; (3) How many flats are in your friend’s block? Small blocks tend to have a higher maintenance charge per flat and overall maintenance costs are often disproportionately expensive because the costs are shared by fewer lessees, rather than being spread across a large number. For example a roof repair paid for by only 4 flats is expensive compared to the same provision paid for by 20; (4) Do you have extensive gardens or is your block an older building? If so, your service charge could be adversely affected; (5) What size is your flat? Service charges are often calculated by reference to the floor area of your apartment. If you own a larger apartment than your friend, then this can make a significant difference.

All service charge payments we receive are paid into a client bank account separate from other properties we manage. At the end of the financial year for each block, independent accountants we have appointed produce an income and expenditure statement outlining the total service charges received for the year against the total expenditure. At the bottom of the statement it will clearly show how much money is left in the service charge fund. The accounts are produced in accordance with the Landlord & Tenant Act and our client bank accounts are conducted in accordance with the rules of the RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code. The annual budget, including expenditure cost estimates, is prepared and agreed with the landlord for each block or estate prior to the start of its financial year. The service charges required to fund this anticipated expenditure is calculated and issued to each leaseholder along with the expenditure details.

Ground Rent is the rent that all leaseholders pay to the owner of the land (this could be a freeholder or head lessee, or a freehold company, where the leaseholders have collectively bought the freehold). Terms for this payment will be set out clearly in your lease. Ground Rent is strictly payable in accordance with those terms – normally annually or half yearly. The amount of Ground Rent due can vary for each property. For example, a 2 bedroom flat held on a 99 year lease granted in 1974 may have a Ground Rent due of only £10 per annum paid annually in arrears. However, a 2 bedroom flat held on a 125 year lease granted in 2001 could easily have a Ground Rent of £200 per annum paid annually in advance. On a newly built block of flats the developer will decide what annual ground rent to impose on each flat together with an asking price. All flat buyers would be well advised, therefore, to take detailed legal advice on their leasehold obligations before purchasing a flat in a residential development.

Many leases provide for a reserve/‘sinking’ fund to ensure that sufficient money is available for future scheduled major works, such as external decorations or lift replacement. The lease will set out when regular, cyclical or maintenance works are due. Contributions to the reserve fund are not repayable when the flat is sold. This is because the cost of essential elements in the building are spread out over a number of years, allowing for a fairer distribution of financial responsibility between one or more owner of a particular flat. For instance, the cost of replacing a roof can be quite high. It would not be fair for owner A to have the benefit of the roof, free of cost, for several years, then sell his flat to owner B, who then has to pay for a new roof the following year.

A lease will often require that the service charges annual accounts must be certified by a Independent Accountant. This clause is inserted in a lease to ensure that the financial management of your service charges are carried out according to accounting rules and that there is no mismanagement. Where there are more than four leaseholders in a block, the accounts may have to be audited, but again, this is only if the lease requires this.