Second Request For HHSRS
I’d already had one request for an HHSRS assessment to be carried out on our development turned down even though I felt that no lighting on stairwells, water entering electrics, pouring from guttering and leaking into premises (including those of my neighbours property) couldn’t fail to come under HHSRS legislation.
I was certain that HHSRS applied to all residential properties and positive that we would be found to have Cat 1 and Cat 2 hazards I asked again. This time I was successful and whilst I personally didn’t know a JP, I asked if my local MP would suffice as he was happy to refer my request. The leader of the council took his own legal advice and said his own referral would be acceptable.
Very High Winds Cause Panic!
Very high winds this month sent the top of one of our unsecured water tanks into my next door neighbour’s garden! I was horrified at its size and the potential damage to both life and property it could have caused. Not only that, there was a very large satellite dish rolling round on the roof which my partner placed in a safer position where it was protected from the wind (and him with a prolapsed disc too!). He also noticed that the water tank serving another flat had wood and cast iron guttering falling into it because it had been chucked onto the roof and used as a temporary way of keeping that tank’s lid on!
Building Control – An Enquiry About Ilegal Alterations
I contacted Building Control because leaseholders are unable to alter the layout of their flat without first obtaining approval from the freeholder/managing agents as per the terms of their lease. I was advised that anyone planning to carry out structural alterations needed to apply for planning permission. Where blocks of flats are concerned, permitted development is not applicable and if there are no plans to alter the external appearance or use of the building, planning permission probably would not be required. However, nearly all building work and structural alterations need building regulation approval, with the process of granting it as follows:
1) Drawings are submitted for the proposed works;
2) The Building Control Service, which can be private sector or local authority, checks the details and either approves or rejects them depending on whether they comply with building regulations;
3) If approval is granted then the work will be inspected at key stages.
4) On satisfactory completion then the building control surveyor will issue a building regulation completion certificate – a legal necessity when buying/selling property.
Criteria Finally Met For RTM!
We’d had a couple of BTL investors purchase a number of flats in the building and it turned out we could finally meet the criteria for one of the legislative routes – that of RTM. Little did we realise the irony of this but that was all to come later.
A letter of intent was sent to all leaseholders advising we were going to go ahead with the process and a around 5 qualifying leaseholders attended a meeting. Three people agreed to act in the capacity of Directors (2) and Secretary (1). After the company was registered at Companies House, a Notice of Participation was sent to the remaing qualifying flat owners inviting them to join the company that gave them 14 days to respond.
The next stage was the Notice of Claim that was sent to our freeholder’s family solicitor but no response was received, keeping up a long established family tradition.
There are usually a few more steps to the process but the situation in our development enabled us to skip some of them, such as asking for management information on the property from the managing agents and issuing a notice on them to compel them to notify us of all contractors to the property. We also didn’t require a notice requiring the receipt of any balance of service charge funds remaining after the deduction of outstanding proper costs because they didn’t have any by the time they came to be struck off! We did however have to allow the pre-requisite time frames for responses with the end date for reply being 27th July 2007.
HHSRS Assessment Carried Out (but agent gets struck off!)
I finally had my HHSRS assessment carried out in two visits which yielded 2 Category A hazards (the most severe) and a number of Cat B’s and C’s.
The elements covered were damp and mould growth, entry by intruders, personal hygiene/sanitation and drainage, water supply, falls associated with stairs and steps and structural collapse/falling elements.
However, the Council did not take any further action because by the time they finally carried out the assessment the managing agents had managed to get themselves struck off Companies House Register, the RTM process was still ongoing and there was no-one to serve any more notices on!
Anyway, whilst we continued with the RTM process, we instructed our new agent to find someone to carry out a complete Building Condition and Fire Survey to assess the whole development.
How Does Private Sector Leasing Work At Wellington Mansions?
WhilstI had already established that our block was being used by the local council, I needed some information on Private Sector Leasing as not only had my research indicated that one or more of the flats were being used under that particular scheme, the rapid tenant turnover was also a clear indication.
Other departments that could also use properties registered under PSl were that of the Social Services Mental Health Team and the Learning Disabilities Team but they were unable to advise if they used Wellington Mansions because their database was ‘client led’.
Another problem in establishing who dealt with what was that whilst I was also aware that leases to a couple of flats were recently handed back I couldn’t be told which ones because of Data Protection. Neither could I be told whether Wellington Mansions would be used in this capacity again.
On conntacting the council again, they said that they were unable to provide any information about specific accommodation and were unsure as to why I was asking for this information because a landlord is entitled to let his property to who he likes. They also wondered how I could be sure that problems were being caused by tenants placed by the council!
This last comment was particularly irritating because I had made it clear in an earlier e-mail that the information would be of immense help in pinning down the level of responsibilities of council agents and private tenants/landlords) as its nigh impossible to do this at the moment.
RTM – Nearly There!
End date for reply from freeholder’s family or solicitors is 27th July although the Notice had to give three month date for takeover which is November 1st.
RTM Acquisition Date
Today is Acquisition Date and we (the RTM Company) officially take over the management functions of our block along with our managing agent. Management functions are defined in the legislation as ‘functions with respect to services, repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance and management’ of the common areas. Wilst the term ‘common areas’ has no definite legal meaning in English law, what is usually covered is determined by how clearly the lease is written. As a general rule of thumb it will usually cover all areas that are not individually owned by the leaseholders such the roof, guttering, pipes, stairs, hallways, gardens and even parking spaces.