A bit of background....
I own (leasehold) a flat in a block of 12. The Freeholder has been trying to get planning to build a further 8 flats on top of the existing block, which has been turned down through planning three times now.
They've also recently changed management companies, who have been atrocious so far.
Collectively (10 of the 12 flats) have thought it would be better if we 'owned' the management of the flats as a group, so have sought independent help on securing the Right to Manage, which we now have. We have a Ltd. co set up and are set to take over the management on 12th October. Ultimately, we'll investigate buying the freehold, but that's for another day!
We've agreed that initially we'd prefer to employ someone to manage the block on our behalf, so am wondering if anyone has been through this process; i.e. selecting and on-boarding a management company to do this.
If anyone's been through this or can give some guidance or share some wisdom, it would be very much appreciated.
Im a director of a block and we are currently going through a process to appoint / reappoint the managing agent.Originally Posted by ed335d
There is a lot of information available like this :
https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-...anaging-agent/
We’ve appointed a company to manage shortlisting and tense evaluation for us.
Happy to help with specifics if you PM me.
That is massively helpful, thank you so much!
I will more than likely take you up on your kind offer
Many moons ago, I am 1 of 15 freeholders in a block of 21 flats in SE London, at the time of Freehold acquisition 6 did not want to partake for various reasons, but its not a problem as they are happy the FH is now with their neighbours.
We went through the usual and landed on an excellent company called Jennings & Barrett based in Kent, they could well be worth a call, we have found them easy to deal with, straightforward and transparent on costings.
Good luck.
Ace, thanks. I'll put them on the list of people to contact.
What, stick eight flats on top of the building? That would be intolerable for the other residents in terms of noise and dirt and general chaos. Water and power supplies being switched off at regular intervals, as well as unscheduled interruptions to supply and burst water pipes. I know this is probably a dumb question, but would the building even be able to bear the additional weight?
Yes, classed as permitted development.
As long as the existing block is no more than 3 levels, a further two can be built on top with minimal planning. You cannot object on the grounds of inconvenience or disruption; there isn't even enough parking for the residents that are there, but the local highways department 'doesn't think people need cars', so that's OK.
We've been lucky enough to block the plans (three times now), mostly on technicalities around bin storage and collections.
The freeholders are a small company with both directors reaching retirement age. We think it's a last attempt to money-grab without consideration for the current occupiers. Even if they don't build, the freehold value will be increased with planning in place, so better value for them if they sell the freehold (even if to current leaseholders). I don't think the structure ('70s) would be able to take the weight without significant reinforcement, but that wouldn't be investigated until after planning is granted, so they're on a winner even if the build isn't feasible.
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