Property managers not doing their job

PRAF

Hi all

I own an apartment which is part of a mixed development of semi-d's, terraced houses, apartments, etc. The property managers do ok in terms of maintaining the shrubbery, cutting the grass, and emptying the bins. I.e. all of the stuff that is common to all owners is done to a reasonable standard.

Unfortunately, anything that is specific to apartment owners is nothing short of disgraceful. Communal areas not cleaned, light bulbs in common areas not replaced, hard to reach windows not cleaned, doors to communal areas never varnished, etc.

The answer I keep getting is that budgets are tight, etc. Unfortunately, I pay a big premium on my management fee for exactly these kinds of services. It's approx 500 pa for house owners and 1,100 for apartment owners.

Any advise appreciated in terms of what I can do here. I've complained repeatedly but keep getting told there is nothing I can do about it. I've offerred to get the work done myself (and deduct from my management fees) but I've been expressly told that I am not allowed do this.

Many thanks

Paulw

What is said at your AGM? What is your budget and funding like?

What have the directors of the management company said about the activity of the management agent?

Your AGM should be where your issues are raised, discussed and answered.

seamus

There should be someone with responsibility for general day-to-day maintenance - so stuff like cleaning, changing bulbs, etc. This may be an actual janitor, or in a smaller developments it may be someone from the agency who comes down for a couple of hours two or three times a week.

Varnishing is one thing we've also had issues over. In our case the main problem is funding, in that it's not (or wasn't) there. The primary cause of this was the developer not maintaining an adequate sinking and maintenance fund while they had control over the development. So when the residents took control, they found no free floating cash available to do things like varnishing. So at the moment the management company is slowly building a fund to carry out this kind of work, but there's a list of such works that need to be done, and only a few that can be addressed in a given year, unless we all want to stump up an extra 25% on our service charge for two years and get it all done.

So as PaulW says, you really need to engage the management company (and not the agents). Get your hands on the budget and the accounts and find out where the money's going. Things like window cleaning should be done once or twice a year regardless, and it's not that expensive. Likewise cleaning and bulb replacements. Find out from the directors why these haven't been addressed.

MarkAnthony

You're a shareholder in the OMC you need to get together with the directors and resolve this. If the agent is useless then get rid and get another in. However the agent can only do what they're being told to do by the directors.

You need to be constantly involved and get as many residents as involved as possible. My guess would be many of the apartments are rented out and the LL, short sightedly, probably don't care. I suspect most of the directors are house owners?

A small time commitment two-four times a year, probably less time that you've spent on the phone to the agent is all that's needed to resolve these issues, well that and a willingness to spend the money!

Mrs OBumble

PRAF wrote: »

Unfortunately, I pay a big premium on my management fee for exactly these kinds of services. It's approx 500 pa for house owners and 1,00 for apartment owners.

I presume you mean 1000 for apartments owners. E100 would barely get you block insurance.

Even 1000, depending on how many lifts etc need to be maintained, may not go that far.

ted1

PRAF wrote: »

Hi all

I own an apartment which is part of a mixed development of semi-d's, terraced houses, apartments, etc. The property managers do ok in terms of maintaining the shrubbery, cutting the grass, and emptying the bins. I.e. all of the stuff that is common to all owners is done to a reasonable standard.

Unfortunately, anything that is specific to apartment owners is nothing short of disgraceful. Communal areas not cleaned, light bulbs in common areas not replaced, hard to reach windows not cleaned, doors to communal areas never varnished, etc.

The answer I keep getting is that budgets are tight, etc. Unfortunately, I pay a big premium on my management fee for exactly these kinds of services. It's approx 500 pa for house owners and 1,00 for apartment owners.

Any advise appreciated in terms of what I can do here. I've complained repeatedly but keep getting told there is nothing I can do about it. I've offerred to get the work done myself (and deduct from my management fees) but I've been expressly told that I am not allowed do this.

Many thanks

Tbh honest those prices are low. Insurance would cost you 250 alone, bins would be another 250.

PRAF

seamus wrote: »

There should be someone with responsibility for general day-to-day maintenance - so stuff like cleaning, changing bulbs, etc. This may be an actual janitor, or in a smaller developments it may be someone from the agency who comes down for a couple of hours two or three times a week.

Varnishing is one thing we've also had issues over. In our case the main problem is funding, in that it's not (or wasn't) there. The primary cause of this was the developer not maintaining an adequate sinking and maintenance fund while they had control over the development. So when the residents took control, they found no free floating cash available to do things like varnishing. So at the moment the management company is slowly building a fund to carry out this kind of work, but there's a list of such works that need to be done, and only a few that can be addressed in a given year, unless we all want to stump up an extra 25% on our service charge for two years and get it all done.

So as PaulW says, you really need to engage the management company (and not the agents). Get your hands on the budget and the accounts and find out where the money's going. Things like window cleaning should be done once or twice a year regardless, and it's not that expensive. Likewise cleaning and bulb replacements. Find out from the directors why these haven't been addressed.

Thanks Seamus (and Mark Anthony) - I've just begun engaging with the directors on this and will ask the relevant questions

PRAF

Fyi, the fee is in the region of 1,100. Typo which I've now corrected. There are no expensive lifts or underground carparks to maintain in this development.