Friday, 25 May 2012

Management Agency's of a Housing Association

Posted in: Need to Know | Ask the Experts

08/07/2011 1:03 pm

Wall

Wall

Posts: 3

Can anyone tell me I'm a Tenant of a large Housing Association of over 16,500 Tenant's and found out this day that two Management Agency's company's run the building we live in. One is for the Structure Repairs and other is for Communtal Repairs and Internal Repairs in our property's

First we've not consulted on the increase to our Service Charges and finding it hard to get one or both to give us a break down of these costs secondly we been unable to find the owners of these buildings.

We having issues with one of the Management Agency by way of letting out one of the shop to a Super Market which is waking us up with deliver's at 6.00 a.m.

We was not consulted over the Retail a Supermarket Express Store coming into a Residential area.

What rights do we have and can we see how the Service Charges are broken down

How can we get the large retail shop to stop waking us up at 06:00 a.m. from Monday to Sunday with deliver's and dragging trolley's over the pavement. The staff at the store using our wall to smoking and putting cig's butt's in plant's and placing on the floor

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Vercin Getorix

Vercin Getorix

Posts: 2

05/12/2011 12:27 pm

Who do you pay your service charges and rent to? If it is the housing association, then it is their responsibility to provide you with a breakdown of costs, regardless of who actually carries out the services on your block.

A housing association should also have a Housing Officer or Neighbourhood Officer allocated to your property - you should contact them for any complaints that you have.

If you pay direct to the managing agents (odd occurance but does happen from time to time) then I would still try your housing association as they are your landlord.

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Mike Wilkins

Mike Wilkins

Posts: 39

15/12/2011 6:36 pm

I am interested in your question because it sounds like a rather complicated set up.
Housing associations do often outsource day to day repairs and structural repair work
 but normally this is done under contract to the association concerned and not often
via a managing agent. What you describe sounds more like the position that a private
sector tenant might face with a landlord who outsources all the housing management
 functions, including repairs, to a managing agent. You say that you don’t know who
owns the building, again unusual for a tenant of a housing association, unless you
are in a home that is privately leased by the association for a fixed term and the
landlord is a private landlord letting to the housing association. Without seeing
your tenancy agreement it is hard to advise on what your rights are with regards
to the other users of the buildings you live in. If the association does not own the
building and presumably leases it, then you will probably have little say over how
the owners decide to let the commercial elements. If it is a lease arrangement does
your stay there end at a particular point- it should say on your tenancy agreement.
I suggest you talk to the housing association about the service charges in the
first instance and ask them to clarify the points you have raised.

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PGriffiths

PGriffiths

Posts: 27

15/12/2011 8:40 pm

Mike we are in this position my Landlord is a largest Housing Association in UK and  merger with another in 2007 and these Apartment are  Leased Block i.e. two out of 7 blocks .  But  two blocks which one I am  in.   Our with mixed tenure and other 5 with Owners so we have two Managing Agents running the  Blocks.  Which its very hard due to the fact one our Landlord we can hold accountable.  The other we cannot.  When I look at the Tenancy Agreement of one of my neighbours nothing saying this was a leased block and how long the lease was.

We understand that the other which is not our Landlord is responsible for the exterior of the building and our is responsible for internal part of the building i.e. the Communal parts and inside  Tenant's property's.

This is where it gets difficult.  Because of the Service Charges they trying  charging us for  things we believe we shouldn't be charged. 

 One  was issue was  over the Electricity Bill  Charges  (Guess what our Housing Association didn't know where the Meters was and we still awaiting to hear) which in fact two block same size paying different charges.  Wasn't  being pick up by our Landlord and  but the other Managing Agents was sending the information to them.   Now these  owners have a Building Manager 24 hours.   We do not have use of the member of staff but look on our service charges breakdown under the Schedules and here's where you find a   problem.   Has Tenants we have no rights to question the other Management Agent so we total  and when we ask for Invoices, Bills and other.  Its a strong no.   When we ask original for our Landlord to look into the matter.  We had to point out the points.  Stated the  obvious.  

Why is it that Owners can have a full breakdown but Tenant's  and Leaseholder do not .   Managing Agents keep us out of meeting's with the Owners and when we ask well whom going from our Housing Association  with other Management Agent and again no one.    Why cannot we all be at a meeting together we all paying at least part of the Service Charges but its hard trying to understand exactly whether we should be has Customer paying for some like sprinkler systems when we on one a large plot and  spare with others and cannot find out if they paying they all paying fair share

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Shaun Aldis

Shaun Aldis

Posts: 23

21/12/2011 11:53 am

Without knowing the Housing Association or your tenure type it is difficult to comment.  Some Housing Assns have now switched to being “housing companies” and would need to seek further advice.
On the other hand councils and ALMOs are not obliged to consult as such, although we make commitments via our tenancy agreement and service standards to do so.

I would recommend if a Freedom of Information request to obtain background to the rents increase and service charge setting, should a formal request be refused.
In addition the person enquiries could contact their council for advice – likely to be something akin to "housing options" at our council, a law centre or CAB are likely to be helpful.

If you want to know the owners of the building all they have to do is a Land Registry search (it will cost you a nominal amount and this can be done on line).

With regards to the shop – all of our shop leases have clauses i.e. nuisance, noise, opening hours etc….  therefore redress needs to be taken against the supermarket through the shop lease.  The comment in relation to consultation over the supermarket –we do not consult with our tenants/leaseholders over shop usage, however, if planning permission was needed the planners should have done this. Another avenue they may wish to explore in relation to the noise is asking Noise Pollution at Environmental Health Section of their council to investigate.

I cannot see what you can do about the smoking.  although if it is bad and if there is a nuisance clause in the lease, that may help. Perhaps a gracious word with the manager of the shop may suffice.

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Will Nixon

Will Nixon

Posts: 30

21/12/2011 12:19 pm

In relation to this question, ultimately your legal relationship is with the landlord rather than with the agents, so the correct course of action in circumstances where you are unhappy with an agent is to approach the landlord directly. You should ask to see a breakdown of the service charge affecting your block and flat, as the landlord is obliged to provide this to you upon request. You can also have the service charges independently audited, although this would invariably incur some expense.

Turning to the problems caused by the supermarket, there are two possible remedies here. In your tenancy agreement or lease, the landlord will have covenanted to provide you with "quiet enjoyment" of your home and will be in breach of this promise if their commercial tenant is causing a noise nuisance. You should also ask the Local Authority about any planning conditions associated with the supermarket's approved hours of operation and report your concerns to Environmental Health if you think there is a breach of conditions.

Remember that your landlord is required to operate a complaints procedure that escalates through several stages to the Ombudsman and this is a cost effective way of pursuing any grievance in the first instance.

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PGriffiths

PGriffiths

Posts: 27

21/12/2011 1:16 pm

Shaun and Will - thank you but I do not think I will be allowed to put my Landlord name of here it is  a very large Housing Trust and by all accounts it only leases the two blocks of Mixed Tenure.  But nothing in my Agreement stated the facts.   We have a owner which I cannot find under the name given and they  the owner employed a Management Agent for Exterior part of the buildings.

We got a Schedule of Breakdown of Service Charges but we on a large plot of land.  We know some of the  Owners and they gave us a copy.   which we  put this in the table to our Housing Trust  at a meeting and ask for satisfaction but again its very hard getting to adhere by giving us the the paperwork  invoices.  Why wont's they just adhere and why is it up to us to go via the complaint procedures its a gruelling task - What Officers investigating Officers 

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