Poor Housing Association Performance with Shared Ownership Tenants

23/07/2010 2:58 pm

Hang in they one of the legal experts on this site will be with you soon.  I no doubt. 

29/07/2010 1:31 pm

As a representative of Family Mosaic I can confirm that we have taken note of your experience.  I would like to reassure you that a senior member of our staff is contacting you immediately to discuss your concerns further.  Thanks.

29/07/2010 4:10 pm

Thanks Kass,

Well they certainly use a different definition of immediate because two and a half hours after their anonymous reassurance that someone would contact me 'immediately' they have yet to make contact.

I shouldn't be too hard to find, my name is Martin Gray and I live in Ashmore House.

Just to illustrate how bad things have got I have just heard from a member of our resident's group that two gardeners from New Green, employed by Family Mosaic just tried to dump gardening waste from other properties in our bins. They were later asked by a neighbour from the adjacent property to complete the job in hand - collecting leaves that had fallen last autumn - the lady was then verbally abused before the gardeners drove off without tending to our property. No change there then.

This kind of event is common place at our development, we have complained to Family Mosaic (and the contractor New Green) and yet we still have to live with this.

04/08/2010 2:27 pm

Ben Perl, I think you've been advised wrongly, RTM doesn't extend to RSLs, and so whilst your solicitor is correct that your status as a shared owner won't affect anything, they are wrong that you can claim RTM against an RSL.  RSL's are exempt from the legislation for some very good reasons.

Martin, you're problem is easily solved, stop paying your service charge, if you are correct and they are not maintaining the building then you shouldn't pay for a service you are not receiving.

You may also like to consider the possibility of taking them to the LVT, but that may prove costly.

I'm fairly certain the Ombudsman is wrong, it is his jurisdiction to hear complaints about an RSL, regardless of whether you are a shared owner.  However, you will have to take the complaints process seriously, that means going through every level of complaint within the RSL and then taking it to the ombudsman.  Most RSLs have a defined complaints procedure and, whilst some are slow to respond, they do have to respond and you can report them to the TSA if they don't respond.

You could raise the problem with the TSA, and with the local authority, both of whom would generally be interested to here about this.

Finally, and whilst you've already started this, it is in IH and not the populist media, you should consider highlighting the problem to the local media, and perhaps even the national media if they will listen.  Your local paper and probably local news station may well take the story on.  RSL's don't like bad publicity.

Hope some of this helps, but I will check back if you want to post further.

15/08/2010 8:15 am

Thanks for your supportive posts. I have now had contact with Family Mosaic. I received a letter from their Group Operations Director, despite this in the same week they have sent letters demanding final payments for bills that they had previously cancelled and a statement of intent to merge their shared ownership management with the rest of their concerns - this causes me great distress.

I will take your advive and contact LEASE from my reading of the various online pamphlets about the 2002 egislation particularly "Shared ownership issues
Leaseholders with ‘shared ownership’ are not generally able to participate in RTM. Shared ownership means that leaseholders only own a percentage of the equity in their property, with a housing association, or occasionally a private company, owning the remaining share of the equity. However, some shared ownership schemes do allow leaseholders to buy all the remaining equity in their property, which would then make them eligible to participate in RTM. It may still be difficult to achieve the required number of qualifying tenants, though, in blocks with a significant numbers of ‘shared’ – and therefore ineligible – owners: two-thirds must buy all of the equity in their property and at least half of the leaseholders in the block must participate." it would suggest that we should be eligible for RTM if the numbers stack up.

Ben, can you let me know who the solicitor is you worked with?

Many thanks,

Martin

20/08/2010 9:59 am

Hi Martin I glad that things look like on the up but please any meetings ensure one of you take down Minutes of the Meeting.  Do you not have a sinking fund for major repairs.  I am no expert.  Remember the government is winding up TSA - I would ask that a Councillor Board Member is present at the meetings and you write to the Chief Executive of the Local Authority and ensure that aware of the short comings of your Housing Association.

I would also write to the Chair of the Board and ask for a auidence with the Board.  Because if the Board is not made aware how can they ensure that Management and Staff adhere to rules