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Hi there,
About 3 years ago, my Mother (in her 70's) purchased a new flat. The property is part of an office conversion carried out by a London-based commercial property company. The converted 2 large offices into 7 flats. My mother purchased the flat when it was brand new. Since moving in, all of the residents have had multiple issues with the property management company acting on behalf of the freeholder (they are part of the same company). Shortening a 3 year saga, things came to a head at the end of 2017 when the boiler failed. Looking through the documents provided when the flat was purchased, I could not find any record of the boiler being commissioned so I contacted the Management Company who promptly arranged for the manufacturer to visit and repair the boiler. The manufacturer stated that the boiler had been incorrectly fitted and should never have been commissioned in the state it was in. The Property Management Company sent builders to rip apart the kitchen so that the boiler could be accessed and repaired. For the next 12 months, we fought with the Property Management Company to get the builders to return and repair the damage done to the kitchen. At one point, they sent down the Director of the Company that had originally carried out the renovations who promised to rot it out but then did nothing, Fast forward to the end of 2018 and the boiler failed again. The Property Management Company agreed the boiler needed replacing and initially agreed to do the work at no charge, They then offered my Mum £3,000 to get the work done saying that if the money did not cover the total cost of the work, Mum would have to make up the difference. Mum was not happy with this so they arranged for the boiler to be replaced - a task that took over a month. At then end of the installation, it was agreed that the builders would return and make good all the damaged caused by the work done. However, as they were unable to replace with a like-for-like boiler, additional work is required which the Property Management Company originally sad they would cover but are now refusing to do. My mum received an email from the Property Management Company saying that a Director-level decision had been made that they would do some of the work but not all of it. The letter stated that any issues needed to be raised by the Director who had made the decision, who I immediately wrote to, inviting him to meet me at the flat and discussed. I got no response so I wrote again 10 days later and again 10 days after that (with a copy to the company MD). I wrote a third time requesting a reponse by April 30th. So far still nothing.
We have a mountain of correspondence relating to various issue with the building and the management of the property. My Mum pays a substantial service and maintenance charge but, despite repeated requests for information on ho this leaseholder money s spent, we get no response. For instance, included in the service charge is a portion of funding to pay for a cleaning Company to visit weakly and clean the common areas - but they have never been. A company is supposed ti visit quarterly to clear the gutters - but they have never been. Currently only 4 out of 7 flats have their own water supply as the builders who did the conversion made such a mess of the pipework that - according to the Property Management Company - they are unable to identify how the water enters the flats on the top floor and therefore unable to connect them to water metres. This is an issue as Mum's shower has broken but in order for it to be repaired, it means turning off the water supply to 3 flats.
I have copies of multiple requests made to the property management and I also have letters from them where they have agreed to do work - but then the work has never been done.
Twice, the Solicitor that conveyanced the purchase of the flat has written to the Property Management Company on our behalf and been completely ignored. Part of the issue (I believe) is that the Company is London-based and handles many properties (both commercial and residential) around London. Their contractors are all London-based and are unwilling to travel for a couple of hours to do any work on the property.
I now wish to involve a solicitor so that I can get my mum to a point where she can enjoy her retirement in her flat without the ridiculous levels of stress that have been caused her over the last few years - but I really do not know where to start.
So any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Lasher
About 3 years ago, my Mother (in her 70's) purchased a new flat. The property is part of an office conversion carried out by a London-based commercial property company. The converted 2 large offices into 7 flats. My mother purchased the flat when it was brand new. Since moving in, all of the residents have had multiple issues with the property management company acting on behalf of the freeholder (they are part of the same company). Shortening a 3 year saga, things came to a head at the end of 2017 when the boiler failed. Looking through the documents provided when the flat was purchased, I could not find any record of the boiler being commissioned so I contacted the Management Company who promptly arranged for the manufacturer to visit and repair the boiler. The manufacturer stated that the boiler had been incorrectly fitted and should never have been commissioned in the state it was in. The Property Management Company sent builders to rip apart the kitchen so that the boiler could be accessed and repaired. For the next 12 months, we fought with the Property Management Company to get the builders to return and repair the damage done to the kitchen. At one point, they sent down the Director of the Company that had originally carried out the renovations who promised to rot it out but then did nothing, Fast forward to the end of 2018 and the boiler failed again. The Property Management Company agreed the boiler needed replacing and initially agreed to do the work at no charge, They then offered my Mum £3,000 to get the work done saying that if the money did not cover the total cost of the work, Mum would have to make up the difference. Mum was not happy with this so they arranged for the boiler to be replaced - a task that took over a month. At then end of the installation, it was agreed that the builders would return and make good all the damaged caused by the work done. However, as they were unable to replace with a like-for-like boiler, additional work is required which the Property Management Company originally sad they would cover but are now refusing to do. My mum received an email from the Property Management Company saying that a Director-level decision had been made that they would do some of the work but not all of it. The letter stated that any issues needed to be raised by the Director who had made the decision, who I immediately wrote to, inviting him to meet me at the flat and discussed. I got no response so I wrote again 10 days later and again 10 days after that (with a copy to the company MD). I wrote a third time requesting a reponse by April 30th. So far still nothing.
We have a mountain of correspondence relating to various issue with the building and the management of the property. My Mum pays a substantial service and maintenance charge but, despite repeated requests for information on ho this leaseholder money s spent, we get no response. For instance, included in the service charge is a portion of funding to pay for a cleaning Company to visit weakly and clean the common areas - but they have never been. A company is supposed ti visit quarterly to clear the gutters - but they have never been. Currently only 4 out of 7 flats have their own water supply as the builders who did the conversion made such a mess of the pipework that - according to the Property Management Company - they are unable to identify how the water enters the flats on the top floor and therefore unable to connect them to water metres. This is an issue as Mum's shower has broken but in order for it to be repaired, it means turning off the water supply to 3 flats.
I have copies of multiple requests made to the property management and I also have letters from them where they have agreed to do work - but then the work has never been done.
Twice, the Solicitor that conveyanced the purchase of the flat has written to the Property Management Company on our behalf and been completely ignored. Part of the issue (I believe) is that the Company is London-based and handles many properties (both commercial and residential) around London. Their contractors are all London-based and are unwilling to travel for a couple of hours to do any work on the property.
I now wish to involve a solicitor so that I can get my mum to a point where she can enjoy her retirement in her flat without the ridiculous levels of stress that have been caused her over the last few years - but I really do not know where to start.
So any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Lasher
