Millions of people are living in leasehold properties today, and most will have had no realistic alternative because the majority of flats until now are sold on this basis in England and Wales.
As the leasehold sector is managed by your Landlord or a management agent, it’s vital to understand your rights and get to grips with how your block is managed. As a leaseholder, you have the legal right to ask for financial information of how your Service Charges have been calculated and spent, along with any paperwork such as invoices, contracts and receipts. Additionally, any proposed projects costing more than £250 per flat should not move forward without the Landlord or management agent consulting the Leaseholders for their review and approval.
This is called a Section 20 Notice.
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Although there are some competent management agents who are honest, professional and transparent in how they manage your funds, there are many others who are less scrupulous.
However, concerned leaseholders can take back control by applying to manage their own property either with the assistance of a management agent selected by them, or managing it in house by the residents themselves.
The advantage of nominating your own management agent is that they will report directly to you rather than to the Landlord, and the agent will ensure you are up to date with all governmental regulations, including Health and Safety, which is paramount to your residents. They will also assist you in adhering to the terms of your Lease, which keeps your Landlord happy.
This application process is called ‘Right To Manage’.
DIAMOND MANAGING AGENTS
Our name is Diamond Managing Agents Limited, and we currently manage over 40 properties of all types (estates, retirement properties, small and large blocks of flats) but, unlike some of the big management agents, we treat all our residents and their properties as if they are our sole client. We are also fluent in representing you in applying for the Right To Manage your own property, and we are an accredited management agent of the Secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Leasehold and Commonhold reform, which consists of 83 members of Parliament.
Please note that an application for the Right To Manage your property requires professional advice to ensure all the steps of the process are correctly followed, and this can incur high legal costs for your residents. However, unlike other management agents, Diamond Managing Agents absorbs these costs if you nominate us to manage your building.
Below are Case Studies relating to two of our properties each consisting of between 35 – 39 assisted living flats, where the residents were increasingly concerned and frustrated with their management agent’s poor services and lack of transparency in how they spent their Service Charges, as well as the high increases in these charges each year. On behalf of the residents, we applied for the right to manage their building, and now handle the solicitation and selection of contractors which are approved by the residents before work commences.
The residents of both properties feel a huge relief to know that they are now in control of their own destiny and funds, as well as having a professional management agent working with them.
