Overview

Flat owners frequently find it productive to form a residents committee within the building to represent their interests.  Residents committees come in many forms and are sometimes also known in the building as residents’ associations, right to manage companies, and resident management companies.

In this section, you will learn all about what a resident committee is, how to go about forming a residents committee and running it effectively as well as the legal liabilities of the people running the committee.  If you have more questions, require further clarification, or want to suggest an article don’t forget to contact us, comment on an article or leave a comment in our forum.

Cleaning in blocks of flats

Resident expectations from an ideal cleaning company in a less than ideal world.

Is your residents association formally recognised?

In the series of plain-English legal articles, Yashmin Mistry, Solicitor in the Leasehold Enfranchisement Department of Brethertons LLP continues to discuss Residents Associations.  

SETTING UP A Residents’ committee

Getting a group of leaseholders together to help things run smoothly in your building is advisable. Yashmin Mistry, solicitor in the leasehold enfranchisement department of Brethertons LLP, highlights the legal need-to-knows What is a Residents’ Association?A tenants’ or residents’ association is a group of leaseholders who have been granted leases from the same Landlord on similar terms and which leases include provisions for the payment of variable service charges.To be effective, a residents’ association should be formally recognised.

The Woes of Being a Director

Within the Oxford Concise English Dictionary there are many meanings of the word ‘woe’.  Examples being: bitter grief, distress, calamities, troubles, problems, (told me a tale of woe), woe betide there will be unfortunate consequences. 

We need volunteer directors - but

... the Government is scaring them off. By Jane Barry

Q: I’ve been asked to become a Director of the residents management company for my block, but I’m not sure what the implications of this are. Can you help?

Practical banking issues facing the self-manager

One of the most immediate concerns of a residents’ board when a block goes self-managed is to keep leaseholders’ money safe. The second is to invest it prudently. By James Thomson

Payment where payment is due

Property managers frequently complain that they would be able to manage their properties far more efficiently if only lessees would pay their service charges on time. Getting lessees to pay what is due is for some property managers a full time job, leaving little time to spend actually doing what they do best (i.e. manage properties). By Shaun Jardine

Do you need a tenants association?

A Tenant’s Association is a group of flat owners who have flats either on lease or tenancy from the same Landlord on similar terms which make provision for the payment of service charges.

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Has Health and Safety in flats gone mad?

4site consulting explains the importance of health and safety. It is not surprising that we question the sanity of Health & Safety when it seems to impinge on activities we all enjoy by enforcing what appears to be unreasonable and bureaucratic restrictions.

The Danger of Lease Extensions outside the act

Although tempting for some, Jo Rengger  highlights the risks parties take. Negotiating an 'arms length' lease outside the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (the "Act") might initially appear a cheaper, quicker option but there are potential pitfalls. Parties ultimately have to make a pragmatic decision on global costs but should always consider the following:

Departure from Sportelli as Deferment Rates hiked

A landmark Tribunal decision about a Birmingham block. Just as we thought it was safe that deferment rates were fixed, a coach and horses has come crashing through the door. The story so far: in Sportelli the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) set the rates at 5% for flats and 4.75% for houses.

NOTB Podcast with Siobhan McGrath, Leasehold Valuation Tribunal

In this podcast Nicolas Shulman meets with Siobhan McGrath, Senior President of the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal

The recent Hosebay Case

The recent case of Hosebay Limited v Hugo Benjamin Day and Lady Hilary Maureen Greenslade Day (2009) is the latest judicial offering on the thorny issue of what constitutes house under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (the Act).

Abandoning the communal heating system

Communal heating systems are very common within older blocks and it is inevitable that at some point the Residents Association will consider abandoning the system in favour of installing independent boilers and heating systems to each flat.Whilst the idea of each resident having their own heating system is desirable for all sorts of reasons, making it happen is not as straight forward as you would imagine, so in order to save you time and money on consultants and surveys let us first look at the practical issues.

One Park West in Liverpool

Over the past 10 years it has become a cliché for residential developers to hire famous architects. And in Liverpool Grosvenor didn't spare a penny by hiring international architect Cesar Pelli (famous for the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur) to design their landmark city centre block, One Park West.

Peverel OM Relaunch

Leading national property management company Peverel OM has relaunched as OM Property Management. Andrew Billson, Managing Director of Operations at OM Property Management, comments:

Leader of the Pack - NOTB Interview with Melissa Briggs of CARLEX

As membership of pressure group CARLEX swells, News on the Block interviews co-founder Melissa Briggs, about the Campaign for the Abolishment of Retirement Leasehold Exploitation.

How to keep your block rodent free

Dr. David channon explains why winter is the busiest period for rodent control. As we all shiver and long for the warmth of our comfy houses whilst commuting to work in the freezing weather, rodents share our sentiments and are also looking for cosy hideouts during the cold snaps.