Question 1

Can We Charge?

Accepted Answer

Q: I am a member of the board of directors of the building management company. We perform all duties ourselves and no director is paid. In times gone by when flats were being sold, we would get requests from solicitors, et al, to confirm amount of maintenance to be paid and if any was owned by the sellers. Gradually the information requests have blossomed until we now get questionnaires which ask for a large amount of information and many copies of documents (see a copy of most recent request). Are we legally required to provide all they ask for? If so what would be an appropriate charge to levy? Stuart Merrison of Bishop and Sewell replies: In general terms there is no obligation on a landlord/management company to provide replies to such enquiries, unless there is specific provision in the lease. I have not seen the lease but the member will be able to check this themselves. In reality a landlord/managing agent often does provide replies but at a nominal cost reflecting the administrative burden often in the region of a few hundred pounds. Managing agents are often in addition subject to industry imposed codes of practice. Statute does impose some requirements regarding disclosure of information to a tenant but this is currently limited primarily to certain issues arising out of service charge demands/consultation and insurance and it is likely that the tenant will therefore have already been provided with that information. Again, in general terms the leaseholder should be able to answer the large bulk of any questions that a potential purchaser may ask, save for example level of anticipated future service charge demands of which the landlord/managing agent may have a better a better understanding. [Submitted June 2016]

Question 2

Can We Charge?

Accepted Answer

Q: I am a member of the board of directors of the building management company. We perform all duties ourselves and no director is paid. In times gone by when flats were being sold, we would get requests from solicitors, et al, to confirm amount of maintenance to be paid and if any was owned by the sellers. Gradually the information requests have blossomed until we now get questionnaires which ask for a large amount of information and many copies of documents (see a copy of most recent request). Are we legally required to provide all they ask for? If so what would be an appropriate charge to levy? Stuart Merrison of Bishop and Sewell replies: In general terms there is no obligation on a landlord/management company to provide replies to such enquiries, unless there is specific provision in the lease. I have not seen the lease but the member will be able to check this themselves. In reality a landlord/managing agent often does provide replies but at a nominal cost reflecting the administrative burden often in the region of a few hundred pounds. Managing agents are often in addition subject to industry imposed codes of practice. Statute does impose some requirements regarding disclosure of information to a tenant but this is currently limited primarily to certain issues arising out of service charge demands/consultation and insurance and it is likely that the tenant will therefore have already been provided with that information. Again, in general terms the leaseholder should be able to answer the large bulk of any questions that a potential purchaser may ask, save for example level of anticipated future service charge demands of which the landlord/managing agent may have a better a better understanding. [Submitted June 2016]

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