Q: Our current block insurance contains an “unoccupancy” clause. Coverage is conditional on no flats being unoccupied for more than 30 days unless the insurer agrees in writing to cover excess unoccupancy. In practice, individual residents can be absent from their flats for longer periods. Is FPRA aware of any block policies which accept longer […]
Q: We have an established and RTM Co and we are in charge of all the maintenance of the building. Several months ago the freeholder, who still owns 4 out of 12 flats in our small mansion block, started on a complete refurbishment of one of his flats. We were invited (NB only after all […]
Q: We have a Health & Safety Assessment dated 4/12/2015 and an Asbestos Survey Report dated 27/10/2016. We also have an ‘Electrical installation work certificate of compliance’ dated 22/3/2012 concerning installing power to our garage blocks. Bearing in mind that we are a two-story block with no common internal areas 1 . Are there […]
Q: We as the RTM for our flats have, for a number of years, arranged buildings insurance cover on behalf of the freeholder. There does seem to be an anomaly however: the policy which we took over a few years ago contains cover for the freeholder’s loss of rental income (from the four flats out […]
Q: My wife and I are freeholders of a block of nine flats of which we have sold four flats to long leaseholders and rented out the other four flats. I wanted to have a Deed of Variation to allow the long leaseholders to sublet their flats without the restriction of only being allowed to […]
Q: As business managers to our company we have been asked to contact you regarding a matter that has arisen in connection with the terms for charging the service charge. The master lease (attached) says in Schedule 4 that service charge should be calculated by reference to the previous year’s cost and balanced at the […]
Q: I am on the board of two large blocks which are five weeks into an 18 week contract to have our roofs replaced. We have employed surveyors to help us with this large project. There was a contingency of £20,000 built into the cost, however, now the scaffolding is completed on the first block, […]
Q: We were built in 1996 and according to plans the flats are compartmentalised. We’re checking safety, and are wondering about the “stay put” recommendation found in all the guides from Government and ARMA. It feels intuitively right for tall blocks (even after Grenfell) but wrong for our three/four stories with five separate staircases. […]
Q: If within a 12 month period, as a result of collecting extra monies from the leaseholders specifically for the replacement of two large water tanks, our income rises above the £85,000 threshold, will the company become VATable? A: FPRA Hon Consultant Gordon Whelan replies Service charges raised for the upkeep of the common […]
Q: Our development comprises two types of properties: one section is made up of flats for which all the residents pay rent to a housing association (our landlord); the other section is a block of flats which are sold leasehold on the open market. Both sections are for the “over 60’s”. Our Board of Directors […]
