Services to Property Owners within Remus Managed Estates

We are responsible for the maintenance of the main structure of the building, e.g. roof and external walls, and also the general upkeep of the estate.

Certain parts of your property can be shared by all the Leaseholders (i.e. halls, stairways, gardens etc.) and obviously someone has to be responsible for the proper upkeep of these areas. Under the terms of your lease these functions are the duty of the freeholder/management company, who has appointed Remus to act on its behalf. The costs of such repairs and maintenance are recovered from the individual Leaseholders in the proportions detailed in your lease.

Our exact duties will vary according to the individual leases and the properties themselves but mainly will consist of:

• Preparing a budget of likely expenditure prior to the beginning of each year so that Lessees have an indication of likely costs
  
• Ensuring that adequate insurance is in place to cover rebuilding costs
  
•  Arranging for repairs and renewals as they fall due
  
• Arranging for the cleaning and lighting of the Common Parts (hallways, staircases, etc.)
  
•  Arranging for gardening of the communal grounds
  
• Arranging for lift maintenance, intercoms (where appropriate)
  
• Arranging for external and internal redecorations as they become due
  
• Appointing and overseeing wardens/managers/caretakers (if applicable)
  

As well as actually organising all the above, we will visit the property from time to time to ensure that work is being carried out satisfactorily and to see if further work is needed.

In addition we will maintain records of all payments and receipts for each property, deal with individual Leaseholders queries, and also liaise with your solicitors when a sale is anticipated.

We are not responsible for the repairs to the interior of your individual property or any design faults in the original construction or conversion.

We allocate to each property an individual Manager who visits on a regular basis, is familiar with the particular property, creates a liaison with Leaseholders and/or Residents Associations and is generally responsible for the day to day activities relating to the upkeep of each property.

We have a Contract Services department who, will see to all the necessary arrangements and procedures in relation to any planned maintenance and other works that require consultation under Landlord & Tenant legislation. We also have Assitant Property Managers who will arrange and co-ordinate minor items of repair to the common areas. Your designated Property Manager will keep a watching brief on your property as a whole, but it is to the Assistant Property Manager that you should report minor repairs that require attention.

Report a fault or repair required

Service Charge Account Information

Service Charge Trust Fund

Monies paid or demanded in respect of Service Charges are held in a Statutory Trust Fund, in accordance with S42. of the Landlord and Tenant Act. The Trustee of the trust fund will be either the Freeholder, a Tenant Management Company that is a party to the lease or a Right To Manage Company. It is usually the Trustee that appoints us to act as their agent.

Payment on Account

Various items of maintenance and repair clearly involve the expenditure of money. Most leases provide for advance payments to be made in order to ensure that we are in funds and able to meet bills as they fall due.

Before the commencement of a new financial year, we will send you an Budget of likely service charge expenditure. It is important to appreciate that, this is only an estimate (often based upon experience in prior years and known items of current expenditure). We are not clairvoyant and we cannot anticipate all cicumstances. We will then invoice you for advance payment on account of this Budget at least 30 days before the advance payment must be made. Please ensure that your payment reaches us by the due date.

Year End Charge

The final figure of service charge expenditure will not be known until after the end of the year and may will always vary (either up or down) from the Budget we have given earlier.

Between 3 and 6 months after the end of each year we will produce a "Service Charge Account" which will summarise all the expenditure incurred in relation to your property for the year in question, including our own fees. Where the expenditure exceeds £300, we will arrange for the Service Charge Account to be inspected by an independent firm of Chartered Accountants who will report on the Account, and whose fees will be charged to the Service Charge Account. Where the Service Charge expenditure is less than £300 we will only have the Account inspected by an independent firm of Chartered Accountants if requested by one or more of the Leaseholders.

The Service Charge Account will be forwarded to each Leaseholder together with a summary detailing advance payments and showing the balance due (if any) in respect of each individual property. Any balance due is payable upon presentation of the Service Charge Account. (Where there is a credit balance this will be carried forward to the next accounting period).

Under the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 any Leaseholder may, upon giving reasonable notice, visit our offices and inspect the books and records relating to the management of his or her property.

Service Charge Bank Accounts

Remus maintains client bank accounts separate from our own business bank account. These client accounts are used to contain all of the Service Charge monies relating to each individual property. All contributions from Leaseholders are paid into this account and all expenditure that is undertaken on behalf of your property is paid from this account.

Deficit Funding

From time to time there may be insufficient monies held for a particular property to meet current expenditure. This may arise for a number of reasons but usually is because unexpected items of expenditure occur, or the lease does not provide for adequate payments in advance. In such circumstances, and at our sole discretion, we may pay such expenditure from our own funds. If we do so we will make an appropriate interest charge at the rate of 4% over Clearing Bank Base Rate on any such funds so advanced.

Interest

Where a cash balance of over £2,000 is held for a property, interest will be may be credited to the account. If interest is credited we will then be required to complete a Trust Tax Return in order for the service charge trust fund to pay the income tax at the applicable rate.

In the 2004/05 tax year Gordon Brown put this rate up to 40%. Following extensive lobbying a concession was introduced in 2005/06 and 2006/07 whereby the first £500, the£1,000 was taxed at only 20%. For the year 2007/08, again following pressure from the industry, a 20% band was created for all Service Charge Trust Fund interest income. Where the value of the interest is less than the cost of preparing the Trust Tax Return (currently about £50), in the interests of saving the Lessees money, no interest will be credited.

Late Payment

Payments in respect of Service Charge Expenditure are due to be paid on the dates specified in your lease. We will invoice you at least 30 days before the payment date. It is important that payments are made promptly otherwise there simply will not be the funds to pay for necessary expenses. We must remind you that we are collecting monies due to the Service Charge Account of your property and as the Agent for the Trustees of that account, it is our duty to ensure that all contributions are collected in full and in a timely manner.

If any payments are late we will send you an overdue statement. If payment is still not received, we will send you a firm reminder, which will incur an administration fee. Some Leaseholders take objection to receiving such a communication and we regret its necessity. However a minority of Leaseholders take a somewhat casual approach to Service Charges and make payment when they feel like it. This is clearly unfair on the vast majority of other Leaseholders who do pay on the due dates. We retain the right to add interest at 4% over Bank of England Base rate or such rate as may be allowed by the Courts on any sums that are more than 14 days overdue.

If we receive no response to our reminder we will have no alternative but to place the debt with our solicitors for collection and seek to recover not only the outstanding sums but also interest and legal costs. Failure to pay Service Charge Accounts could lead to an action for forfeiture of your lease after we have obtained a certificate from the Court or the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal that the Service Charge is reasonable. If You are Going to Have Difficulties Making a Payment on Time, Please Tell Us Promptly. It may be possible to work out a sensible payment regime. However if you do not communicate with us we will pass the papers to our solicitors and you will then become liable for legal costs as well as the amount outstanding.

How We Charge for Our Services

Our Management fees are made up of two elements:

1. Fixed Fees
2. Other Charges

Our Fixed Fee is designed to cover all of the activities that we know will happen every year. The fee is based on Multiplying the number of units in the Building or Estate by our standard charge per unit. The charge per unit in 2008 varies, dependant on the size and location of your building and the types of units within it (houses, flats, commercial units etc.). The total of this fee will be charged to the Service Charge fund and apportioned between the individual service charge payers in accordance with their obligations.

The Fixed element of our fee will cover the following items

• Keeping records of Residents’ and Tenancy details
• Opening and handling Service Charge bank accounts
• Preparing and sending out Service Charge Budgets/Estimates
• Collecting Service Charge contributions from lessees
• Collecting routine Service Charge arrears (where no, or limited, disputes arise)
• Paying regular bills
• Accounting for Service Charges (though not the preparation of the final Service Charge accounts)
• Providing standard information to accountants and / or auditors for the preparation of annual Service Charge and corporate accounts.
• Visiting the property and visually checking the general condition and the standard of the service provision
• Regular visits to supervise scheme staff, if there are any 
• Dealing with necessary repairs, but not major repairs
• Preparing specifications and contracts for minor works and services such as cleaning, gardening, etc. but excluding extensive tendering processes.
• Entering into and managing maintenance contracts (excluding extensive tendering processes).
• Administering buildings and other insurance (as allowed by the FSA), though not claim handling.
• Consultation on management matters.
• Employing and liaising with staff i.e. caretakers, wardens etc. (employees of the Service Charge Fund). Though not dealing with staff disputes, disciplinary actions or payroll matters.
• Routine liaison with Residents Associations or the Directors of Resident Companies (where additional liaison is required additional charges may be made)
• Arranging, organising and attending annual meetings with residents, if required

Leaseholders Right To Buy the Freehold of their Property

The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (as amended by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002) permits a majority of qualifying Lessees acting together to purchase the freehold of their building.

Lessees are required to serve a notice on the Landlord providing certain relevant information and including the price that they are prepared to pay. The Landlord must then serve a counter notice if he disagrees with the offer. The Act provides for the parties to negotiate on the price, but if the parties cannot agree a reference may be made to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine a fair price.

The price will depend principally on the value of the individual flats and the length of time remaining on the leases. Where there is less than 80 years left to run the Landlord will be able to claim for 50% of the marriage value. (Marriage value is the difference in price between the value of the freehold and the aggregate of the value of the interests of the Lessees and the Landlords interest).

The Purchasing Lessees will be required to pay the Landlord's reasonable valuation and legal costs. However, each side will pay their own costs in respect of any appearance before the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.

It is important to ensure that any purchasing group has their finance lined up well in advance. If one pulls out of the proceedings half way through, there will still be a liability to pay the Landlord's costs to date and these could easily run to several thousands of pounds. We recommend that there is a binding agreement between the participants prior to commencement which will protect the parties and identify who will be responsible for any costs.

If you are thinking about purchasing your freehold, we would be happy to provide further advice in relation thereto. Alternatively, if you cannot get a majority together you may wish to give some thought to extending your lease (please see Extending Your Lease)..

Leaseholders Have the Right to Extend the lease on their Property

In addition to allowing a qualifying group of Lessees to purchase their freehold, current legislation permits an individual Leaseholder to apply to their Landlord for a 90 year extension to their existing lease at a peppercorn ground rent. This enables a Lessee to deal with the problem of a declining lease. The price will be based upon similar factors to the purchase of the freehold and once again, if the Parties are unable to agree upon a price, and application may be made to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine same.

The advantage of a Lease Extension is that a lessee can act alone at a time of which is convenient to them, and is not dependant upon getting together with other Lessees in order to purchase the freehold.

It is sometimes possible to negotiate outside the scope of the legislation with a willing landlord to deal with the lease extension at the time of sale. Effectively a price is agreed and the documents drawn up with completion simultaneously with the sale, and the premium for the lease extension is paid out of the sale proceeds. This has the double advantage of being able to market the flat with benefit of the longer lease and not having to fund the premium in advance. Not all Landlords are willing to do this but quite a few will assist in this manner.

If you are considering an extension to your Lease, we would be happy to provide further advice in relation thereto. It sometimes helps to get several other lessees together at the same time to share likely valuation and solicitors cost

Leaseholders Right To Take on the Management of their Property

The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 gives a majority of Lessees the right to take over the management of their block of flats. (There are various exceptions where there is a resident landlord etc).

Essentially it allows Lessees to take over their managment using a special form of company (a Right to Manage Company - RTM) with a prescribed form of Memorandum and Articles of Assication. The RTM Company has the Lessees as its principal shareholders, but the landlord is also able to own a share. The company has a Board of Directors who are elected by the Members/Shareholders of the Company.

The RTM Company is responsible for carrying out all the landlord's obligations under the terms of the respective leases and is also liable to notify the Landlord of any breach of lease terms.

In our opinion RTM needs to be approached with care and may not be suitable for all circumstances. Where leases do not have adequate provisions for payments on account of service charge or where there are several lessees with poor payment records, the Directors of the RTM Company could find themselves having to finance the running costs of the building. This could be substantial if major expenditure is due. It is important to appreciate that the RTM Company will be taking on some very serious obligations of the Landlord. There may be extra costs relating to running the Company and we would advise the Directors to obtain "Directors and Officers Liability Insurance". If a professional Managing Agent is not engaged, the RTM Company should in our opinion also obtain "Professional Indemnity Insurance" to protect against negligence claims.

We will be able to assist Lessees by advising on RTM and exploring the advantages and disadvantages in relation thereto, forming the RTM Company and serving the various Notices on all of the Lessees and the Landlord. We can liaise with the Landlord on the handover of management and the transfer to the RTM Company of any funds held to the credit of the Service Charge Fund.

If you are unhappy with your present management, talk to us and we can discuss whether RTM is likely to be suitable for you.

Services to Freehold Landlords

We recognise that Freehold Landlords, who are frequently commercial investors, require the expertise of a professional managing agent who can relieve them of the burden of day-to-day management and can offer advice on up to date requirements of ever-increasing statutory legislation.

The lease of each block contains covenants for both the Leaseholder and the Freeholder (Landlord). We will ensure that the covenants are complied with, e.g. in respect of sub-letting, preparation and maintenance of service charge accounts, which are held in trust, disputes between leaseholders, the maintenance of the development etc.

We offer our clients freedom from these concerns, allowing them to concentrate on the main core of their businesses. We can provide a service tailored to your particular requirements, including:

• invoice and collect Ground Rents on your behalf
  
• accept notices of registration relating to changes in ownership of individual flats
  
• maintain current property records for each flat
  
• deal with permissions for sub-letting
  
• negotiate sale of freeholds or lease extensions on your behalf
  
• advise on Deeds of Variation, Permissions for Alterations etc
  

Selling a Freehold

We are retained by a number of Freeholder Landlords, who are constantly looking to increase their investment portfolios. Should you own the freehold of a block and be interested in selling, we will be happy to advise and to put you in touch with our clients.

This is a brief description of the service ...

Leaseholders Information Request Form

Freeholders Information Request Form

Services to Tenant Management Companies

Frequently the responsibility for the management and maintenance of an Estate may be with a Management Company, owned by individual Lessees. We recognise the difficulties, pitfalls and responsibilities facing such Tenant Management Companies, both in terms of ever-increasing statutory legislation, problems of cash collection and the regular issues that occur from day-to-day.

We offer our Clients freedom from such concerns, and especially from the worries that come with the responsibility of running a limited company and the duties in relation thereto.

We have the facility of negotiating lower rates for Buildings Insurance, enabling Management Companies to share the benefits of our buying power. We can also arrange for ?Directors and Officers Liability Insurance? to protect the Directors of the Management Company against any claims for negligence. We will meet with the Directors of the Management Company on a regular basis to discuss management matters and advise on:

• the liabilities and responsibilities of directors
  
• the preparation of annual budgets
  
• the collection of service charges
  
• bad debt collection
  
• maintenance of client accounts
  
• minor repairs
  
• cyclical maintenance programmes
  
• annual preparation of Service Charge Accounts
  

In addition we will (if required):

• arrange for the maintenance of the statutory books and records for the Management Company, including the various returns that must be filed at Companies House
  
• attend the Annual Meeting of Shareholders
  
• arrange for the issue of new share certificates when a flat is sold
  
• liaise with Accountants concerning the statutory accounts of the Management Company, the filing of any tax returns, and the payment of any tax due.
  

This is a brief description of the service ...

Feedback and Repair Reporting

Tenants Information Request Form

Service for Developers

We are able to offer a specialised service for Developers of blocks of flats across the whole spectrum of development issues, covering new build to period conversions.

New build or conversion?

We can work with the Developer from the planning stage, to formulate leases and services including:

• Advice on the structure of the leases and the terms contained therein to produce workable leases that will assist in the future management of the development
  
• Ensure that the contents of the lease protect the interests of the freeholder and purchasers of the flats
  
• Preparation of the projected Service Charge expenditure
  
• Drawing up service contracts with sub-contractors such as gardeners and cleaners
  
• Negotiate and implement buildings insurance
  
• Ensure practical issues are considered at the planning stage, such as security systems, the siting of refuse bin areas and the provision of parking and mail boxes etc
  
• Engage caretakers, porters, concierge etc
  
• Formation of a Management Company if one is to be owned by Lessees and issue of Share Certificates as flats are sold
  
• Liaison with Solicitors, Sales Representatives and others to provide relevant information as required
  

If it is Company policy to sell the freehold interest, we can:

1. advise on Ground Rent levels to achieve the maximum return on the sale of the freehold
   
2. introduce the Developer to Companies who purchase Ground Rents
   

Retirement housing

As a member of the Association of Retirement Housing Managers we can advise on all aspects of the management of retirement accommodation including:

• suitable emergency alarm systems
  
• age restrictions on Lessees
  
• the planning of communal areas
  
• the provision of guest rooms
  
• suitable fire compliant furniture for communal areas
  
• the provision of laundry facilities and other services
  
• engaging Wardens/Resident Managers In our experience, good forward planning is vital to ensure rapid sale ability of the units at the best possible price, with the minimum of fuss to the developer.
  

We recommend that we should be contacted at an early stage of the planning of the Development.

Developers Information Request Form