VFM Property Management Agents Re-Register Leasehold Property Management Company

Sept. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- At the beginning of the year, VFM Property Management was appointed by a group of the leaseholders at the property in Greater London who realised they needed professional guidance and assistance.  The freehold comprised  thirty six leasehold flats and the scale of the development meant it was important to seek an immediate remedy by taking prompt and decisive action.

Following an earlier Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) decision it had recently become clear that the freeholder's attempts to take over the management duties described in the property lease, were not valid. They had been trying to have the lease altered in order to give themselves authority for management.  Indeed they had already appointed their own managing agents who were collecting service charges and performing management duties in advance of any change to the lease.

In the LVT hearing which considered this matter, the LVT came to the decision that the only organisation which was entitled to carry out the management function at the property, was the leasehold management company which was named in the lease. It was also held that the existing managing agent, which had been providing management services on behalf of the freeholder had no right to do so and had no right to collect service charges from the leaseholders.

The significance of the LVT decision and the resultant difficulties faced were exacerbated by the fact that the named, leasehold management company referred to in the lease was no longer in operation.  For reasons unknown to all of those lessees now involved, the company had been voluntarily wound up by the previous directors who no longer hold any interest in the property.

Perhaps unsurprisingly none of the existing leaseholders had any experience of dealing with such an unusual scenario and after much searching they eventually found a property consultant in VFM, who had the necessary expertise to help. http://www.vfmproperty.com/services.html

After some considerable discussions over the options open to them, which included setting up a right to manage, or RTM company, VFM Property Management was
eventually appointed to act for the leaseholders. It was charged with commencing and completing the legal process necessary to restore the leasehold management company  to the Companies House register as soon as possible.

Of course funds would be required for this purpose and it was apparent from the outset that all of the parties involved would need to work together and trust one another if their game plan was to succeed. The difficulty in collecting finances was that the company which would otherwise have authorised the contributions to be collected was still not a legal entity and did not exist.

It is a great credit to all of those involved that the monies requested by VFM from the leaseholders were largely all paid up in good time despite the questions and objections that could have been raised.  With the current and increasing trend towards buy to let it was inevitable that VFM might struggle to locate all of the leaseholders. Despite this and the constraints of data protection the majority of leaseholders were quickly found and included in the process.

The funds collected also included additional contributions which formed a second payment demand. These monies subsequently allowed VFM to place buildings insurance and to carry out emergency repairs during the company restoration phase.

Placing the buildings insurance alone posed specific problems. The collective group of leaseholders, in the absence of their management company entity, had to fight hard to convince the insurers that they had an insurable interest in the property. Without proving that they held an interest, they would have been unable to claim on any insurance policy and would therefore have been prohibited from placing a policy at all.

The media has given London block management services a fair degree of criticism in recent times and it is encouraging that VFM's efforts were well received. The goodwill extended in this case might well be explained by the fact that VFM are Chartered Surveyors, Regulated by RICS.

This regulation requires that Client Monies are held in a designated, secure client bank account under the very stringent RICS requirements. The protection guaranteed by VFM through the RICS is important as it would have given security and peace of mind to all involved. Regulation and its benefits were no doubt  reinforced by the strong mutual trust built up between the parties during the early stages of the process.

Further details of the RICS, Client Monies regulations can be seen on VFM's website www.vfmproperty.com by clicking on the link below.

The vast majority of the leaseholders, which included two housing associations owning multiple flats in the development, were fully supportive of the strategy adopted by VFM and the interim leaseholder steering group. Without the very kind co-operation and strong relationships formed between all those concerned there is little doubt that VFM would have been unable to achieve its goal.

VFM is delighted that this London leasehold property management company
is now free to recommence its leasehold management responsibilities. VFM remains a client and is now advising the property management company on the best way forward.

To find out more about VFM property management agents or the benefits of their block management London services simply give them a call on 020 8658 6824 or visit their web site http://www.vfmproperty.com/