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[Gordon999]

In post #1, OP said : "We are working with the landlord and management company to sort things but "progress is slow" and we are thinking about court tribunal action."

Progress must be slow if the 1st year accounts are outstanding for more than 2 years, compared...

[Gordon999]

A copy of the annual service charge account ( summary of 12 months service charge collected and maintenance expenditure for your block ) should be produced for each year and made available to leaseholders, from 6 months from the end of each year.

For a new building, the maintenance...

[Gordon999]

If leaseholders are quite happy to have one director per flat, the management company should stay with that happy arrangement . .

[Gordon999]

The service charge money collected from leaseholders should be kept in separate bank account controlled by the management company.

Before the start of the service charge year, the management company has to prepare an annual budget of estimated spending for the year and send out demands...

[Gordon999]

Oregano ,

If the company articles ( rules ) requires a director to be a leaseholder in the block, then the lady director should resign.

A new leaseholder of the flat must be nominated as replacement director for the departing director.

[Gordon999]

I think 5 directors for one block of 6 flats is a luxury .

In many blocks of leasehold flats, its difficult to find leaseholders willing to become unpaid Directors....

[Gordon999]

You and your solicitor should look at the terms of the new 150 years lease before you decide to buy.

[Gordon999]

Many older properties were sold on 99 years lease term and small annual ground rent which doubled after every 33 years.

The problem with 99 years leasehold property , the mortgage lenders are reluctant to offer mortgage loan below 70 years terms . The cost to seek lease extension when...

[Gordon999]

Are your windows hinged on the side or slide up and down ? Are you able to get broken window catches by a handyman ?
If the wooden window frames are over 30 years old and in deteriorated condition, you should make written complaint to the management company . Your letter should point out the...

[Gordon999]

The Rent a Room Scheme lets you earn up to a threshold of £7,500 per year tax-free from letting out furnished accommodation in your home. This is halved if you share the income with your partner or someone else. You can let out as much of your home as you want.

So your web design business...

[Gordon999]

For your BTL letting business , you are required to keep proper records of the rental income and expenses for each year and be able to report the figures in your annual income tax return.

The rental income and expenses must be supported by bookkeeping records, suppliers invoices...

[Gordon999]

The failure rate of share traders is over 90%. Less than 10 % of traders in the stockmarket win so the odds are against you winning.

If you are really determined to become a trader , you should buy some books on fundamental and technical analysis before you start.

...

[Gordon999]

It is better for the service charge money to be kept in a separate current account because the bank statement records can be made available for inspection by any leaseholder. The unspent service charge money / funds should not be mixed with a business account belonging to one of the leasehol...

[Gordon999]

This situation is faced by many mortgage borrowers in their early 60s who lose their job and not yet reached age for collecting their pension.

[Gordon999]

This newspaper report may convince your block to stay self managed :

https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...ew-build-flats...

[Gordon999]

I suggest a RICS surveyor ( offering lease extension advice ) can give a " valuation " for a flat before its condition has been improved. You may have to approach 2 or 3 locally based surveyors and before deciding which one to pay for a written valuation.

[Gordon999]

The work ( painting rendering ) was requested by the estate agent and should be charged as a " sale preparation cost " . This cost should be treated as similar to estate agent's commission and advertising cost , and charged against the sale price ....

[Gordon999]

The freeholder can appoint other leaseholders ( including yourself ) to self manage or leaseholders could invite another external company to become managing agent . Its not very difficult for you to learn about self management for a small block .

[Gordon999]

It seems the wikipedia website has FDI to mean buying a controlling interest in another company . It means the response in post 2 is wrong.

[Gordon999]

The guide issued by hmrc says Form 17 is intended for altering the distribution of rental income for "property jointly owned 50:50 " by husband and wife ( which should mean registered in joint names at Land Registry ) . Its difficult to understand how the property can be jointly owned if...