{"id":2459,"date":"2019-03-14T12:52:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T12:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/?page_id=2459"},"modified":"2019-03-14T13:10:54","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T13:10:54","slug":"financial-faq-for-leaseholders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/financial-faq-for-leaseholders\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQ for Leaseholders"},"content":{"rendered":"

FAQ for Leaseholders<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What items in the service charge are out of the Directors control?<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0 \u00a0Estate charge (\u00a383k) \u2013 We have no input into this charge and our Head Lease dictates that all leaseholders have to pay the amount demanded. We have regular \u00a0 \u00a0meetings with Apleona, (their management suite is based between the two car parks St Anns and Sandgate), and we have access to their budgets but there is little chance of gaining any reductions. \u00a0 \u00a0We do have the benefit of 24\/7 security which we know for a fact regularly prevents criminal behaviour in the area and protects the property prices.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0 \u00a0Car parking charges \u2013 these are also set and administered by Apleona and charged through CBRE \u2013 again, we often try to influence the number, but cannot see any chance of gaining significant \u00a0 \u00a0savings.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0 \u00a0Ground rent (\u00a3250\/apartment\/year) \u2013 this is set by the Freeholder, an Irish pension fund that acts purely through CBRE. We have written to the pension fund previously but are very abruptly referred to CBRE.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0 \u00a0Building insurance (\u00a325k) \u2013 again this is set by the Freeholder and is out of our control despite many attempts to gain competitive quotations.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0 \u00a0Every apartment pays a different proportion of the service charge depending on the square footage of their floor space. This is dictated by the lease and this results in significant disparity across the \u00a0 \u00a0building.<\/p>\n

\n

What are the key items of spend in the service charge (using 2019 budget as an example)<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0 \u00a0Sinking fund (\u00a340k) – we feel this is a prudent level given the size, complexity and age of the building. This fund allows us to fund major works without being forced down a major increase in annual budgets. A case in point would be recent works to the roof.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0 \u00a0Concierge wages (\u00a337k) \u2013 we have two concierges who carry out many tasks including day to day issues, all cleaning, decoration, maintenance, etc…. We have had separate contractors in previous \u00a0 \u00a0years but prefer to keep these costs in house providing a higher reactive standard of service.<\/p>\n

Concierge presence is central to maintaining a high quality, prestigious building.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0 \u00a0Legal costs (\u00a325k) \u2013 we are in the process of fighting a significant legal case (the claim is between \u00a31-2m) against Zurich who provided the original building guarantee. The case has been ongoing since \u00a0 \u00a02012 and in overview, involved major breaches in the pipes and water provision at St Ann\u2019s Quay.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0 \u00a0Water, communal electricity, connectivity (\u00a315k) – water and sewerage is metered per apartment so your account is reconciled annually and you only pay for your usage. We installed LED lighting \u00a0 \u00a0several years ago that has reduced the annual communal electricity charge from \u00a324k to \u00a35k annually.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0 \u00a0Health and safety (\u00a315k) – includes an array of legislation including anchor point maintenance, emergency lights, fire risk assessments, fire alarm maintenance, etc….<\/p>\n

All of these issues are tackled and discussed in full at our AGM.<\/p>\n

You will be sent an official invitation with the ability to raise any further issues for discussion at the AGM a month ahead of the meeting. All issues must be raised in advance.<\/p>\n

All the notes from our regular Director meetings are also available to view in the owners section of our websitewww.stannsquaymanagement.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Why are our services charges higher than some of the other apartments nearby ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Ann\u2019s Quay does have a higher level of service charges than some developments in the city. The reasons for that have been discussed above.<\/p>\n

It was always conceived as a prestigious development and as Directors we will always do whatever we can to maintain high standards.<\/p>\n

Service charge information is freely available and will always come up during conveyancing so if you are planning to sell out makes sense to be very clear at the outset.<\/p>\n

\n

Whats covered under the buildings insurance ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have had some questions recently about insurance.<\/p>\n

Building Insurance<\/strong> \u2013 the fabric of the building and the communal areas are insured under the freeholder \u2018s insurance policy \u2013 as per the lease the cost of this policy is paid for by the leaseholders via the service charge.<\/p>\n

However<\/strong> all leaseholders are advised to have cover for their apartments in the form of either:<\/p>\n

a homeowners policy<\/strong>, covering the interior of the apartment\/contents\/personal items and public liability.<\/p>\n

or<\/strong><\/p>\n

for those who rent out, a Landlords Property policy<\/strong>, covering landlords contents, Public Liability and Property Owners liability,\u00a0they should also ensure their tenants a personal effects policy which includes public liability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FAQ for Leaseholders What items in the service charge are out of the Directors control? 1. \u00a0 \u00a0Estate charge (\u00a383k) \u2013 We have no input into this charge and our Head Lease dictates that all leaseholders have to pay the amount demanded. We have regular \u00a0 \u00a0meetings with Apleona, (their management suite is based between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2459","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2459"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2473,"href":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2459\/revisions\/2473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannsquaymanagement.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}