Not long after we moved here we had a visit from a man, Mike, who worked for the housing association. He was condescending and patronising and when Steve mentioned he was thinking of moving one of the kitchen cupboards Mike insisted that this was not allowed. I asked why, since we owned the flat and no response was forthcoming.
Having spoken to other residents it seems that Mike, along with other staff can't grasp the concept that we own our flats. They are used to dealing with tenants and love to instigate many petty rules. Most of which are designed to make the residents lives miserable.
One of our residents, when complaining about a faulty doorstep. (Caused by poor workmanship by a company chosen by the HA) was told to be grateful she wasn't living in the Ukraine!
The resident of the top flat decided to have the shower removed and have a bath fitted instead. This all went ahead successfully until the resident realised that the water tank was not sufficient to fill the bath. At this point our manager was on holiday, the cover manager realised that changes were being made. The resident was informed that she wasn't allowed to change her water tank. The cover manager was so rude to the plumber he downed tools and refused to return. The resident was left for weeks without sufficient hot water to fill her bath.
4 comments:
If you are buying your place, then they can't tell you what to do! I'd call the authorities on them! This is surely illegal?!!
hugs
Donna
Having spent my entire career working in the public sector, I've met a more than a few 'Mikes', small men with big opinions of themselves. Most of them wore brown shoes too, always beware little men wearing brown shoes, they tend to have a Napoleon complex!!!
Although my late Father in Law owned his flat in an Over 55’s Complex, he was not allowed to plumb in a washing machine, apparently because of the noise travelling through the building, vibrations from spinning etc.
This was despite his flat costing in excess of £350,000, and service charges of over £750 per month.
Fortunately, there was a large laundry room in the block, although that was used via a pass card, and any usage was then charged to his monthly service charge account.
Although he owned his flat, there are another 51 flats in the block, and 40 of them are rented, so the owners got a rough deal most of the time, majority rule and all that! X
If the flats are leasehold (and I don't mean rented, but bought on a 999yr or less lease) there could well be conditions attached to changes that affect the structure of the building, such as a new water tank. I would get the legal docs from your solicitors if you don't already have them, but if you pay any sort of site maintenance that would indicate leaseholder control to some extent.
Well reading though this together with the Steve problem, how about selling the flat and moving to a cheaper area. I don't know how attached to Newbury you are, but l do know that it is an expensive place property wise. Moving to another area might mean you can cut ties in more ways than one.l offer this as a suggestion given with good intentions. I live in Cornwall myself,and as an older lady alone, moving from the South East l have found it quite easy to make new friends here. Sandra S.
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