Epping Close News - June 2002

PROGRESS REPORT

A year ago I wrote in a previous edition of this newsletter:

"There are many things that need to be done over the next year to ensure that the communal areas and buildings of Epping Close are kept in good order and indeed improved; this is important both from the point of view of maintaining the quality of life of the residents but equally importantly preserving and improving the resale value of the individual flats."

Over that year much has been achieved. We have:

• Replaced the 20 year old flooring in the communal areas.
• Replaced the equally old lighting system.
• Redecorated the interior of the communal areas.
• Instituted regular cleaning of the communal areas.

We had hoped that we would also have the exterior decoration done by now. At the end of last year we had accepted a quote from a company to do the exterior decoration this Spring. Unfortunately that company has since withdrawn its quote as a consequence of its scaffolding contractor going out of business, leaving us looking for a replacement. Most of the quotes we got were clearly unaffordable but we have now got an acceptable quote, and are expecting work to start next Monday (15th July).

At the same time, both our gardening contractor and our window cleaner disappeared, and we have not been able to get in touch with them. Thanks to George Abery, we now have a replacement gardener who seems to be doing a very good job. We also have quotes from three window cleaners, and hope to start one of them as soon as the cash flow from the latest service charge billing permits.

FINANCES

In the same newsletter, I wrote:

“Epping Close Management Company has always prided itself on the fact that it has done its job economically,keeping down costs for both its members and for residents by avoiding the use of managing agents whose profit margins inevitably drive up costs. Many agent managed flats in the area have management charges over twice ours.”

This remains as true as it was then. We have sought over the years to keep our charges down, and in most of the last few years offered a significant discount. Over the same period the amount we have had to pay for regular services such as gardening has increased dramatically, as have quotes for redecoration and repairs.

It is becoming apparent that our current charges are not sufficient to meet the ongoing demands on them. Our current reserves are just about sufficient to meet the exterior decorating costs, meaning that we must cover all ongoing expenses from the charges, together with building up sufficient reserves over the next few years to cover the next redecoration cycle and any unexpected repair costs.

Our current/estimated annual outgoings can roughly be stated as follows:

This represents a per-flat expenditure of £460 per year, or £230 per half-year. This compares with a current service charge of £140 per half-year. So I think that it is inevitable that our service changes will be increasing significantly for the half year commencing July. We will be writing to flat owners to inform them of the new charge once this has been set.

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

A year ago, I wrote:

“However this cannot continue without a strong committee with enough members to share out the work without overwhelming anyone. Those of you who have lived in the flats for more than two or three years will remember the problems that built up when the committee was allowed to run down to only two members.”

We are now down to three members, having lost our chairman shortly after the last AGM. To be perfectly honest, our window-cleaning, gardening and decorating problems could have been solved a lot more quickly if there had been more shoulders to share the burden on.

Having only three members also leaves us vulnerable to people leaving the flats or otherwise resigning. The sensible solution to this problem would be to put the management of the flats into professional hands; however any of you who drew their breath over the figures above should know that this would add considerably to the costs.

So if there is any flat owner out there who would like to join the committee, please don’t be shy. We would be delighted to have you on board. Just get in touch with us as described under 'Contacting Us' on the welcome page.

EXTERNAL REDECORATION

As I mentioned above, we are expecting our painter to start work on the exterior decoration on Monday 15th July. The work will involve stripping down and repainting the outside parts of all the communal windows, and the same for all those flats which still retain their original wooden windows.

If you are the resident of a flat with wooden windows, you will need to leave your windows open at certain times so that the painter can do a satisfactory job. The exact dates and times will vary from flat to flat, and we will be providing the painter with notes which he can use to make you aware of when he will be working on your flat.

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