Belgarum Property Management, Winchester This company is very good at taking their management fee, that is where it ends.I would encourage any leaseholders that are using them to ensure they obtain a copy of the invoices and bank statements each year that relate to your building (word it correctly and they must legally provide this). They like to use "their trusted contractors". You will soon discover that means you will be paying substantially more for every service you have. Thankfully we have now obtained the Right To Manage our building. As soon as we began performing checks several major issues were discovered, which were corrected immediately. A riser pipe, facing the wrong way, meaning it could not be used if needed during a fire. An Automatic Opening Vent, which was completely stuck shut, and had clearly been that way for many years. Lightning conductors, not tested for years, which are meant to be tested every 11 months. Signs for evacuation routes and floor numbers, never fitted, despite being advised by the fire service to do so. The list of issues was endless, the Right To Manage Directors have worked hard to correct the problems they were presented with. Many of the issues above are meant to have been checked/tested yearly, at least we paid for them to be! Your building insurance and electricity will be through BPM's broker, that broker will likely be giving a "thank you" to them for using their services, it equates to approximately 15% of the total, for us that ran into thousands. They will tell you that all management companies do this, that is not true. If you manage yourself, that 15% would come off of the total cost of your insurance, it is worth getting an R.T.M just for that reason alone. There are also management companies out there that do not take any payments from their brokers. Site visits, we rarely had one, and very few leaseholders in the building would know or recognise who was our property manager. If you make a complaint, you will be told that you are the only one. My advice, talk to your neighbours, you will soon find that is not true. If work is not completed as you expected, photograph it, ensure it is time-dated. BPM will tell you they are a member of A.R.M.A, and that they follow all of their rules. They do not, and there is no way of making a complaint to A.R.M.A regarding one of their members, all of which pay a membership fee depending on how many properties they have. We have a management company assisting the R.T.M, they are a refreshing change and very helpful. We get bank statements monthly, invoices are not paid unless work is complete and it is verified as completed by the R.T.M. As a group of leaseholders we have saved thousands of pounds between us. Also, bare in mind, not everything is the responsibility of the leaseholder to pay for. Look at your invoices, and ensure that you are not paying for what your Freeholder is obligated to. Free advice is available from Leasehold Advisory Service...., available on the website as well as phone or email.
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