Can you
imagine…
Buying a
leasehold property on a lovely estate for
the over 55s which is run by the community,
for the community – sounds great doesn’t it?
And the
estate is actually owned by all of the
residents since they each have an equal
share in the not for profit company which
owns the land – all good so far…
And the
estate is run by a Committee of residents
who are elected each year by the residents
at their annual general meeting – what a
great, democratic way to organize things!
And the
Committee appoints one of their members as
the Director of the not for profit company,
who has the legal responsibility to ensure
that the estate is run properly for the
benefit of all of the residents – it all
makes such good sense…
All that is
required of residents who buy a property on
this lovely estate is that they pay a
monthly service charge to cover communal
maintenance; things like insurance,
gardening and external repairs – and that
they comply with the terms of the lease,
which includes an additional ‘sinking fund’
charge (a percentage of the value of their
property) which is paid back to the company
when their property is sold on. This money
provides additional funds on top of the
service charge to help with the upkeep of
the estate. This all sounds so logical and
reasonable...
But, can
you imagine…
A community
which elects the same people to the
Committee every year, and a Committee which
appoints the same Director:
-
Of
course these people must be well educated,
decent, honest, caring folks who everyone on
the estate knows will work in the best
interests of all of the residents. I mean,
the reason why they keep getting elected
couldn’t be down to the residents living in
fear, could it? – you know, older people
just wanting to live a quiet life, not
wanting to rock the boat – so they just keep
their heads down and do what’s expected of
them – no surely, it couldn’t be that, I
mean – that would be awful!
A Committee
and Director who refuse to be transparent
about the company accounts - even though
they’re breaking the law by not responding
to repeated requests to inspect the
accounts:
-
Surely
they have nothing to hide, no fraudulent
activities – of course not, I mean that
would be criminal! So the only reason why
they refuse to be transparent must be that
they think it’s better that the residents
don’t know how their money is being spent –
after all, ignorance is bliss when you’re
getting older, right? And of course – who
cares about the law when you’re a law unto
yourself?
A Committee
and Director who contract friends and even
family members to do jobs on the estate,
sometimes for extraordinary fees – all paid
for by the residents:
-
Well,
it’s up to them of course – I mean, the
great thing about being in a position of
power is that you get perks, and if that
means being able to siphon off other
people’s money to your friends and family –
why not?
A Committee
and Director who give preferential treatment
to residents who support them, and who
ostracise, threaten and attempt to bully
anyone who asks questions about how the
estate is run – they even use residents’
money to pay their solicitor to threaten
residents who ask questions with legal
action in order to shut them up:
- Of
course - when you have power – it’s
important to keep it, so you need to keep
your supporters onside, and slap down anyone
who doesn’t toe the line, make an example of
them to show others what happens if you
don’t conform – it’s just basic (very
basic!) human nature isn’t it?
A Committee
and Director who despite their legal
obligation to run the estate for the benefit
of all of the residents – instead run it
like a private fiefdom, lord it over the
residents, and behave like a gang of
schoolyard bullies to anyone who criticizes
or asks questions about their behaviour:
I
guess now you can imagine how it works, so…
