Dear Flat Owner
Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be held at Paddington Sports Club, Castellain Road on Monday 27th June at 7pm. We will present the accounts for the year ending September 2015 but the most important item for discussion is the lease extensions.
Accounts 2014/15
You’ll find a copy attached with this note along with some brief notes. I’d like to thank Nick Parker who has worked with kfh and the auditor to put these together. Our finances are in good shape.
Lease extensions
The leases on our flats are getting shorter. It’s not yet an urgent issue as it’s only when they drop below 80 years that things start getting tricky but we feel that now is a good time to address the issue. We also see this as an opportunity to tidy up the governance of Ashworth Mansions and to modernise the lease documents themselves.
Over the last 12 months, we’ve formed a sub-committee led by Renee Marais and taken advice from our solicitors, Teacher Sterne. We’ll be writing to you in more detail before the AGM. The broad outline of our plan is to offer shareholders an improved lease with a long extension, for the lowest amount that covers our costs including any potential tax liability for the company. Non-shareholders will need to purchase a share to take advantage of this offer.
We’ll present our plans at the AGM after which we’ll be open for consultation before putting the final proposal to an extraordinary meeting of shareholders later in the year. Nothing we’re proposing will affect your legal rights as leaseholders to compulsorily renew your existing lease at the market price.
Please read and comment on the documents we will be circulating and come the AGM for a discussion. We’ve invited our solicitors along to answer questions too.
Open Gardens
Ashworth Mansions has been invited to participate in London Open Garden Squares weekend. We’re proud of the garden and are delighted to have been selected. The garden will be open to the public on Sunday 19 June from 10am until 4pm. People can’t just wander in. They need to buy a ticket, costing £12, which is valid for all the gardens across London.
If you’re willing to help out on the day, either on the gate or by showing people around, please get in touch.
Garden Party
The annual garden party will be on 2 July so please put the date in your diary. Thanks to Pamela and Peter once again for organising.
Link bridges
This year has been very quiet regarding building work. In part, we are taking a rest following the four year rolling refurbishment, but we’ve also been bogged down in negotiations with the utilities regarding the link bridges. These are the walkways that connect the front doors of each stairwell with the pavements and are generally in a very poor state of repair. This isn’t obvious from the top but underneath we’ve had to install a number of props. It’s not straightforward to repair the link bridges because the electricity runs through them and UK Power Networks is not the most responsive organisations. Again, we’ll be back in touch when we have more news and an agreed work schedule.
Sub-letting
We’d like to remind you that flats can only be used as single-family dwellings and the tenants are not permitted to sub-let. Also, short-term lets such as Airbnb are not acceptable.
Garden rules
Now the good weather is upon us, I’d like to draw your attention to the garden rules. You should already have received these but they’re also on the website. I’d also like to remind you that sound travels a long way around the block. You may think you’re having a romantic dinner but, trust me, everyone can hear your conversation.
Looking forward to seeing you at the AGM,
Yours truly
Geoffrey Barraclough
Chair, Ashworth Mansions Ltd
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