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As you may have seen, we’ve had the tree surgeons in to cutback the volume of foliage in the garden. This is partly to help the trees grow but also to let more sunglight into the garden which the humans will appreciate too.

Last week, the tree surgeons (a different contractor to the gardeners) pruned the Hornbeam as requested but also cut back the Magnolia. We’d asked them to do this in the summer, which is the time you are supposed to prune Magnolias, and specifically asked them not to do it on this visit. We’ll be watching the tree closely to see how it recovers and will seek compensation if necessary.

 

As you know, we are planning to redecorate the Elgin Avenue frontage next Spring. This is the first stage of a four year plan to refurbish the whole estate.

We have consulted with flat owners at the AGM and at another meeting in July. SHW, our surveyors, have drawn up a detailed statement of works and we propose to ask a number of contractors to tender for the work.

Flat owners are welcome to make written observations in relation to the proposed works directly to kfh. This formal consultation period ends on Monday 21st December. Flat owners are invited to propose contractors from whom we could obtain an estimate. Please note that any contractor needs to be able to comply with the project particulars and be able to manage the complete statement of works. These documents are available on the download page.

 

Finance

A professional landlord, owner of four flats, is in arrears. Following letters from our solicitors he has made proposals to clear the debt by the end of the quarter. It was agreed that, should any payment be missed, formal action for recovery would begin.  

Water mains 

The contractor tasked with drawing schematics of each flat to assist with the changeover has returned 33 drawings although a number contain errors. It was agreed that the work fell short of what was necessary to give flat owners the required information to allow them to brief their own contractors.

It was agreed that kfh would revert to Morrish & Co (the original engineers who designed the system) for certain additional information. Then, detailed FAQ’s could be sent to flat owners which would give them the outline of what was entailed.  

Gardens

Tree Surgeons have been instructed to prune the trees according to the requirements of Westminster Council including ensuring that the magnolia tree was attended to by the end of September at the latest.  Unfortunately they have let us down and did not attend but a new date was set for late October to start the rest of the pruning and to remove two of the cherry trees. The Magnolia will be pruned next year.

The garden contractors have been asked to take away the old cuttings and not to leave them on display in the garden.Daron has been asked to keep a closer eye on the gardeners particularly relating to shrub cutting to ensure that shrubs don’t become too overgrown.

A contractor has been asked to remove the old lighting in the garden.   

A sample of the proposed lights for the garden was discussed, and it was agreed to go ahead with the quotation as previously agreed. The board agreed to include power points to be put into the system so that additional lighting or tools could be plugged in at a later date. The new garden lights will be operated on a timer.

General maintenance

Daron has completed painting the main entrance doors.  A quotation to paint the frames is expected shortly.  Tony Bendetti is quoting to paint the white frames.

A light fitting has broken outside of the main entrance door to one of the blocks on Grantully Road.  DB Electrical is trying to source a replacement. 

The water tanks were cleaned and chlorinated in September.

Individual flats

One flat owner has submitted plans to alter the layout of the flat so that a kitchen would be directly above a bedroom in the flat below. The board has a policy of encouraging flat owners to upgrade their properties but knows (often from personal experience) the annoyance caused if hard kitchen flooring is placed above living areas. With regret, permission was therefore refused. 

We have also noticed recently that we have not received Notices of Transfer following sales of some of the flats.  This has come to light in particular with two flats for which we still have not received Notice.  We would like to remind new flat owners to chase their solicitors to ensure that the necessary paperwork is done. Otherwise, there can be significant delay some years later when flat owners wish to sell.

External Refurbishment

SHW, the surveyors engaged to deliver the refurbishment of the estate, attended the meeting to discuss the detail of their specification of work. The first phase of the work will be the Elgin Avenue frontage. 

The surveyors answered a number of detailed questions and it was agreed to increase the penalty for late finishing to £1000 per week. In addition to the works included in the maintenance plan which we circulated earlier this year, it was also agreed to obtain prices to clean down all of the brickwork (not just that which his obviously decayed) and to chemically clean off the all the paintwork on the external window prior to repainting. 

Once the tender is prepared, a section 20 notice will be issued to flat owners which will allow them to nominate contractors. Once tenders have been received, the board will evaluate them with advice from SHW, agree the exact statement of works and choose a contractor. There will be another consultation with flat owners at this point and prior to signing the contract.

We expect to begin the work in the spring of 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will probably have noticed that parts of the lawn are looking a little tired. One reason for this is the lack of sunlight and this will be addressed by pruning some of the larger trees over the winter. The other is that the gardeners have not had machinery sufficiently slender to fit through our narrow entrance gates. Until now. Read on as the gardeners explain:

“At a recent trade show we found a spiking machine that is not very large and heavy that we will definitely be able to get into your garden. It guarantees a depth of spike to 3 inches (when the soil is wet of course) and works in a completely different system of forcing the tines into the ground using a spring loaded entry mechanism rather than relying on the weight of the machine. This should mean that we will be able to spike your lawns with a 3″ hollow tine spike. We will then need to top-dress with a sandy dressing to get the maximum effect and need to do the whole job several times in the first year to really make a difference to deep compaction. This machine called a DECOMPACTAIR is not actually available yet and they do not expect to be selling it until the end of the year (but then your soil won’t be ready to use it on until at least then).

Secondly: We will purchase a medium sized scarifier that can get through your gates. This will take longer to use than our top of the range professional one and not leave the surface looking as good to start with. But it will still get dead grass, moss and thatch out and the grass will grow back. The scarifying will allow the fertiliser and seed to get in as well as the water to better get to where it is needed and the long term results should be a much better lawn.

So with the above in mind I can now say we intend to follow the lawn care plan below in an attempt to get your lawns looking as good as possible:

Terry [one of the gardeners] will be spraying the worst areas with a selective lawn weed-killer in the next week (weather permitting).

He will over seed the barest patches soon after with Barenbrug Bar Stadia seed – which we have had very good results with this year on areas of less light.

We will then spike and top-dress the lawn in winter (providing we can get the new DECOMPACTAIR machine) and when the ground has softened up sufficiently.

We will scarify the lawn in late winter.

And then reseed and lightly top-dress (either straight after scarifying or slightly later depending on the weather and timing).

Then fertilise with a slow release fertiliser in about April – again depending on weather etc.

With just a little luck the above will give as good a lawn as it is possible to get and the results should start to be clear in early summer next year. However the full results won’t be apparent for probably another year.

As for costs the only additional costs to the garden in the short term will be for the materials: Grass seed, top-dressing and fertiliser. We will not be charging anything for the two machines purchased primarily to use in your garden as we will be able to use them elsewhere.”

 

Budget

The board discussed the long term maintenance plan put forward by SHW surveyors. The proposals were discussed at length and the directors agreed to proceed with the first phase of the works – the refurbishment of the Elgin Avenue frontage, to commence in Spring 2010.

It was agreed, in principle, to collect the additional funds required over three years (for a four year programme) although on the first year’s budget could be set at this meeting. The proposals were discussed at length, and it was agreed to raise the reserve income for the year to £125,000 and to issue one-off demands for £175,000.

It was agreed to maintain the general service charge budget at the previous year’s level but to increase the central heating budget to cover the expected higher cost of gas. The board thanked Linda Foss of kfh for her efforts in managing the block but declined to fund an increase in managing agents’ fees.

For budget details, please see the Chairman’s letter on the subject.

Arrears

A company owning four flats is in arrears. It was agreed to request the full amount within 7 days and then to pass the matter to solicitors.

Water Mains

BTU has finished surveying the first stage flats where they had access and have returned initial drawing to kfh.

Lauderdale Model

The directors discussed a report outlining the way that general repairs, maintenance and major works were addressed at Lauderdale Mansions. That is, by employing a full time estate manager and directly employed tradesmen. It was agreed to investigate this option further.

Gardens

An application has been made to Westminster Council to cut back some of the trees in the garden to give more sunlight to the lawn.  We have received revised proposals from the Council which are acceptable.

The board is happy with the state of the garden and the current gardening arrangements. Many compliments were received over the summer. It was agreed that the Mulberry tree will be replaced with a Rowan.

Garages

Kfh has asked the owners of the cars that park in front of the garages not to park their vehicles there any longer.  We will now arrange to put notices or posts in place to prevent any further unauthorised parking

Garden Lighting

It was agreed to remove the old lights as they were becoming dangerous. It was further agreed to buy one of the lamps which had been previously suggested to see if members were happy with it. The intention is to reinstate the garden lighting.

Porters Flat

The directors signed the new lease for the porters’ flat. This was much delayed due to changes in the terms demanded by Freshwater.

Individual flats

The owner of one flat has applied to refurbish and alter its layout. One of the proposals is to convert the current bedroom at the front of the property to a kitchen, with the bedroom being located to the rear of the property. It was agreed that permission would NOT be granted if the new kitchen were to be above a living/bedroom in the flat below.

Another flat owner requested permission to remove two of the radiators in the flat. This was given subject to her agreement to pay for the drain down of the system and the subsequent refilling and venting.  Permission was also conditional on Heatserve confirming that the removal of the radiators would not affect the rest of the block.

Maintenance

Daron has touched up the main entrance doors. We have requested quotations to paint the white frames.

Work is underway to repair damp problems in two garden flats.

Unbloc have cleared the drain outside the rear of block 5 and have exposed the manhole cover so that the drain can be accessed in the future.

We have ordered 30 of the new lamps and light fittings for the stairwells and we have asked the electrician to start fitting them.  We will start the fitting in block 5 and once all of the lights in this block are changed we will inspect them again.  If satisfactory we will order the balance so that all of the fittings can be replaced.

It was agreed that Daron should read the electricity meters once a month to ensure that accurate bills are received. This month’s estimated bill for block 5 was exceptionally high and kfh will investigate.

 

The 2008/9 budget hase been set by the directors of Ashworth Mansions Ltd, all of whom own flats in the block.

The most important item is the financing of the proposed four year phased maintenance programme. This will commence next spring with the refurbishment of the Elgin Avenue frontage. We estimate that the full cost of the works will amount to c. £600K beyond that we would normally recoup from the existing level of contributions.

I appreciate that demands for money are never well timed and this one comes at a particularly difficult moment for some. We have done our best to smooth the pain by spreading the works over four years but the simple fact is that we are now at the point where further postponement of maintenance is likely to impact the value of our properties.

Having consulted with flat owners at the AGM and at an additional meeting, we have decided to increase the reserve fund contribution from £116K to £125K and to charge a special contribution of £175K which will be demanded at the same time as the service charges due on the 29th September. Based on current information, we would expect to charge a similar or only slightly higher, amount in the next two financial years. A quick health warning: these figures are based on surveyors’ estimates of the likely cost of works. We won’t know the true cost of the project until we have tendered and found a reputable contractor willing to do the work.

We will be back in touch later in the year, once we are in a position to consult with you on the detailed statement of works and choice of contractor. Aside from the maintenance programme, I am pleased to be able to report that the main service charge account will remain unchanged at £280K. The central heating budget will rise by 6% to £58K as we expect to pay more for gas this year. Of course, the actual expenditure will depend also on the severity of the winter. Finally, we are pleased to report that KFH are now looking at the drawings submitted by BTU following the inspection of the flats whose owners indicated that they wanted to connect to the new water mains this year. They will be writing to those owners shortly setting out the next stage of the project.

Geoffrey Barraclough

Chair, Ashworth Mansions Ltd

In addition to Board members, six residents (who were also lessees) were present.  Five Board members attended and two representatives of Stiles Harold Williams (SHW).  Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (KFH) were not represented (Linda Foss was on holiday).

 

The Board Chair, Geoffrey Barraclough (GB) summarised how we had go to this point, explaining the role of SHW (who would make money out of any contracts placed under their supervision; not KFH).

 

SHW ran through the indicative figures for the ten year maintenance plan, provided to attendees (and published on the website).  SHW stressed that all of the figures were derived from methods in wide us, but were nonetheless necessarily indicative: it would only be possible to know what the works would actually cost when they were actually tendered.

 

Various questions were put by lessees and answered (by SHW and Board members):

 

• How could we be sure that works would be completed properly?  SHW described the snagging, practical completion and retention process.  A Board member pointed out that SHW traded on their reputation and would be anxious to have a good relationship with AML, a typical client;

 

• Would the roofs have to be done again?  No – apart from some relatively minor maintenance, i.e. what was to be expected after five years;

 

• Could the asphalting be delayed?  Yes, but that was not advisable as it would probably cost more later;

 

• Did we have to pay for the work on the boundary walls (the walls holding up e.g. the gardens on the Grantully side nearest to the building)?  Yes we did as AML was the freeholder.  There were two ways of doing this work: one, a thorough maintenance (less expensive and the costing in the plan); the other a more expensive but permanent solution (not in the plan);

 

• Could we not simply remove the trip hazard on approaches to front doors rather than rebuild the link bridges?  No – the link bridges were absorbing water and needed a substantial overhaul otherwise the trip hazard would simply reappear;

 

• What were the advantages of the fire alarm?  The system would be inter-linked within blocks, i.e. if there was a fire in one part of a block then the alarms would go off in another part.  It would be best practice to have such a system (most sensibly installed when we did internal maintenance), but was not mandatory.  One lessee suggested we carried out a poll of lessees and went with the majority view of what was likely to cost c. £900 per flat;

 

• Could we do some more minor maintenance of the common parts?  This led to a discussion of the balance between the routine maintenance budget (from which this sort of work ought to come) and major works: the former should reduce as the latter was carried out properly.  An inconclusive exchange took place between a lessee and a Board member on the value of payments in the previous year or two on routine maintenance.

 

GB summarised the financial position.  A lessee asked if we could delay the programme rather than face c. £7,000 of costs per flat over the next few years, on top of what lessees were currently budgeting to spend.  In essence it was possible, but it seemed now as though further delay would put costs up.

 

The current ten year plan included two cycles of maintenance.  The reality was that we would pause after the first round to see when we had to do it again.  However, we had got into the costly situation we were now in because there had been too long a pause and the reserve fund had been suspended after the last major works: this was something the Board wanted to avoid repeating.

 

GB added that there was a choice between one-off levies and increasing the reserve fund contributions in order to pay for major works.  There were advantages to one-off levies (you only asked for what you needed once you knew what it was; this did not increase the reserve fund contributions, which might affect house prices) and to increasing the reserved fund (easier to collect the monies; smoother payment profile for lessees).  An August meeting of the Board would make a decision – there were other options which were compromises between the two approaches.

 

SHW and GB summarised the likely next steps, i.e. a Board meeting at which a budget could be set, releasing SHW to carry out tendering; lessees would consulted contract by contract in the normal way and as the law required.  Works would start only in the late spring/summer of 2010.

 

GB adjourned the meeting thanking all present for a helpful discussion.

 

Building maintenance

Daron has completed painting the garden gates. The newly painted front doors have  become chipped in places. It was agreed to ask Daron to touch up the front doors as necessary.

Cars are being parked in front of the garages without authorisation. The managing agents were asked to write to the owners requesting that they desist. 

Daron was thanked for his prompt actions during a recent small fire that broke out on one of the balconies. 

A new light fitting for the common parts has been selected. This is more expensive and larger than the existing units but has a three year  guarantee so should prove cheaper in the long term. The existing units are failing regularly. 

The board agreed a quote from a contractor to replace the garden lighting. However, it has not yet agreed the design of the units to be purchased and two directors agreed to revert with alternatives. 

Finance 

The bulk of arrears are accounted for by a property company that owns five flats. It was agreed to insist on prompt payment and to take the necessary steps to enforce the debt if the arrears persisted. 

Garden 

An application has been made to Westminster Council to prune the beech tree by around 30%. This is to increase amount of sunlight in the garden. The council will make a site visit before assessing the application. The Mulberry tree which replaced the dead Cherry has itself died only 18 months after planting. The supplier will visit the garden to see whether it can be replaced. 

Following complaints from residents on the Elgin Avenue side it was agreed to ask the gardeners not to cut the grass so short. This should reduce the volume of weeds. 

Long term maintenance plan 

At the AGM residents asked for the 10 year plan to be circulated with costs, and the Board agreed that they should be circulated for discussion. Following circulation a Flat Owners’s Meeting will be arranged to discuss the proposals. It was also agreed to send a letter to residents to remind them of the garden rules for the summer. 

Water mains 

BTU is proceeding to survey each flat and the managing agent is satisfied with progress to date. The board reviewed and rejected a quotation from a consulting engineer to provide services whilst the changeover is taking place.

Company Business 

Terms have finally been agreed with Freshwater for the renewal of the lease of the porter’s flat. This will be for 6 years, with an upwards only rent review after 3 years, to commence at £18.000 pa. 

Individual flats 

The managing agents have finally received surveyors’ reports for two garden flats with damp problems. Estimates have been requested for remedial work (damp proof courses) and the board agreed that work should proceed as soon as practical. 

Another flat submitted plans for minor alternations which were agreed in principle subject to a structural engineers’ report. 

During the annual drainage service clean, contractors came across a  blockage to the rear of block 5. To clear this, they need access to a manhole which lies underneath some tiling outside a garden flat. A contractor will clear the blockage and to install a new manhole/cover so that it can be readily exposed when necessary in the future.

We’ve commissioned a full survey of the estate from Stiles Harold Williams (SHW), an independent surveyor to help us draw up a long term maintenance plan.

SHW will be presenting their findings and plan at the AGM on 19 May.

In the meantime, you can download the documents here:

Ashworth Mansions Survey 2009 main report

Ashworth Mansions Survey 2009 Photos

We going to hold the annual garden party on 20 June 2009.

If you’re able to help organise either beforehand or on the day, please get in touch party@ashworthmansions.com.