Property management failures lead to a two-year dispute

This case concerns a prolonged dispute between a residents’ management company (the complainant) and the agent responsible for managing their apartment building during 2022-2023. Although the business relationship ended in January 2023, many issues continued well into the following year due to delays, missing records and unanswered questions about how the building had been managed.

The complainant raised concerns about several core areas of performance, including ground rent handling, the reserve fund budget, mould removal costs, the handover of management information, payments for undelivered services and poor complaint handling.

The investigation

The Ombudsman upheld several significant concerns. A key issue involved ground rent: although the agent’s internal log suggested payments had been made, the developer confirmed that rent for 2021 and 2022 was still outstanding, leaving the complainant to resolve the matter.

The reserve fund budget also caused major difficulty. In April 2022, the agent increased the reserve fund demand by 1300% without director approval. Despite repeated challenges from the complainant, the issue remained unresolved for nearly a year before the agent said it would need to be dealt with by the new managing agent.

While some disputes, such as the insurance claim and mould removal cost, could not be supported due to insufficient evidence, the handover of management information was found to be seriously delayed. The 2021 accounts, due in October 2021, were not completed until early 2023, and discrepancies in the 2022 accounts took six months to resolve.

Additional inconvenience arose from payments for gutter clearance, window cleaning and fire safety services that were not properly accounted for. Several formal complaints also went unanswered.

Outcome

The Ombudsman awarded £1,660 in compensation to reflect the financial loss and significant inconvenience experienced over the two‑year period.