'Fighting my management company took over my life'

A leaseholder who said fighting a property management company took over his life will soon be in charge of running his block of flats.

Matthew Wheeler moved into his flat in Basingstoke two years ago, and since then he said he has spoken with 180 leaseholders living in homes run by RMG.

The 26-year-old said documenting his fellow leaseholders' experiences left him with sleepless nights, wondering how people were surviving.

RMG said its service charges - the cost they charge leaseholders to maintain the shared areas - are audited by an external company to ensure they are correct.

Leasehold flats are subject to what some MPs have described as outdated, feudal laws around ownership.

Leaseholders do not just have their mortgages to pay, they also owe money to the person who owns the land, and to the property manager - in this case, RMG.

Mr Wheeler said the most common complaints he has received about the company are that it often fails to respond to complaints in a timely manner, and that leaseholders were worried they could be overcharged.

He said that was because he and his fellow leaseholders never received a breakdown of costs from the company.

"Every flat in this block pays £2,700 a year in service charges," he said.

When asked where he thinks that money is going, he responds: "Your guess is as good as mine."

Another leaseholder from a different building the BBC spoke to shared a financial report from RMG that showed charges of almost £1,000 in total for replacing five lightbulbs.

RMG said "bulb replacement" was not an accurate description of the work, as an accredited electrician was required to attend the site to check electric systems due to faulty lights.

The company also said while it does not provide invoices for specific works routinely, it would make them available to any resident upon request.

Me Wheeler took the BBC on a tour of the building to show the issues that he said are due to RMG's neglect.

In his neighbour's flat, we were shown a ceiling that was rotting due to water damage.

Matthew and his neighbour claim this was the result of RMG's building works around the balconies.

The company said a surveyor refuted this and that the leak pre-dated the balcony works.

It added: "RMG recently resigned the management of this building, as the developer and freehold was not allowing us to engage fully with issues which required attention, and this seriously impacted our ability to manage this building."

Leaseholders have the right to take over management of their block of flats by invoking a legal right known as right-to-manage.

The residents set up a company, and appoint a director to manage the day-to-day running of the building - in this case, Mr Wheeler.

To do that, at least two-thirds of the flats in the building must be leaseholds, and half of the flats in the building must agree to right-to-manage.

A software engineer in his day job, Mr Wheeler has developed an intranet for the building that allows residents to vote on which contractors to use, discuss the future of the building, and generally help it run smoothly.

He said he had encouraged anyone thinking of managing their own building to take the leap.

"We've got people in this building who all have their own sets of skills," he said.

"So I don't have to think 'I have this entire building to run'.

"I can do this internal communications bit, but there's someone in this building who is better at keeping track of finances."

Although, moving to this system does come with its own challenges.

Still, Matthew believes it's worth the work: "Really the question is - how can it get worse?"