Galleon Place and Ledwell Court (Phase H)
Information updated 16 July 2021
External redecorations of Galleon Place and Ledwell Court started 21 June 2021 and are expected to last approximately 14 weeks.
The Complete Property Group Ltd has been appointed as the principal contractor to do the works (see information on the selection of the contractor below). They wrote to Galleon and Ledwell residents on 1st July 2021 to introduce themselves and to provide contact details for any queries:
CPG Project Manager: Leon Barnett
CPG Project Administrator: Sarah Phillips
Office tel: 02393870220
e-mail: info@thecompletepropertygroup.com
You can download a PDF copy of the CPG letter of introduction here:
External cleaning of the buildings - and residential external spaces (balconies & gardens)
External cleaning of the building started Tues 6th July and is expected to continue for 4-6 weeks. The cleaning contractors will be cleaning the brickwork, washing down the grey zinc cladding, the exterior of the Juliet steel balconies. They will also be cleaning and restoring wooden cladded panels on window areas and above the central entrance doors.
Residents have been asked to clear balconies and gardens of personal effects while the external cleaning works are being done. They have also been asked to keep their windows closed when leaving home and while the cleaning is being done close to their apartments.
You can download a PDF copy of the 1st July 2021letter from CPG about the cleaning works here:
Scaffolding and your Contents Insurance:
If you are due to have scaffolding erected outside your property, it might be advisable to consult the terms and conditions of your contents insurance in case you need to tell your insurer about the scaffolding.
Any questions about the redecoration works should be directed in the first instance to Toby Felton at RMG via the MajorWorks@rmguk.com e-mail address.
Information about the Notification & Consultation Process and Finances
Copies of the various formal (Section 20) Notices from RMG have been sent to leaseholders and can be downloaded from the links below.
Financials
The covering letter with the Statement of Estimates informed leaseholders that there were insufficient funds in the Phase H Reserves to cover the works and that there would be an call for additional funds.
Taking the lowest estimate, the total project cost across the two blocks is estimated at £145,126 (excluding professional fees and VAT on those fees). Galleon Place accounts for the larger share as the bigger of the two buildings (£88,365). Ledwell Court's share of the cost is estimated to be £56,762.
Some of the cost will be covered by the Reserve Funds for each building. This is money which is collected each year through the Service Charge and set aside into the Reserves to help smooth over major expenditures like this when they occur. Some buildings at RCY have stronger Reserve Funds than others, while others are not in such good shape. This may be due to recent major expenditures (some unplanned - see below for a narrative about Galleon Place) which have drawn on the Reserves but where there has not been enough time to replenish them fully through the annual Service Charge. When this happens, the landlord (via its Managing Agent) has to issue an additional demand for funds to cover the gap.
Consultation deadline
Following the "Statement of Estimates", leaseholders had until 9 June 2021 in which they could make "observations" regarding the works or estimates.
For more information about the formal process, consultation and leaseholder rights relating to "Section 20" Major Works, please visit the Leasehold Advisory Service website.
Which buildings are included in the External Redecoration Works?
A copy of the Tender Report, which covers all the detail of what is included in the works, which companies tendered and how their estimates were assessed is available to Galleon Place and Ledwell Court leaseholders from Toby Felton (Property Manager, RMG) on request.
The project is being supervised by Trevaskis Consulting.
Before the Works Start:
RMG has written to leaseholders to ask them to ensure that their contact details are up to date with RMG so that the contractors can arrange access when required. You can download a copy of the letter from the link below.
Background Information from the Galleon Place Block Rep on the RCMRA Committee
The Galleon Place & Ledwell Court blocks were completed in 2005. According to the lease, the externals of each building should be redecorated about every 5 years. If the work does not need doing then the interval may be greater. However, by 2013 no external redecoration (or redecs) had taken place since the original build. There had also been a number of changes of managing agents which meant an inconsistent approach to a whole range of issues.
The managing agents are appointed by the freeholder, Berkeley Homes. In 2016, the then Managing agent, HMLA, completed the first redec of Galleon – 6 years late. The specification was poor, as was the project management, which was handled by surveyors, Shaw & Co, a subsidiary of HMLA.
Although leaseholders and the Residents Association complained, nothing was done to correct the issues and short of taking legal action, an extremely costly exercise, there was little which could be done. Berkeley Homes eventually terminated HMLA's contract and appointed RMG as their new Managing Agents in 2017.
The issue of the failures of the 2016 redecs was raised with RMG . They appointed independent surveyors, Trevaskis, who undertook a full survey and identified a number of issues which need addressing to protect the fabric of the building, including some apartments with water ingress, together with tasks which should have been dealt with previously.
Unfortunately, by this time, Galleon’s Reserves had been eroded by major expenses on lifts and water meters amongst other items, such as internal redecorations. There was not enough money in the Reserve to pay for the entire cost of the 2021 external redecoration, and leave a balance in the reserves to cover future contingencies until the fund can be built up again. This resulted in a call for an additional contribution from leaseholders to cover the shortfall. The unexpected extra demand was a most unpleasant surprise for leaseholders, but by tackling this matter now the intention is to avoid even bigger costs in the future.
The expectation is that the 2021 redecoration works will be well managed, will deal with the existing problems and leave the building in good shape until the next cyclical redecoration as required in the lease. Assuming that it is done well, it may be possible to extend the time until the next redecoration and build up the Reserves to cover the entire cost of the next major works.
