Own Door Duplex Mgmt Charges

[crissie]

I just got the letter from ODPM requesting cash for the olde management charges and was surprised to find that management fees for a townhouse are 502.74 and a 3 bed duplex are 1007.31.

Now I live in a 3 bed own door duplex in the Copse and couldn't understand why I was paying the guts of 500 more than a townhouse, when the only difference between the two is the fact that I have block insurance and unless this is Iraq there is no way in high heaven that insurance costs that much.

So I rang ODPM and asked them what the story was and they told me there in terms of service charges there is no difference between duplexes that have a common area and those that are own door. This is crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She said that is part of my contract and that I am obliged to pay it. I asked her then could someone come and hoover my 4 flights of stairs, wash my windows, clean my carpets and everything thing else that I am paying 500 extra for (minus block policy) and she said no as it is not a common area.

I am very very annoyed at this so I have my solicitor on the case but come on paying all that extra cash and getting zilch for it is a bit celtic tiger.

Any thoughts?

[daMuseAdamstown]

the houses which are not covered by block insurance, should have their own home insurance (rebuilding), so that adds an extra 250 to 400 euro per year depending on type/size etc for them

[crissie]

Does this figure of 250 - 400 include contents insurance

[daMuseAdamstown]

yes , i def have contents, but i know i kept the contents down to the minimum ...

i'll see if i can get the exact cost & details ...

[crissie]

Just looked through the budget for Adamstown Castle Management Company for the coming year and here are a list of things that I am charged for and do not receive as I have no common areas.

Electricity - 50k
Cleaning - 58, 500
Carpet Cleaning - 7,000
Window Cleaning and Guttering - 9,000 - this never happened this year, though I do concede that I should pay if this service is provided/
Elec Repairs and Maintenance - 6,000
Fire Safety and Maintance - 33, 965
Repairs Internal - 10,000
Total - 177, 465

Of that list these are the charges I should be billed for:
(though I do question these as some of them relate to employing contractors to carry out the work listed above)
Management Fee - 39900
Professional Fees - 32340
Insurance - 36510
Sinking Fund - 10,000
Total - 118,390

So at least 66% of the budget does not apply to me.

[RMR]

Do let us know what your solicitor has to say on this as we are all in the same boat. Also, during the management committee meeting in the summer, we were told that they are looking at options to lower the fees for next year. I don't see any significant drop in the fees. Is there any say in what they bill us. They don't seem have been affected by the current economic climate.

[daMuseAdamstown]

Does this figure of 250 - 400 include contents insurance

I checked my home insurance , & it cost 240 euro upuntil Dec 2009 . It includes contents also.
I got this through the AAIreland

[daMuseAdamstown]

Does this figure of 250 - 400 include contents insurance

Just looked through the budget for Adamstown Castle Management Company for the coming year and here are a list of things that I am charged for and do not receive as I have no common areas.

Electricity - 50k
Cleaning - 58, 500
Carpet Cleaning - 7,000
Window Cleaning and Guttering - 9,000 - this never happened this year, though I do concede that I should pay if this service is provided/
Elec Repairs and Maintenance - 6,000
Fire Safety and Maintance - 33, 965
Repairs Internal - 10,000
Total - 177, 465

Of that list these are the charges I should be billed for:
(though I do question these as some of them relate to employing contractors to carry out the work listed above)
Management Fee - 39900
Professional Fees - 32340
Insurance - 36510
Sinking Fund - 10,000
Total - 118,390

So at least 66% of the budget does not apply to me.

Thats sounds like a mistake to me ...

[crissie]

Nope thats correct - in a duplex you pay for a part of the shared amenities budget and part of the duplex budget - 66% of the duplex budget does not apply to me and yet I have to pay it. I have rang ODPM on the issue and they have verified that I have to pay for items like the cleaning of carpets, fire alarm maintenace etc. even though I will never get the benefit of such services.

[crissie]

I checked my home insurance , & it cost 240 euro upuntil Dec 2009 . It includes contents also.
I got this through the AAIreland

I worked out my chunk of the block insurance and its about 60e

[Anders]

Aren't block insurance and content insurance two different things?

[daMuseAdamstown]

Nope thats correct - in a duplex you pay for a part of the shared amenities budget and part of the duplex budget - 66% of the duplex budget does not apply to me and yet I have to pay it. I have rang ODPM on the issue and they have verified that I have to pay for items like the cleaning of carpets, fire alarm maintenace etc. even though I will never get the benefit of such services.

thats crazy!

[Mayan]

I just moved into 3 bed duplex in Copse myself and kind of hoped, that windows on the outside will get cleaned someday (especially sitting room windows, awfully dirty!)

So no hope? It's ridiculous!

(Anyway, hi to everybody :) )

[daMuseAdamstown]

Aren't block insurance and content insurance two different things?


yes Anders, you are correct.
i just gave my home insurance (rebuilding & contents) as a comparison. I would have thought that the block insurance per unit would have been a lot higher that 60euro. The block insurance does not cover contents.

[crissie]

As per Service Charge Newsletter:
Insurance - Fire and Standard All Risk - 36150
of which I pay .17364 percent or 0.0017364
= 62.77
Now feel free to correct me if my maths are wrong - I only did pass for the leaving cert

These fees are a scandal and there is no way I am paying for items that I do not gain benefit from. Roll on the Multi Unit Act where the service charges must be transparent and fair. I have no issue paying for things that I get like gardening, rubbish, insurance but I am in shock at their attitute that I have to for additional items.

Hi Mayan welcome to the Copse!! -

[Anders]

yes Anders, you are correct.
i just gave my home insurance (rebuilding & contents) as a comparison. I would have thought that the block insurance per unit would have been a lot higher that 60euro. The block insurance does not cover contents.

Thanks, that makes sense. I was wondering if I was missing out on a good insurance deal there!! :wink:

[Anders]

I just moved into 3 bed duplex in Copse myself and kind of hoped, that windows on the outside will get cleaned someday (especially sitting room windows, awfully dirty!)

So no hope? It's ridiculous!

(Anyway, hi to everybody :) )

Window cleaning they do once a year.

:cheers3: to your recent moving in!

[Mayan]

That's right, cheers! :D
Having my own place feels fabulous!

And thanks for information. Good to know they will do SOMETHING.

[RMR]

I don't know if anybody has noticed that the excess has increased from Eur275 per claim last year to Eur750 this year. For those who don't understand that, it means that for every claim you make , you are going to get only anything above Eur750. Due to this the premium must have reduced, but ODPM haven't notified us about this change, nor have they passed over the reduction in premium back to the residents. That's complete rip-off and I don't understand how was this budget approved. Does the resident representatives in the management committee know about this at all.

[ELFITOURI]

Hi ,,
I am new to this form ,, I leave in 3 bed duplex house , I find the management fee v expensive as well as the rules to put the satellite dish in the floor in the back of the house where it can not be seeing from out side , I think if we can talk the management company to change the rule for the duplex houses own doors to treated as house in terms of fee and satellite dish ,
This is may take a while before we get that, but I feel we have to tray to make the management work for our benefit.

[RMR]

They are not going to listen to anybody about the fee. They hold a residents meeting once a year in summer which is a joke, and they send a bill in autumn for whatever amount they decide. There are few guys as the residents reps in the committee but don't know what is there role as have never heard from them.
I have heard similar stories about rip-off by the management company from our neighbourhood Hansted and the residents there forced the management company to reduce the fees.

[gavinpaul]

Hi Elfitouri. Duplexes and houses are different in that duplex owners do not 'own' the outside of the building. Also, there are planning restrictions in place; if people wish to erect a dish on the side of their home, they will need to apply for planning permission - this doesn't apply to houses once the dish is on the back of the property. But permission will no doubt be refused. Also, different planning and therefore rules probably apply in Castlegate and the Paddocks. They are two different neighbourhoods within Adamstown. They are quite different in terms of design and planning, etc. Also, when buying our homes, we did sign up to the rules as they were at the time. Of course there's no reason not to try and change the rules as the neighbourhood grows and develops. There's always the possibility to get involved in the residents/management committee. Also, you can get in contact with them by email - the address is in the newsletter ODPM put out recently. Any issues you have can be brought to ODPM via the committee if you are for whatever reason not happy to talk to them yourself or not getting satisfaction.
Anders reminds us of the attempt to investigate a multi dish option - if enough people were interested that can still be investigated. I'd actually like to have Sky.

[Stu]

Anyone know when this year's management charges for the Paddocks will be advised? They'll be arriving in the post on Christmas morning at this rate! :mad:

[maggie13]

Duplexes and houses are different in that duplex owners do not 'own' the outside of the building. Also, there are planning restrictions in place; if people wish to erect a dish on the side of their home, they will need to apply for planning permission - this doesn't apply to houses once the dish is on the back of the property. But permission will no doubt be refused.

Just to correct you if u apply for planning permission for a satellite dish for a ground floor duplex unit it will likely, if done properly, be granted. I dont know why would u say 'no doubt be refused'???? Maybe if it is an apt type could be but even though nobody have tried yet.
If it is an ground floor duplex unit and the satellite is at the side of their 'private garden' and not above 2m high of the ground it is likely to be granted permission. And there is already one unit with the grant permission in the castlegate area.
What I have seen a lot is withdraw or invalidated applications because of lack of knowledge of how to get all the paper work done.