Page 72 - (C) Good Ref_1

Now a bit of history. KFH began orchestrating
these Internals in October 2007 (and pushing up
our quarterly demands & reserves to over £1000
each per quarter to cover the projected costs.)
Hence so much in reserves thankfully, but as
you'll appreciate, that's mostly old timers
funds, not new boys!
They (Agents) firstly hire a firm of Surveyors
who draw up everything that is legally required
(under the Headlease (then owned by Fineman
Lever/Dorringtons) but which we, the Mitre House
Management, now own) and then liase with the
Resident Association (two or three of us probably
(Flats 4, 5 and 7) to decide on other things that
could be done. His initial report was presented
in March 2008 (with an invoice for £1219.06). And
in error, he was paid twice by KFH which I
spotted in the accounts - BUT only on very
careful inspection and 6 months requesting
details.....!)
In April 2009 he then presented his second
invoice (£1912. 83) for having finished getting
all quotes/tenders etc organised and outlining
the three quotes KFH have legally to supply and
choose the cheapest. Those quotes were £47,406,
£53,299 and £58,026 - all plus VAT, plus Foreman
Fees +VAT, plus KFH 12.5% fees + VAT - plus you
bet your bottom dollar another £5-£10,000 for
unforeseen items/extras etc - remember that these
Internals are done every 8 years or so and some
of us have lived through quite a few..... and if
you think these are bad, just wait for the
EXternals (7 years ago they came to over £85,000)
with just Scaffolding costing £19,000 and not
touched for a month. A nightmare and the fourth
I've experienced along with a few others here
since birth!
Now, as you will appreciate from the various
dates mentioned above, these Internals were
organised before you and Susanna moved in, but
thankfully, we stopped them proceeding in late
2010 because the Head Lease was to be auctioned
and we wanted it, solely to save a fortune in
overcharging and incompetence which is,
regrettably, almost the norm with Agents. The
more they spend, the more they make.
Once we had purchased the Head Lease in July 2011
we (the new Management gang of 4) were then able
to start organising the Internals (and everything
else) so getting far more done, for far less
money.
That getting done means we (the Management)