.....Letter to Agents re: Health & Safety investigation at Alexandra Tower Liverpool

OPEN LETTER TO LETTING / ESTATE AGENTS
(copy of letter emailed today to City Residential 31/03/2010)


Re: Car Parking at Alexandra Tower


Dear Sirs,

We would like to bring to your attention the difficulties that have been experienced by residents of Alexandra Tower, 19 Princes Parade, Liverpool, L3 1BF, specifically those relating to the car park attached to the building with access via a lift system.

We believe that there is ‘material information’ enclosed in this letter for which a statutory obligation for letting agents exists, in respect of disclosing said ‘material information’ to prospective tenants, enquiring about residing in Alexandra Tower.

It is noted that City Residential has been the principle agent for this building in both the residential lettings and residential sales capacity. However, other agents whom are acting in respect of this building will receive the same correspondence.



Parking not fit for purpose

It is argued by a number of residents with parking spaces and many of the Otis lift engineers whom have attended the building and effected temporary fixes of the lift, that the lift system installed is not fit for purpose. It has routinely been subject to long term mechanical failures owing to poor design, ineffective materials and components installed at the outset, and an incorrect software configuration.

Whilst, for the majority of the time, one lift does remain working, having a single access point in itself is cause for concern, but when combined with the faulty software the overall outcome is one of considerable delay. Sometimes these delays can be up to 45min at peak times to either enter or leave the car park.

At times, the failures result in a total loss of access to the car park, thereby trapping vehicles in the building, and preventing others accessing the car park to store their vehicles. This causes severe disruption, not limited to, loss of earnings and additional travel costs.

We are sure you can appreciate that over the last 18 months, with such prevalent problems, many tenants have decided not to renew their contract upon expiry. We are personally aware of more than a dozen such residents in the last 3 months alone. You will likely be aware of this, owing to some departing via your agency.

The recently formed Residents Committee has consulted with residents and the management company in a bid to solve the parking issue for the benefit of all concerned parties.

For your information, there is also an ongoing dispute between the buildings management agent (Thomson and Moulton), the developers (Millennium Estates) and their subsequent receiver (Zolphur Cooper), the controlling bank (Barclays), the original installer of the lift (Sheridan Lifts Limited ) and Otis, whom are currently attempting to manage the maintenance and ongoing issues of this known problem.

With so many parties to the dispute, and the magnitude of the problem at hand, the last 15 months have seen absolutely no progress to put in place a suitable resolution. At the time of writing the car parking system has seen a total outage to both lifts no less than 5 times in the last few days (3 of which alone were on the evening of Friday 8th) and a further complete outage from approx 7am yesterday the 11th to the afternoon of that same day

However, despite this abundance of information, we feel that despite yours, and other agent’s obligations, many residents whom have moved in over the last 6 months have not been made aware of the ongoing issues in the building, specifically in respect of parking. This is somewhat troubling when it can be argued that the issues have become widespread, well documented and well publicised by current residents and those leaving.

We can only guess that such omissions are an oversight on your part and that of other agents, likely as a result of office miscommunication and we are sure you wish to address this and prevent further omissions.



Statutory Obligations

Whilst we are sure, as such a prominent entity in the Liverpool residential market you value both residents and landlords and wish to offer a good service, we wanted to reiterate to you and all other agents, of your statutory obligations as we appreciate that sometimes there maybe a communication breakdown in an office environment preventing accurate and timely information getting to front line staff who will be handling queries about the properties you act as agents for.

Quite often, residential letting agents do forget about their obligations in respect of disclosures, or are perhaps not aware of them. We are sure that any such omission of any disclosure from City Residential if such an omission has taken place, has been, as indicated, an oversight.

We are also making sure that residential agents are aware that in recent years it is now also a criminal offence for an estate/letting agent to make certain statements about a property which are false or misleading.



Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

The new Act, which some agents may not be aware of, prohibits 'agents' (letting or otherwise) omitting material information from consumers, if that omission might cause the consumer to take a different decision. (See section 6 of the Act)

Material information is defined within the act as 'information which the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision'.

We would argue that the mechanical failures and the subsequent disputes between the parties mentioned earlier in failing to resolve the matter are material enough to warrant disclosure. However, with many residents having left (including those through your office) and more planning to leave upon tenancy expiry, citing the parking issues as the principle reason, that this would be further grounds for disclosure under ‘material information’ as prescribed by the act.

The possibility of lost earnings, additional travel expenses, damage to motor vehicles on the public highway and employment issues in respect of lateness and/or absence as a direct consequence of the car lift failure is also grounds for disclosure of ‘material information’ as all of the above have been experienced by numerous residents on numerous occasions.

The intention of this letter is to both remind all agents as to their obligations, and ascertain whether they will be disclosing the ‘material information’ to prospective tenants?

It must also be noted that The Health and Safety Executive are currently investigating residents safety concerns highlighted to them on recent admission by the management company, that a lift had been in service for a period of time with safety issues and subsequently taken out of service, which has remained out of service since Feb 10th this year.

If you are in any doubt as to the veracity of this correspondence we would encourage you to contact the buildings management agent (Thomson and Moulton), and speak to Tudor Roberts (0151 482 2567). He can confirm the authenticity of the issues this letter highlights. Failure to do so would not be considered a suitable defence to a breach of the act as the obligation is on the agent to take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance.

For the avoidance of doubt, we will include all residents, whether they have parking or not, within our residents updates and/or meetings. However, for the purpose of the ‘material information’ as prescribed by Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, and the intention of this letter for you to disclose such information, we do not currently deem letting agents liable for non disclosure to potential tenants in respect of properties without allocated parking. Furthermore, as prescribed in the act an omission is considered to have taken place upon your prior knowledge of material information, which you subsequently do not pass on to the consumer, whether or not they specifically ask for it.

Taking this point further, it would not be considered reasonable for the consumer to question an agent as to any conceivable issue that may or may not arise and as such, omissions in the context of the act, are limited to known information on your behalf.

We are sure you will be aware of this, however, it maybe prudent to make this point clear to your frontline staff.

As such, we deem this sufficient notice given to you, and other letting agents, of the current issues effecting Alexandra Tower which are deemed ‘material’, to enable you to comply with your statutory duties. Whilst we do not expect any agent to defy their statutory obligations, the Residents Committee will ensure that all new residents to the building will be given access to our findings/correspondence/meetings and in doing so, confirmation sought as to whether the car parking issue was informed to them prior to signing a tenancy agreement.

We would be grateful if you could confirm by return, your receipt of this correspondence and your intentions in respect of disclosing the information to potential tenants of this building.

.....Car Lift Outage (both lifts) 19/11/09

Morning of Thursday 19th November, and both car lifts are again out of service meaning that residents cars are stuck in the car park and residents are forced to make alternative travel arrangements or if they did manage to get the car out before rush hour, they cannot enter the building on their return.

Two seperate and complete outages in two days. I think even thats a new record? Normally we have to wait at least another day or two for that to happen.

It would be nice if this blog were able to be used to say nice things about the building, and for residents to offer their own views on the city or suggestions etc etc but the overwhelming issues concerning the car park lifts have been in situ since day one and show no signs of abating. Infact, quiet the opposite.

.....Car Lift Outage - (both lifts) Nov 18th (update)

Both lifts were still out of service at 1130am and Otis who were on site confirmed that the lift does not have a load sensor, meaning that if there are 5 floors and 5 people waiting (1 on each floor) that the lift will stop at each floor on the way down like a lift for people as it does not recognise that more than one car cannot enter the lift at the same time!

Genius !

p.s.
No disrespect to Concierge, as John (for the last 12 months) and now Harry who joined us recently, you are both a credit to the building, but if you are frustrated with the situation and the complaints, imagine being a resident and living with it!

Car Lift Outage - (both lifts) Nov 18th

When both car lifts were in service at the same on Monday 16th Nov just two days ago, I said to myself that I must write a sarcastic message on the blog saying: "Hurrah! Both lifts working at the same time?"

With a busy schedule Monday and yesterday I intended to write about it later on today. Good to see that the outages being managed (or not) by Messers Thompson Moulton (part of Sutton Kersch), and Otis are still displaying complete ignorance to the effects on residents and a high level of professional incompetence.

Both lifts working lasted little over 48 hours!

This morning at 7am I was lucky/unlucky enough (yet again) to be directly involved. Upon entering Car Lift 2 (right-hand when viewed at street level) the lift proceeded to go up instead of down, and stopped on the 5th floor despite using the fob, and actually perssing the ground button as driving into the lift. After my venture up instead of down, the lift, upon heading in the right direction then proceeded to stop at every floor on the way down to the 1st, where it duly stopped.

After pressing the button for ground from within the lift, the doors would promptly close and I assumed I would be at last on my way. No such luck. The doors then opened whilst still on the 1st floor and after repeating several times with no additional response I reversed out to see if there was someone calling the list to the first floor, which could of affected the lift?

Upon reversing out on to the 1st floor (not my car floor) I saw that there was no other people waiting and assumed (correctly) that a fault was to blame. However, I thought I would give it one more chance and drove back in to the lift and tried for the ground level once more.

I would love to say that I left and made my merry way to an appointment in respect of my business, BUT that would be as accurate and truthful as the Thompson and Moulton / Building Managements claims that the problems are being sorted. In otherwords complete and utter bullsh*t.

Sensing the only option of freeing my trapped car was to reverse out onto the first floor and try Car Lift 1 (left-hand from street level). However, as Level 1 is not my car level, the fob to call the lift is obviously redundant and as such I attempted to see Concierge but at 725am I was not hopefull and upon going down to the office saw that it was empty. (anyone else see the promise of 24 hour Concierge upon moving in?)

Upon returning to the car, someone else was leaving and he kindly called the lift for me, so that I could leave. However, another car got trapped on the first level repeating my experience and to make matters worse, every car leaving via lift 1 would stop at all the floors on the way down thereby making it 4 times longer to use the lift!

The other person waiting also responded that he is moving out as a direct result of the issues with the car lifts.

Finally when the lift came I was lucky to get out BUT by being an hour late and missing a vital travelling hour from 7am to 8am in less motorway traffic I was now late, and the problem was compounding. The net result is that today, I personally have lost another half day which has to be rearranged causing loss of earnings.

.....Alexandra Tower and Letting / Estate Agents

Just a little spotlight on the legal aspects of either living in Alexandra Tower, or thinking about living in the building if you are either buying or renting.

If you are buying you are in luck, there are laws and regulations protecting you from misleading statements or omissions from estates agents, such as the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991, and the Estate Agents Act 1979.

However, despite such regulation, one of the most common gripes handled by the Ombudsman for Estate Agents is still "inaccurate sales particulars". In recent years however, it is now also a criminal offence for an estate agent to make certain statements about a property which are false or misleading.

Letting Agents like City Residential who handle the majority of Alexandra Tower sales&lettings, are not bound as tightly in their obligations to tenants, yet they and other letting agents could be falling foul of the law in respect of very recent legislation, namely the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

The new Act now prohibits 'agents' (letting or otherwise) omitting material information from consumers, if that omission might cause the consumer to take a
different decision. (see section 6 of the Act)

Material information is defined as 'information which the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision'.

As such, it would now seem that agents have to disclose the existence of any 'adverse information' on a property, without having to be asked, if that information would affect the consumer's decision.

It could certainly be argued that the car lift issues are 'material' in that if you were duly informed that on numerous occaisons, both lifts at Alexandra Tower fail, thereby denying you use of your vehicle, with related loss of earnings or employment issues as a direct result, that you would likely think twice before completing the transaction?

The old 'if they don't ask don't tell' excuse no longer applies so I would be keen to know if the estate/letting agents with any Alexandra Tower apartments on their books (e.g. City Residential) are in fact disclosing the issues to their clients (namely private landlords) or prospective tenants when they have an obligation to do so.

Sticking to the letter of the law, the car park issue could conceivably be withheld from tenants looking for an apartment to rent in Alexandra Tower without parking, as it could be argued that no material information exists in their case, seeing as they wouldnt be using the car lift.

However, aside from a building report, an argument exists that estate agents cannot omit the car lift issues, or other 'ongoing and persistent' issues from prospective buyers as such information would likely affect the overall 'resale' and rental value and could be argued to be 'material' even if it was not disclosed in a formal managment report.

November 2009 Car Lift Outage (ongoing)

This week has been an eventful one yet again in the ongoing and continued issues with the car lifts. The incompetence of the management company in 'managing' (and I use the term sparingly) this is all too apparent.

Car lift 2 (right-hand when viewed at street level) has been out of action for more than a week now and has been so case countless times over the last 12 months, with only one lift working, the extra stress on that one remaining lift always causes it to fail also, leaving both lifts out of action.

Car lift 1 (left-hand from street level) went out of service sometime between 10pm on Thurs 12th and 8am on Friday 13th (which i'm sure is the only excuse not used by management/otis to date) therefore leaving some estimated 80 plus residents without access to their vehicles are late/lost hours of business etc.

Car lift 1 was rectified at some point during the day on Fri 13th yet lift 2 is still out of service.

On occupying the building some 12 months ago management informed residents that the issues with the lifts etc etc were just "teething" issues BUT to any person with an ounce of common sense can see the bigger picture behind the majority of the problems.

Millenium Estates went into liquidation it but chances are this wouldnt of been without compromise on behalf of the developer during the build. Hypothetically, why spend x amount of £'s on a carlift that does the job properly when you can save tens/hundreds? of thousands of pounds by cutting back on items like carlifts or materials and keep the company afloat a little longer?

However, back to Thompson and Moulton, et all. It stands to reason that if the car lifts are inferior and prone to break with 30 residents (as was the case 12 months ago) that if you increase this to some 150 residents that the likelihood of your inferior car lifts breaking will also increase?

Yet when only one lift is working (i.e. most often than not) there is not a rush to fix it and therefore there is (as indicated) only one point of failure left. A single point of failure with prior history.

.....You guessed it - more car lift outage

As reported in a previous blog post, the 'weekly' car lift outage hasnt disappointed and surfaced again on Friday 30th Oct and lift 2 (one nearest dock to side of building) was out of action from Friday until Monday 2nd even though it was also out earlier in that week.

It seems once weekly is not enough at present.

p.s. It seems that either the concierge or the management company have removed the notice of this blog from the lobby?

Dear concierge/management, residents of this building have a right to express their views based upon factual events and if you are concerned about the effect on attracting new residents, or losing current ones then why not address those issues as opposed to brushing them under the carpet.

If you remove the next notice, more will just be put up and a leafleting campaign done to all apartments.