Is there a contribution to make? Is it compulsory or voluntary?

Carlton Gate Residents Association needs to be able to fund the RTM campaign and call on Leaseholders, those who can afford it at least, to contribute. The contribution was set at £ 325 as the start of the campaign as it was expected that not every Leaseholder would be able to pay. It should have covered the cost of setting up the RTM Companies and associated legal and professional costs, such as serving relevant notices to the Freeholder, registration of RTM companies, subscription of Leaseholders into RTM companies, surveyor reports, etc.

The contribution was voluntary; there was no obligation to pay.

The contributions will be offset by savings achievable on the service charge. We expect to deliver savings of about £ 700,000 per annum for the Carlton Gate, which implies saving between £ 1,000 and £ 1,500 per flat per annum, depending on the size of the flat.

We have collected contributions from 143 Leaseholders which was not sufficient to fund the campaign. Hence we made further research and instructed a specialist company to deliver the RTM on a no win, no fee basis.

The requirement for further contributions was dropped in May 2024.

I rent out my flat. Is contribution tax-deductible?

Yes, if you rent your flat out, the £ 325 is a tax-deductible expense for Landlords.

I own several flats in Carlton Gate; should I pay for each flat?

Yes, you should have paid for each of your flats with an individual payment reference unique to your properties.

If we don’t reach the threshold and this does not go ahead, will I get a refund?

All funds will be held until we can move to the RTM setup. In the highly unlikely scenario that our RTM does not go ahead, after initial legal and professional costs have been paid (approximately £ 5,000), the balance will be returned to the payees.

Illustratively, in the highly unlikely case, only 100 flats pay the £ 325 contribution to the RTM, the total funds raised are £ 32,500 minus £ 5,000 deduction as above = £ 27,500 to be returned among 100 flats = £ 275 recoverable amount per flat.

Contributions from 143 Leaseholders have been collected as stated above and would be returned in due course.

Who is Renzo, and have they been appointed?

Renzo is the management arm of the Regency Homes Group, a privately held group of companies spanning residential and hotel property development and asset management.

Renzo manages several estates across London, including a similar estate in Sutton, which includes multiple blocks of flats, freehold houses and numerous roads.

www.joinrenzo.com

We have appointed Renzo as our partner to take over from Cluttons as the incoming Managing Agent. Renzo has been chosen on the results of the vote by all CGRA members.

For the avoidance of doubt, Cluttons will continue to manage Carlton Gate until the RTM and replacement process is complete. For now, we continue to pay service charges to Cluttons.

Renzo took over from Cluttons as the new Managing Agent for the buildings forming Phase 2 of the Carlton Gate (Swift Lodge and Swallow Court) on 27 November 2024 and will take over management of the buildings of all other blocks of flats forming Phases 1&3 of the development on 21 June 2025.

Cluttons might stay managing the estate parts, at least for now. Our aim is to remove them completely.

What is the RTM setup procedure?

We have followed the standard RTM set-up procedure in accordance with English law, including all legal notices served on Cluttons and the Landlord, as detailed in our Town Hall presentation below.

RTM has now been granted to all blocks of flats in Carlton Gate.

What is our relationship with the Landlord? Can he block our initiative?

Irrespective of our best efforts to develop a sound relationship with the Landlord and Cluttons over the past four years, we could not find common ground even on the most basic points. The Landlord has now been notified of the RTM process and asked to support our initiative.

He does not have to support it, but neither he nor Cluttons can block it.

The Landlord can only stop our RTM claim if we do not summon sufficient support from the leaseholders. This is not the case as Carlton Gate Residents Association, a proxy for RTM, is already supported by 64 per cent of Leaseholders, and the number of RTM paying flats has been increasing steadily as Leaseholders recognise the benefits such as lower and reasonable service charges, improved services and clear communication.

We should have the right to choose our Managing Agent rather than accept a two-decades-long monopoly from Cluttons, the current Managing Agent appointed and retained by the Landlord.

Right to Manage has now been granted to all of the blocks of flats in Carlton Gate.

Have we sought legal advice and who will deliver RTM?

Yes, we have initially worked with various solicitors, who came highly recommended and have been very successful with Leaseholder and service charge disputes.

However, due to the high costs demanded by all the solicitors we approached and the insufficient number of contributions collected, we decided to appoint a specialist property company on a no-win, no-fee basis, who have helped us to obtain Right to Manage for all of the blocks of flats in Carlton Gate.

Have we obtained due diligence on Renzo?

Yes, we have checked their reviews on Trustpilot, which compared favourably against many other agents who participated in the tender.

Who will manage Renzo? What is the number of RTM companies to be formed?

Please refer to our Town Hall presentation below, which explains that Renzo will be managed by the Steering Committee of the Carlton Gate Residents Association comprised of a few Leaseholders without special professional qualifications or education.

Once we achieve the Right to Manage, RTM companies will manage our relationship with Renzo.

Per the Briefing Note above, three RTM companies have been formed, one for Swift Lodge, one for Swallow Court and one for the rest of the Carlton Gate, and each will have three or four Directors.

Links to review our materials:

 Town Hall presentation from 9 August 2023:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hOzdd1TocsPCVS7otEK6aPIUfrqoigwm

Steering Committee:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hPclfNkbPwRJN9R7Oh5y26UyA2I0eB_t

Roles and responsibilities of the Directors:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JyxKWNeG0wtBbdjXsviNshT74TdBIK_5