Deidre Hipwell, of the Times, reports:
Dodgy landlords should be on their guard after the Office of Fair Trading launched an investigation into the residential property management industry.
After years of complaints from millions of flat owners claiming they were being overcharged for poor service to maintain their homes, the OFT said it wanted to determine if leaseholders were “getting a fair deal” and assess how well the market was working.
The OFT said the study would examine whether managing agents and freeholders had the same interests as the estimated five million leaseholders in England and Wales in keeping down costs for insurance and maintenance …
Related posts:
OFT leasehold management inquiry includes housing associations and council properties – and will report in September
The Times reports criticisms of Jenrick’s two-storey planning windfall to what he called ‘egregious’ freeholders
Daily Mail reports OFT inquiry into leasehold management
Freeholders’ ‘cowboy’ insurance commissions at leaseholders’ expense attacked in The Times
Leaseholders pay up to 60% more for buildings insurance because of secret commissions, reports The Times
This is the same OFT who has allowed companies involved with Peverel to cheat residents out of MILLIONS OF POUNDS.
On 05/12/2009 The Times newspaper reported that Peverel were involved in unlawful practices including Tender Rigging and Price Fixing.
Then on the 08/12/2009 3 days later, the then Peverel Group Ltd (prior to being placed in Administration), informed the OFT that Peverel Management Services ltd from Halesowen in Birmingham and Cirrus Communication Services Ltd from Worcestershire, a SISTER COMPANY and 3 other contactors had been involved in CORUPTION AND HAD BEEN CHEATING PENSIONERS?.
For 4 years Peverel Management Services Ltd with Cirrus were PREVENTING, RESTRICTING OR ATTEMPTING TO DISRUPT COMPETITION IN THE WARDEN CALL AND FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS INDUSTRY.
Peverel Management Services would price the Cirrus BOQ and provide the same information to Owens, O`Rourke or Jackson who would add either 5%, 10%, 15% or 20%, as they did at our development at ABC.
The worse part is that many of the Warden Call Systems worked well, Peverel Management Services/ Cirrus would inform us residents that the systems we had were obsolete.
This allowed Peverel Managing Services Area Managers to inform us that the systems were to be replaced?.
This way Cirrus/Peverel always had works in hand, as Peverel had 1500 developments.
The 65 developments that Peverel Management Services cheated allowed them to benefit by £1..4 million, over 4 years.
We also know now that more than 65 developments were cheated but the OFT refused to investigate any other developments,
ON ADMINISTRATIVE PRIORITY GROUNDS
In other words Peverel Management Services had admitted to 65 corrupt tenders.
So the OFT had information on Peverel/Cirrus and Owens, O`Rourke and Jackson.
The 3 contractor all denied the Price Fixing at first.. Owens eventually agreed that they had colluded with Peverel Management services and Cirrus so were let off with a measly £1,777.00 fine.
O`Rourke and Jackson later went into administration as a result and then were liquidated.
Peverel Management Services Ltd who are our Landlord and Managing Agents were allowed to keep their share of the £1..4 million along with Cirrus Communication, and the other Peverel company CarelineUK all benefit from the corruption.
Peverel Management Services and Cirrus Communication continue to work hand in hand and have benefited from the disgraceful corrupt behaviour with the blessing of the OFT.
Many complaints have been made regarding the way the investigation has been handled?
In view of the OFT record on the price fixing scandal I wouldn’t trust this organisation to investigate anything with positive results. It’s a matter for the police to fully investigate fraud/corruption.
Will OFT being including Local Authority Landlords? We can give them loads of info on NOT getting a fair deal, little or no value for money and constant references to ‘Its in the contract’ so ‘you pay’. No one checks the bills paid by the Local Authority or if the work was done, they just pay it and pass it on.
LKP lobbied successfully for local authority leasehold and housing associations to be included in the OFT report.
ALL leasehold groups should be making intelligent submissions, because our enemies certainly are.