"Blah blah blah" said the fourth previous owner as he handed over the keys to my Triumph Spitfire 1500 in signal red. I was 23, it was my first sports car. It was shiny, the sun was out, the hood was down.
Had I chose to listen to what he was saying I would have learnt something very useful; "Remember to periodically remove the front wheels and hubs and then the steerer trunnions. These must be refilled with EP90 oil, no other. Otherwise your front wheels will fall off."
Of course I sort of heard, but then I almost instantly forgot as the romance of powering over the A13 flyover at Canning Town in the sunshine took over.
Two months later I was on my way home from work (East London Housing Association back then) when I noticed a wheel rolling off down a side street. That's odd I thought...
Anyway, I do love my laboured analogies but it has to be said. Providing lots of information about the complexity of leases, the service charge structure etc. at the point of sale, does not really work does it? The recent CMA report suggests that more comprehensive information should be provided by estate agents and conveyancers. My view is that much of this is available, much has been trialled and nothing much has changed. It is the worst time to try and introduce a complex proposition and it needs a significant investment in time from both sides. Buying a flat is stressful enough without understanding the lease and your rights and obligations. It is also an emotional time taking the keys of what will possibly be your biggest ever investment. The subject of leasehold is quite frankly dull and complex to all but those of us who work in it and make a living from it. This fact never changes and whilst leasehold owners may appear to be interested, most want to get home for tea as soon as possible - and that's if they turn up. I can't blame them.
You see these days we can drive out of a car showroom in one of the most complex machines known to man without a clue how it works or how to change a flat tyre or how not fill it with the wrong fuel. Such is the reliability of the machinery, and the rarely called emergency breakdown services, that we do not chose to know how it works. It is the same in leasehold property. Does anyone really read the owners manual - or do we just press all the buttons to find out what they do? I didn't realise my current car has an automatic parking system until 6 months had passed. Replace 'owners manual' with 'lease' and you understand where I am going with this.
The difference with motor vehicles is that the industry thrives on high quality products backed up by responsive support when there is an issue. Think how much servicing has changed - they tell me when it needs doing and come and take the car from home and bring it back. This costs the same as if I take it myself. We need to aspire to this level of service if we are to give consumers in our sphere what they get elsewhere and now expect routinely - they do not want to be bothered with the detail.
When things go wrong or when costs are more than your customer thinks reasonable, then there is a great deal of explaining to do. In virtually every other type of transaction there are very clear consumer rights, servicing schedules, care instructions. When buying a flat we do not think that we are purchasing the right to pay service charges over a fixed period, demanded with little explanation and then chased hard to ensure that the wider community is not inconvenienced.
So what is the solution? Well it is up to you - whatever initiatives follow the CMA report, you will still be explaining service charges and lease terms to your customers. So, firstly, we must make the subject more engaging. One way to do this is to ensure that the community is involved in all aspects of your service delivery and can debate it - advise what you are doing and why, advise what you would like to do and why. Send out newsletters that are entertaining and informative not just dry and preachy. Get your customers involved in the discussion and demonstrate your expertise. Consider having consumer champions, consider inviting leaseholders to review your procedures and your proposals.
Secondly, the service you offer must be one of genuine excellence, recorded clearly and delivered on time. What we do is essential and therefore I contend that it must be possible to demonstrate its value by doing it well and taking pictures, if you follow. We have never been better equipped, technologically speaking, to keep our customers fully informed and drip fed with the right messages.
I am a leaseholder as well as a property manager. On one property I was promised the earth when the new agents took over. That was more than 18 months ago. Since then I have had three pieces of correspondence. Two were demands, one a set of accounts. I simply have no idea what they have been doing day to day because they don't feel the need to tell me anything. Now if I imagine what it is like to know nothing of the complexities of leasehold I will already be quite annoyed and maybe even suspicious. Come my first interaction with the agent....
I still hear the plaintive cry of the overworked manager; "We are just doing our job, but leaseholders simply do not understand leasehold and their obligations..." Sorry but this just does not cut it anymore. It is your duty to do everything possible to ensure that your customers are well informed. Believe me, it becomes a virtuous circle.
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| Trunnion Bearing - How interesting is that? |
Of course I sort of heard, but then I almost instantly forgot as the romance of powering over the A13 flyover at Canning Town in the sunshine took over.
Two months later I was on my way home from work (East London Housing Association back then) when I noticed a wheel rolling off down a side street. That's odd I thought...
Anyway, I do love my laboured analogies but it has to be said. Providing lots of information about the complexity of leases, the service charge structure etc. at the point of sale, does not really work does it? The recent CMA report suggests that more comprehensive information should be provided by estate agents and conveyancers. My view is that much of this is available, much has been trialled and nothing much has changed. It is the worst time to try and introduce a complex proposition and it needs a significant investment in time from both sides. Buying a flat is stressful enough without understanding the lease and your rights and obligations. It is also an emotional time taking the keys of what will possibly be your biggest ever investment. The subject of leasehold is quite frankly dull and complex to all but those of us who work in it and make a living from it. This fact never changes and whilst leasehold owners may appear to be interested, most want to get home for tea as soon as possible - and that's if they turn up. I can't blame them.
You see these days we can drive out of a car showroom in one of the most complex machines known to man without a clue how it works or how to change a flat tyre or how not fill it with the wrong fuel. Such is the reliability of the machinery, and the rarely called emergency breakdown services, that we do not chose to know how it works. It is the same in leasehold property. Does anyone really read the owners manual - or do we just press all the buttons to find out what they do? I didn't realise my current car has an automatic parking system until 6 months had passed. Replace 'owners manual' with 'lease' and you understand where I am going with this.
The difference with motor vehicles is that the industry thrives on high quality products backed up by responsive support when there is an issue. Think how much servicing has changed - they tell me when it needs doing and come and take the car from home and bring it back. This costs the same as if I take it myself. We need to aspire to this level of service if we are to give consumers in our sphere what they get elsewhere and now expect routinely - they do not want to be bothered with the detail.
When things go wrong or when costs are more than your customer thinks reasonable, then there is a great deal of explaining to do. In virtually every other type of transaction there are very clear consumer rights, servicing schedules, care instructions. When buying a flat we do not think that we are purchasing the right to pay service charges over a fixed period, demanded with little explanation and then chased hard to ensure that the wider community is not inconvenienced.
So what is the solution? Well it is up to you - whatever initiatives follow the CMA report, you will still be explaining service charges and lease terms to your customers. So, firstly, we must make the subject more engaging. One way to do this is to ensure that the community is involved in all aspects of your service delivery and can debate it - advise what you are doing and why, advise what you would like to do and why. Send out newsletters that are entertaining and informative not just dry and preachy. Get your customers involved in the discussion and demonstrate your expertise. Consider having consumer champions, consider inviting leaseholders to review your procedures and your proposals.
Secondly, the service you offer must be one of genuine excellence, recorded clearly and delivered on time. What we do is essential and therefore I contend that it must be possible to demonstrate its value by doing it well and taking pictures, if you follow. We have never been better equipped, technologically speaking, to keep our customers fully informed and drip fed with the right messages.
I am a leaseholder as well as a property manager. On one property I was promised the earth when the new agents took over. That was more than 18 months ago. Since then I have had three pieces of correspondence. Two were demands, one a set of accounts. I simply have no idea what they have been doing day to day because they don't feel the need to tell me anything. Now if I imagine what it is like to know nothing of the complexities of leasehold I will already be quite annoyed and maybe even suspicious. Come my first interaction with the agent....
I still hear the plaintive cry of the overworked manager; "We are just doing our job, but leaseholders simply do not understand leasehold and their obligations..." Sorry but this just does not cut it anymore. It is your duty to do everything possible to ensure that your customers are well informed. Believe me, it becomes a virtuous circle.
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