More residents living in city centre flats managed by Rendall & Rittner have blasted the company over their ‘super-worrying’ service charges.
Last month, the MEN reported that leaseholders in the Skyline I building, on Rochdale Road, slammed their building managers over the ‘obscene’ fees. They claimed that the high charges made it impossible to sell their homes, and said they were ‘more than London rates at the minute’.
Following the report, more residents have come forward to express their anguish against the firm. Owner-occupiers and leaseholders in the Lumiere building, on City Road East, say ‘Rendall & Rittner are a horror story’.
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“I have lived here for 10 years as an owner-occupier,” Matthew Harris, an owner-occupier, said. “[Rendall & Rittner] have let the building go in to disrepair. It gets worse [as time goes by].
“When I moved in it was £180 per month in about 2013, then it was £200 by 2017 and since then we saw big jumps and big projects done. Now, I pay £420 per month, for a two bed.”
Mr Harris is not the only one to rail against his fees. One leaseholder, who used to live in the building but now rents it out, said: “Typically we get a huge increase in service charge. From when I moved in it was £1,500 a year, now it is almost £4,000 for a one bedroom apartment.”
Another owner-occupier, who does not want to be named, added: “When we moved in our service charges were £2,000 per year. There's a small gym and a concierge five days-a-week, from 8am-4pm — there were reasons that it was higher than other buildings. We thought it was within the market range.
“Four years later that's now above £5,000 annually. There are reasons why, according to Rendall & Rittner.”
He went on: “The cladding was the first, they said the insurance premium had gone up.
"Eventually as we have been through this, we have had to keep an eye on the accounts.
"The insurance was one reason. Their fees have gone up. The electricity went up over 30 percent a few years ago — that's pre-Covid and pre-Ukraine.
“They said it was because they moved to a greener supply. That's commendable but we would think, as leaseholders, we should have been consulted on it. After people challenged them on it, it went down the following year.
“It's now gone up, in the last year, by 400 percent. I have a few friends in Manchester and no one else has seen a 400 percent rise. On top of that their fee has gone up, again. We do not really see the evidence of them finding the best deal for us.
“I have got values for last year but I got an answer from a senior manager, saying consumption will go up by 20 percent each year. I am no expert but to me it's odd.
“This is just the lighting in corridors and the gym, and car park. The gym also has air conditioning, but there's no heating [in communal areas].”
It means the man now has to contend with a service charge increase amid the cost of living crisis. He explained: “It's a big concern for me and my wife. We have to renew our mortgage this year and the interest will go up.
“It's super worrying. We have no faith in Rendall & Rittner. They have been really difficult to work with.”
The sky-high electricity usage has been put down to a dodgy motion-sensitive lighting system, which keeps communal areas fully lit 24/7 — even when no-one is there. Mr Harris added: “All are lit with electric lighting and we believed the PIR system there, to save us electricity, was not working.
“We said they should have been on top of it years ago as we were paying to have lights on for unoccupied rooms. They did not think it was happening, or point to a functioning light, or they would say it's not a problem because only one person has complained. Now a year on they have done 10 percent of the work they need to do.”
A spokesperson for the company said ‘the lighting issues affect approximately five percent’ of Lumiere, and are due to be fixed shortly.
A statement added: “Rendall & Rittner is committed to keeping costs under control for the benefit of residents, which includes seeking the best possible service charge rates available. However due to the impact of wider economic issues on both utility and insurance providers, which are affecting homeowners throughout the UK, service charge levels have regrettably increased.
“We have recently secured renewable electricity at no extra cost and the lighting issues, which are affecting approximately five percent of the building, are due be repaired within the next two weeks.
“We are currently planning major façade remediation works, which are expected to be funded by the government’s Building Safety Fund. As this will require scaffolding which will impact the garden areas it has been agreed that this will be followed by works to upgrade the Zen garden.”
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