On 22/11/2017 09:07, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , tim...

snip

Ahh, yes. You need to give them skin in the game. A £1K PSTP deposit
would
be a good start.

and very probably, now illegal

AFAIK there's no legal limit to the deposit a landlord can require.
It's more a matter of how much potential tenants are willing to pay.
And of proving who did what, when.


There should have been a *sinking* fund set up to cater for long term
expenses. Often found in flats. Commonhold?


Indeed. But I wonder how many of the 40 households would have screamed
and screamed if asked to pay more for something that might never happen
in their time in the houses. Saving for a rainy day is not exactly a
British habit these days.

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On Tue, 21 Nov 2017 17:19:32 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On the odd occasion when I have had dealings with the Environment
Agency, their inspectors have been fairly flexible about solutions,
provided that the solution suggested achieves the final result they want.

Well, that's some good news at least. Thanks.

Actually, I thought of something associated with the problem: Just
suppose the sewage unit fails completely, are there *temporary*
portable units available? When my heating oil tank failed in 2015 my
heating engineer pumped the 1000 litres into an IBC temporarily until
the new bunded tank was installed.

MM

On 21 Nov 2017 17:43:56 GMT, Huge wrote:

On 2017-11-21, MM wrote:
On 21 Nov 2017 16:29:06 GMT, Huge wrote:

Ahh, yes. You need to give them skin in the game. A £1K PSTP deposit would
be a good start.

Not nearly enough.

Get an adult to explain to you what "a good start" means, would you?

We've had all these warm words before. For too many years residents
have moaned about the increase in the annual service charge, which has
only gone up by 10% in ten years. We should have been paying much
more. The new chairman calculated that if every resident had paid just
£13.91 a month since the inception of the estate, the sinking fund
would now contain the £100,000 needed to replace the PSTP.

The "good start" was always just pie-in-the-sky.

MM

On Wed, 22 Nov 2017 09:07:48 +0000, Tim Lamb
wrote:

In message , tim...
writes


"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2017-11-21, tim... wrote:


"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2017-11-21, alan_m wrote:
On 20/11/2017 08:27, Brian Gaff wrote:
Yes indeed, modern does not mean better and I bet nobody actually
thought
about the pong factor they were looking at the bottom line.

A reed bed system is not exactly more modern just an adopted trendy
green system which is probably OK for a dwelling where in the old days
the majority of waste 'water' was as a result of the owner carrying
water into the house in a bucket from a well or nearby stream. Add an
ample supply of mains water and a ton of chemicals to sanitise the loo,
to degrease cooking and table ware, to make you smell nice in the
bath/shower or the odd gallon or two of contaminated water from DIY
brush cleaning etc. and perhaps the green solution no longer works.

Except when it does. And you shouldn't be putting "a ton of chemicals to
sanitise the loo, to degrease cooking and table ware, to make you smell
nice in the bath/shower or the odd gallon or two of contaminated water
from DIY brush cleaning" into any private treatment system.

try telling that to a succession of "tenants"

Ahh, yes. You need to give them skin in the game. A £1K PSTP deposit would
be a good start.

and very probably, now illegal

There should have been a *sinking* fund set up to cater for long term
expenses. Often found in flats. Commonhold?

Yep, unfortunately, the sinking fund constantly got raided to pay for
new pumps and suchlike.

MM

On Wed, 22 Nov 2017 10:02:27 +0000, Robin wrote:

On 22/11/2017 09:07, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , tim...

snip

Ahh, yes. You need to give them skin in the game. A £1K PSTP deposit
would
be a good start.

and very probably, now illegal

AFAIK there's no legal limit to the deposit a landlord can require.
It's more a matter of how much potential tenants are willing to pay.
And of proving who did what, when.

This is not a landlord/tenant issue. All owners have to cough up an
equal share of the total service charge. True, a few residents are
private landlords, but that does not excuse them from paying their
proportion. If they wish to come to a separate arrangement with their
tenant, that's between them and the tenant.

There should have been a *sinking* fund set up to cater for long term
expenses. Often found in flats. Commonhold?


Indeed. But I wonder how many of the 40 households would have screamed
and screamed if asked to pay more for something that might never happen
in their time in the houses. Saving for a rainy day is not exactly a
British habit these days.

Exactly IN SPADES! Some residents were/are always screaming. In the
early days when I attended the annual meeting, verbal abuse was not
uncommon. Even now there is allegedly one owner who rents out his/her
property to a tenant and flatly refuses to pay the service charge and
will shortly face legal capping of his sewer.

And they're really going to be screaming now, those that do, once they
find out that the service charge for 2018 will be approx 37% higher
than 2017. And that DOESN'T include the max £2,500 one-off charge for
every householder for the new PSTP.

My thoughts on this a Well, good luck with that!

Meanwhile, I've found the price of a new Elsan portable toilet: £70 -
£80 from most camping suppliers.

In a former property in Bucks, with only one toilet, I had to replace
the cracked earthenware sewer pipe and was without a loo for four
days. So I just popped down to Tesco when the urge struck. Every
Little Helps!

MM

On 22-Nov-17 10:07 AM, MM wrote:
On Tue, 21 Nov 2017 17:19:32 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On the odd occasion when I have had dealings with the Environment
Agency, their inspectors have been fairly flexible about solutions,
provided that the solution suggested achieves the final result they want.

Well, that's some good news at least. Thanks.

Actually, I thought of something associated with the problem: Just
suppose the sewage unit fails completely, are there *temporary*
portable units available? When my heating oil tank failed in 2015 my
heating engineer pumped the 1000 litres into an IBC temporarily until
the new bunded tank was installed.

These people offer sewage and waste water treatment hi

https://www.wplinternational.com/hire/

I expect there will be others. Alternatively, you could hire Portaloos
or temporary wash / shower blocks (also made by Portaloo).


--
--

Colin Bignell

"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...
In message , tim...
writes


"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2017-11-21, tim... wrote:


"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2017-11-21, alan_m wrote:
On 20/11/2017 08:27, Brian Gaff wrote:
Yes indeed, modern does not mean better and I bet nobody actually
thought
about the pong factor they were looking at the bottom line.

A reed bed system is not exactly more modern just an adopted trendy
green system which is probably OK for a dwelling where in the old
days
the majority of waste 'water' was as a result of the owner carrying
water into the house in a bucket from a well or nearby stream. Add an
ample supply of mains water and a ton of chemicals to sanitise the
loo,
to degrease cooking and table ware, to make you smell nice in the
bath/shower or the odd gallon or two of contaminated water from DIY
brush cleaning etc. and perhaps the green solution no longer works.

Except when it does. And you shouldn't be putting "a ton of chemicals
to
sanitise the loo, to degrease cooking and table ware, to make you
smell
nice in the bath/shower or the odd gallon or two of contaminated water
from DIY brush cleaning" into any private treatment system.

try telling that to a succession of "tenants"

Ahh, yes. You need to give them skin in the game. A £1K PSTP deposit
would
be a good start.

and very probably, now illegal

There should have been a *sinking* fund set up to cater for long term
expenses. Often found in flats. Commonhold?

that's a charge made to long leaseholders

for clarity I was referring to a succession of short leaseholders

tim

"Robin" wrote in message
...
On 22/11/2017 09:07, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , tim...

snip

Ahh, yes. You need to give them skin in the game. A £1K PSTP deposit
would
be a good start.

and very probably, now illegal

AFAIK there's no legal limit to the deposit a landlord can require.

not yet no

but there will be soon

tim

On 22/11/2017 17:04, tim... wrote:


"Robin" wrote in message
...
On 22/11/2017 09:07, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , tim...

snip

Ahh, yes. You need to give them skin in the game. A £1K PSTP
deposit would
be a good start.

and very probably, now illegal

AFAIK there's no legal limit to the deposit a landlord can require.

not yet no

but there will be soon

tim



My son owns one of eight cottages all served by a central private sewage
plant. They each pay into a communal sewage fund to cover maintenance.
He was lucky the old septic tank system was replaced with a modern
treatment plant just before he bought his cottage.
Mike

On 22/11/17 10:02, Robin wrote:
On 22/11/2017 09:07, Tim Lamb wrote:

There should have been a *sinking* fund set up to cater for long term
expenses. Often found in flats. Commonhold?


Indeed.Â* But I wonder how many of the 40 households would have screamed
and screamed if asked to pay more for something that might never happen
in their time in the houses.Â* Saving for a rainy day is not exactly a
British habit these days.


For thirty years a managed a flat management company. People a very
happy to let someone else do the work, they even say thank you
occasionally, but that does not deter them from dragging their feet
whjen service charges are due, of asking if 'the management company'
will pay for repairs that are clearly their own responsibility, of being
unwilling to pay anything more than the minimum to cover immediate
expenditure€¦ And when you sell up and a managing agent is appointed
because no one else wants to take it on they get very upset when charges
double.

--
djc

(–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿)
No low-hanging fruit, just a lot of small berries up a tall tree.

On Wed, 22 Nov 2017 11:51:20 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On 22-Nov-17 10:07 AM, MM wrote:
On Tue, 21 Nov 2017 17:19:32 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On the odd occasion when I have had dealings with the Environment
Agency, their inspectors have been fairly flexible about solutions,
provided that the solution suggested achieves the final result they want.

Well, that's some good news at least. Thanks.

Actually, I thought of something associated with the problem: Just
suppose the sewage unit fails completely, are there *temporary*
portable units available? When my heating oil tank failed in 2015 my
heating engineer pumped the 1000 litres into an IBC temporarily until
the new bunded tank was installed.

These people offer sewage and waste water treatment hi

https://www.wplinternational.com/hire/

I expect there will be others. Alternatively, you could hire Portaloos
or temporary wash / shower blocks (also made by Portaloo).

You mean, like at a field event? Yeah, that might really concentrate
the minds of the late payers! Nothing like a row of Portaloos to bring
the price of property down! The pic will probably be in all the local
papers!

MM

On Wed, 22 Nov 2017 17:11:32 +0000, Muddymike
wrote:

On 22/11/2017 17:04, tim... wrote:


"Robin" wrote in message
...
On 22/11/2017 09:07, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , tim...

snip

Ahh, yes. You need to give them skin in the game. A £1K PSTP
deposit would
be a good start.

and very probably, now illegal

AFAIK there's no legal limit to the deposit a landlord can require.

not yet no

but there will be soon

tim



My son owns one of eight cottages all served by a central private sewage
plant. They each pay into a communal sewage fund to cover maintenance.
He was lucky the old septic tank system was replaced with a modern
treatment plant just before he bought his cottage.
Mike

Just make sure that he's aware of potential late/non-payers and that
certain residents will insist on chucking any old thing down the
toilet.

MM