© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
QUESTION
We manage a block of flats in South Manchester. One of the owners has been jailed for several years and his wife remained in the flat. However, we have received no service charge since he was sent away (he used to pay us cash each half year). The property is not subject to a mortgage.
We have gone down the usual route of asking our Solicitor to obtain a ccj for service charge arrears but he has discovered that the police have put a proceeds of crime restriction order on the title. He says this means that we can’t proceed with any action as this order prevents him from going any further.
At the end of the day, it appears that we will have to wait until the property is sold before we can get the arrears which may very well amount to thousands of pounds. We can’t even reply on the building society repossessing the property. This will cause financial problems for the block as there are significant running costs to the development.
Has anyone else come across this problem and if so, how did they resolve it?
ANSWER
Many thanks for the question, although I am not a criminal specialist I have come across these instances many times before and can appreciate how frustrating this can be for a block with regards to the cash flow issues.
The good news (as you have already highlighted) is that you will likely receive the funds once the CPS/ Police have finished with their investigations and the property is marketed for sale.
The bad news is that this will take some time due to the restriction, this is worsened by the fact that there is no mortgage on the property.
In a hope of speeding up the process, I would advise that you contact the representatives from the CPS or Police who have entered the restriction and see if they can offer any guidance on time scales or even if they are able to release any funds in light of the need for the maintenance etc.
I have had a case previously where the CPS representatives made payment a few years in row for the service charge on a property that was subject to a similar restriction.
An alternative, subject to the terms of the leases at the development is to request funds from the other leaseholders to bridge the gap until the funds are received for this particular property.
Once the payment has been received for the property with the restriction, the other leaseholders can be credited for their previous payment.
I hope this is of some assistance and if you would like me to take a more detailed review of the situation then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Peter Cornell, Director at LMP Law