Dear Residents,
One of the key steps in restoring formal recognition for our Residents' Association is the adoption of an updated Constitution.
Our current Constitution was adopted in January 2017. While it has served the Association well, it does not fully reflect the current requirements applied by the First-tier Tribunal under section 29 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 when considering applications for recognition.
In particular, the current Constitution:
- allows membership to all residents, rather than restricting membership to Qualifying Tenants;
- does not define who Qualifying Tenants are (long leaseholders who pay a variable service charge);
- does not provide for one vote per residential flat;
- does not expressly exclude the landlord, the managing agent and their employees from membership;
- does not require a copy of the Constitution to be made available to all members; and
- does not provide members with the right to inspect the Association's financial records.
The proposed Constitution addresses these requirements and has been prepared using the model constitutions and guidance published by the Federation of Private Residents' Associations (FPRA) and the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), which were recommended by Guinness' Customer Engagement Officer.
It also provides greater clarity on how the Association is managed, helping to ensure that it operates fairly, democratically and transparently. At the same time, it includes practical measures to encourage greater participation, such as allowing the Committee to co-opt members to fill vacancies between AGMs and enabling absent leaseholders to vote by proxy.
Although the proposed Constitution is longer than the current version, it strikes a good balance between meeting the requirements for recognition and keeping the administration of the Association straightforward and proportionate.
In accordance with our current Constitution, a new Constitution can be adopted by two-thirds of votes at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Annual General Meeting30 July at 19:30 — Grand Regent Tower, ground floor.