A leaseholder who was driven out of his home because of toxic mushrooms which had grown out of a leaky pipe has accused a residential management company of ‘weaponised negligence’ — as he is still waiting to return to his flat almost a year on.
Wayne Henry said ‘catastrophic damage’ has been caused to his ground floor flat in Earl’s Court because of a leaky soil pipe running from the above apartment, which took five months for contractors of Residential Management Group (RMG) to fix.
The freelance film producer, who has worked with the ITV and HBO, said the leak was initially reported to the company in March this year.
But, he claims, instead of fixing the issue, they ‘deflected the problem’ for months — claiming it was isolated to Mr Henry’s flat and therefore not their responsibility.
This was despite five inspections from independent companies confirming the source of the issue was a soil pipe which runs through the block of flats, Mr Henry claimed.
‘This process of denial and abdication of responsibility continued to the point where there were toxic mushrooms growths coming through the wall,’ Mr Henry said.
‘I thought ‘this is really not right’ and you need someone here to check the air quality and so I went for an independent assessment.’
When the air quality samples returned, Mr Henry was shocked to discover the laboratory had reported mycotoxins and high levels of penicillin in the air which were ‘beyond human levels of consumption’.
‘I had Flood Doctor and the laboratory saying you need to leave for your health. It was literally stay and die or leave today,’ he said.
‘I just couldn’t believe what I had been living in,’ he added, ‘it’s unbelievable. You pay £5,000 for this sort of weaponised negligence.’
After the leak was finally repaired in July by RMG, Mr Henry said it took another 12 weeks to get the flat dried out — a dehumidifier was on 24hrs a day and contractors removed 42 bags of contaminated black mould, debris and damaged materials.
Mr Henry has been living in temporary accommodation since July — moving from hotels to apartments and Airbnbs.
‘I ended up finding alternative accommodation to the tune of £27,000 of my own money before the insurance paid out,’ Mr Henry said.
‘At one point I remember sitting in a Starbucks with my bags because everything had been put into storage and I was waiting for somewhere to live.
‘I moved six places in the space of five weeks.’
Mr Henry said it could be another three months until he is allowed to return to his flat because of severe damage to the bathroom’s structure.
‘You’re waiting for others, begging for money to live, begging for someone to do the repairs and then there’s the pressure on you because they [RMG] just don’t even bother to reply [to emails] and it’s an arrogance that I have never known.
‘I don’t know why they delay to this extent. If you know where the problem is and the contractors have spotted it why has it been delayed – what are you waiting for?’
‘The best thing the government can do is regulate the property management companies and stop the self-regulating because these companies they can just smack each other on the hand and say we will endeavor to do better and that’s that.’
RMG made £44.5million in the year up to March 2024 — an 8.6 per cent rise on its previous year.
‘Its been complete frustration and despair because you are all on your own,’ Mr Henry said.
Despite not having lived in the flat for several months, Mr Henry claimed he has been threatened with legal action by RMG for not paying his service charges and risks losing his flat altogether if he does not pay them.
Residential Management Group, which oversees more than 110,000 homes across the UK, is ‘one of the largest and most respected property management companies in the country’ — according to its website.
But an online forum, set up for leaseholders to share their ‘anger’ with the firm, has attracted more than 6,000 members.
Leasehold properties have been beset with issues in recent times — as homeowners own the lease to the property, but not the land it sits on.
Not only do they have mortgages to pay, but they must also pay a sum or ‘rent’ to the freeholder for the maintenance of the land and common areas, including cleaning, emergency alarms, the upkeep of rubbish chutes, grass trimming and access.
Tory MP Michael Gove, who was Levelling Up Secretary from 2021 to 2022, described the laws around leasehold as ‘outdated’ and ‘feudal’.
Speaking to Sky News in 2023, Gove said: ‘It’s not easy in legal terms. When you’ve got a tangle of property laws going back hundreds of years, unstitching all of that is difficult.
‘But the fundamental thing is that leasehold is just an unfair form of property ownership.
‘In crude terms if you buy a flat, that should be yours. You shouldn’t be on the hook for charges which managing agents and other people can land you with.’
Regarding Mr Henry’s case, RMG said: ‘We have sympathy with Mr Henry and his ongoing case. The matter is subject to an insurance claim he made against the building owner’s policy. This began in March this year.
‘Unfortunately, this is a complex claim requiring loss adjustors, structural surveyors, and specialist contractors.
‘The case is taking longer than expected due to several factors such as the requirement for a loss adjustor to investigate and manage a leak across several properties, gaining access to these apartments, sourcing the leak and then the identification of a structural issue affecting the steelwork which must be resolved before the redecoration work within Mr Henry’s flat can commence.
‘All works relating to the leak are managed through the insurance claim. To not prejudice the claim, any additional works require authorisation from the insurers.
‘Where possible, RMG has proactively supported the insurer and Mr Henry during this process. In March, there were no signs of the leak being communal.
‘In respect of service charges, they are set at the estimated costs of managing shared buildings each year on behalf of the building owner.
‘As such, they are rising in general to meet the increasing costs of managing buildings.
‘All funds are held in trust on behalf of the landlord, and RMG receives only a management fee.
‘The costs are audited at the end of the year by an external company to ensure they are correct.
‘Customers receive a full breakdown of this and any underspend is returned to them.
‘RMG will continue to support Mr Henry until his case is resolved.’
Trish Dorricott, who purchased a two-bedroom flat in Southampton with her husband Jim back in 2015, told it has ‘deteriorated significantly’ since then.
She claims to have suffered severe water damage caused by a leaky roof causing mould growth throughout the building, as well as failing stairways, a broken lift and inadequate security.
‘We’ve submitted numerous complaints, as have all the other leaseholders, but little has been done,’ Mrs Dorricott said.
‘We’re concerned about the building’s structural integrity and the health risks posed by the mould.
‘Since 2019 the roof issues have been the subject of an ongoing building warranty insurance claim that RMG are supposedly managing, albeit at a glacial pace.
‘The costs for the roof work is in the region of £500,000.
‘We understand the insurance will cover 90% of this with the 18 flats and the retail unit to pay for the remainder, of which the retail unit has a 31% liability.
‘A Tender Report was published in March 2024, and we are all still waiting for RMG to tell us when the works will commence.
‘They have indicated they will not start until all funds are in place. Meanwhile it’s winter again and it continues to rain and the building gets wetter and wetter.’
Responding to Mrs Dorricott’s case, an RMG spokesperson said: ‘We sympathise with the situation that Trish and some of her fellow customers face as the building is subject to two large insurance claims which require the support of loss adjustors, surveyors, and specialist contractors to address the issues.
‘We are aware that the lift requires work and the funds are being collected via the service charge budget to enable this project to commence. Following concerns raised about security at the building we installed CCTV and a more robust door entry system. We have received no recent reports of any security breaches.
‘RMG will continue to support customers until a resolution is found.’
Jane has lived in her one-bed flat in Ifield Green near Crawley, West Sussex for four years and has become fed up with RMG’s annually increasing service charges.
The 60-year-old lives in an old schoolhouse consisting of seven flats, some of which have private garden spaces.
Despite paying a significant yearly fee for maintenance of £2,500, she claims there is still moss everywhere, overgrown trees and full gutters which drip onto her roof.
‘People are selling their flats and having to drop the prices because of the poor maintenance. One couple just dropped theirs by £20,000,’ Jane told .
‘They don’t even pick the leaves up they just blow them into the road.’
The admin worker said she feels ignored by RMG, after sending them numerous emails to complain — with little response.
She added: ‘I keep having to chase them and I shouldn’t have to because we pay a lot of money. It is stressing a lot of people out.
‘We shouldn’t have to worry about this that is the whole point of paying.
‘They are just fobbing us off. There is no one to turn to.
‘They bill us for it but they don’t do it. It is so frustrating. I feel like I am smacking my head against the wall.
‘We are all fed up with it. We are trying to push for someone else to take over. They are just absolutely awful.’
Jane claims she was once asked to pay £14,000 by the company for the removal of some pigeons who had nested on the roof. But residents then hired a man with a ladder to do it for only £25.
She added: ‘They just rip us off. It is extortionate.’
Responding to Jane, an RMG spokesperson said: ‘In the last five years, Jane’s service charge has increased by 11%, amounting to £88.
‘We are working to find a long-term solution to the number of pigeons trying to nest at this scheme. As pigeons reuse their nests, we sought advice of a specialist contractor, who confirmed that a solution is required to address potential nesting on all parts of the building to avoid simply moving the problem.
‘We have not requested a payment of £14,000 and due to the nature of the work we are in communications with customers. If any customer wants to propose a contractor, we are happy to have a conversation. We will continue to engage with all customers before implementing any solution.’
Simon Jones, who owns three properties in Widnes near Liverpool, inherited RMG when he bought each of the properties in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
He told his ‘terrible’ experience with the company came to a head when his tenants reported a leak in their property.
‘About three months down the line the ceiling came down. They didn’t want to get involved. They didn’t want to help us.
‘They told us it was condensation we had to do something about it ourselves.
‘When the ceiling came down it caused around £500 worth of damage.’
Responding to Mr Jones, a spokesperson for RMG said: ‘On this scheme RMG are responsible for the communal areas. The scheme is managed by a Resident Led Management Company, who appoint the managing agent, determine the budgets, appoint contractors and monitor the services.
‘This case fell outside of the jurisdiction of our contract, but we supported the customers as best we could in signposting them to the insurance company to facilitate a claim for any resulting damage.’
RMG said its service charges are set at the estimated costs of managing shared buildings each year on behalf of the building owner or Residents Management Company. As such, they are rising in general to meet the increasing costs of managing buildings.
The company said it addresses over 62,000 repairs a year and sources and puts in place over 260,000 maintenance contracts to support schemes and assists customers to address over 560 insurance claims a year.
RMG also said it deals with over 25,000 customer inquiries a month and has a 3.5 Trustpilot rating against our sector performance of 2.5.