Property management company not carrying out maintenance

[Fuzzywuzzywasabear]

Posting here for traffic.

My friend owns a flat in a large converted house there are 6 flats in the block with a mixture of owner occupiers and tenants.
The freehold is held by a property management company which is made up of the owners of each of the flats, each flat pays monthly management fees and the property management company is supposed to carry out repairs/maintenance to the building/grounds and communal areas. The management company is made up and run solely by the owners of the flats within the building so there is no outside influence iyswim.

Recently the property management company has not been carrying out cleaning of the communal areas to the point where the hallways and stairs are filthy and there a huge cobwebs in the windows on the landings.
There are also several issues which require repair such as the intercom and issues with the exterior of the building.

As a protest some of the owners have started to withhold the management fees until these issues are sorted out, however the remaining owners refuse to carry out any work until the outstanding fees are paid. It seems to be split along those who have to live with the problems and those who rent their property out and therefore don't have to deal with the issues on a daily basis.

The whole building is now in some crazy stand off with no work being Carried out resulting in further deterioration and no fees being paid because who wants to pay money to live in a shit hole and nothing get done.

So my question what can my friend do? She is withholding fees as she lives in the property and wants to sell in the near future but obviously the current situation will make it incredibly difficult, she would pay the fees if the management company would carry out the work.

The management company is controlled by one of the owners who files accounts etc. and it seems to be this one person is adamant that nothing be done until all fees are upto date but the work wasn't being done when everyone was paying their fees which is how this situation has arisen.

Obviously neither position is right but how can my friend end the stalemate?

She did offer to pay some of the fees in order to get some of the work done then the balance on completion or to pay the fees directly to an outside contractor so a cleaning company to get the communal hallways sorted but this person in control of the management company has refused and will only accept full payment of fees through the company before any work is carried out.

If you've made it this far thanks for reading I know it's long but I don't want to drip feed and my friend has run out of ideas on how to deal with the situation.

[DeathStare]

I think the person running the management company is technically in the right.

Can they not reach an agreement where the management company books for the work to take place (including cleaning) and then sends copies of confirmation of bookings to the others and they then release the money they owe?

[RaspberryOverload]

I think you need to check the paperwork regarding the management company. There should be some description on how disputes are dealt with, and crucially who actually runs it. I doubt this guy is the only person with any authority, and I guess if enough other owners get together they could force the issue.

But the paperwork should detail how this company works, if it's made up if all the owners.

[growingbytheday]

Why doesn't your friend, as a member of the management company, call a meeting of the other members and take a vote on getting the work done as it should be? Does she have a copy of the constitution or other governing document ? It should offer guidance on opting out of the scheme and/or setting up a new management structure if this one is failing. If the management board are also owners of the flats then all of their contact details should be available to her.

[Fuzzywuzzywasabear]

Thanks for the replies I'll tell her to check her paperwork and to try the other owners again.

TBH I think it's all a bit childish from both sides especially the money they all have invested, hence asking the collective mumsnet wisdom. People tend to get wound up beyond reason about these things?