GNTOWER UPDATE

july 09

This update has been produced

by a group of leaseholders and
residents who have a positive
commitment to the Great
Northern Tower

moving forward at Great Northern Tower

Security measures
Work to improve the security of the
block is continuing. Fobs to the
pedestrian and vehicle doors will
be reprogrammed on 14/15th July,
for all residents/leaseholders who have
confirmed their status to Stevens
Scanlan. These arrangements were set
out in detail in the last update.
practicality and cost of reprogramming
the lift panels, so that a specific code will
to take you to your floor, but not give
access to others.
Fob access to the stairways to the car
parks, and to the double doors by the
postboxes is also being costed.
Legal advice
Window cleaning
Problems with window cleaning over
recent years have often been because the
access cradles have been broken, with
various contractors blaming each other.
New measures to “check them in” (and
out) so that any damage can be
identified, rectified and charged for are
in hand.

We are reviewing the legal advice Meanwhile, the last clean was done using
For your fobs to give you access to the
available to the management company, rope access. This seems to have been a
building after mid-July, Stevens Scalan
and will make an appointment this real success.
will need to have seen a copy of your
month, following interviews. We need
lease or tenancy agreement, and
advice from time-to-time on various STOP PRESS: Epernay will
confirmed to the Head Concierge that
issues, such as on contractual issues, lease attempt a new Guinness World
you are a legitimate key-holder and that
preparation, disputes, and the “by-the- Record (with champagne!) in the
reprogramming can take place. square this month...
night” lets problem - see over the page
for the latest from Late Rooms. DLA will
We are also been looking at restricting SEE OVER: Late Rooms abuse; resident
continue to provide legal services in the
access to to specific floors when using the and leaseholder meetings; success with
area of payments and arrears.
lifts. We’re currently assessing the United Utilities..

1
 resident and
GNTGN TOWER JULY 09 update

Next meeting: 30th leaseholder meetings

July, 6.30pm at the
Radisson Hotel.
The next meeting will be on 30th July
at 6.30pm in the Radisson Hotel: a
A quarterly meeting room has been organised.
meetings schedule
will be announced Standing agenda items include
shortly: the maintenance, water metering and
October meeting charging, electricity costs, and the
will run alongside constant topic of concern - security.
the Annual
General Meeting.
We’ve had a great results from the
lobbying on water charging - United
Utilities have now quoted to fit
individual water meters to every
apartment. A timetable is now being
discussed. Thanks to all who helped!

Getting a GNT web forum up and

If you’d like to get running would be great - we’re still
involved, - please hoping there might be expertise out
contact Alex there to get something going.
Normand at
Stevens Scanlan Epernay are keen to come along and
in the first meet residents - they’re keen that we
instance: are both good neighbours. Having had
0161 233 3066, or customers on their balcony hit by
alex.normand@ dropped fag-ends hasn’t helped...
scanlans.com Message to whoever that was - for goodness
sake, get a grip!

Next meeting and AGM: October

Late Rooms etc - still (very) trying!!!
We have a few anti-social leaseholders still looking to make a quick buck at our expense through “by-the-night” lets. These have been a
major source of noise, damage and security worries - and are entirely in breach of the terms of every single GNT lease. Late
Rooms.com is the primary route for these illegal lets, and they have been informed in writing of the position. However, after initially
suspending GNT listings for a few days, they have come back to us saying this:

“We’ve had this issue come up a number of times at properties and it has yet to be resolved by anyone.  Owners such as
yourselves indicate the operators act unlawfully, the operators state they are acting fine and it isn’t for the owners to ask to remove from
LateRooms.com.  Until this is ever proven in the courts, it will remain a grey area.  With regards to police involvement, whilst the
police will rightly say they will get involved if they are acting outside their lease agreements, the operators indicate they are operating
within these terms so there is no basis for the police to be involved.
 
As such LateRooms.com is placed in a difficult position.  We have a statement here from the operator which states:“I am
comfortable that I am selling within my terms and conditions of lease and that you can reassure us all guest stays will be successful as I meet all my guests”
 
And with this statement, LateRooms.com has no basis to continue to suspend the properties’ listing from LateRooms.com.  The
operators feel quite strongly that we should not be taking your word in the first place, and that by them agreeing to our terms and
conditions, they are effectively stating they are able to take short-term bookings from LateRooms.com. This leaves us in the position
that we will have to reinstate the properties.  This is now a matter directly between yourselves and the operator(s) concerned, and you
would need to take it up directly with them.  LateRooms.com will only remove if it is proven that the operators should not be selling in
this manner, or the operator requests that we stop selling them.  The operators continue to have responsibility for their listing and any
damage.”

This is very disappointing. Clearly, we have a few very persistent “operators” - ie leaseholders who want to continue breaching the
terms of their lease, and who will bend the facts to do so. “Meeting” their “guests” doesn’t prevent subsequent drunken, abusive and
violent behaviour, disturbance to legitimate residents, or damage to the block, including expensive lift repairs. This is our home, not a
hotel. We have sent the LateRooms.com response to the Police, who share our concerns on the continued abuse of GNT by these
people, as well as to our lawyers. We will also be discussing the matter with the City Council.