Georgie Posted 24 September, 2013 Share Posted 24 September, 2013 Hi guys, Our flat management company are removing all of the Sky dishes at our block of flats (15 dishes out of 24 flats) as it against the terms of our lease, which was written in the dark ages, to have 'TV aerials' on the outside of the building. Not a lot we can do about that as it is in the lease, although quite why they have decided to pick up on this now after the dishes have been up for years, I have no idea. Anyway they suggested a communal dish could be put up but only if the marjority wanted it. They conducted a postal vote and stated that any non-replies would count as 'no'. So suprise suprise there were apparently 15 no/non-replies (so 15 non-replies) against 9 yes votes. Result - no communal dish and all Sky dishes to be taken down. We do not have the opportunity to get Virgin Media as it is not currently available in our block. So this leaves us with BT Vision or Talk Talk, which do not offer all the channels that Sky do. What I would like advice on is if there is anything I can say/do to try and get them to rectify this, as it is plainly obvious that the majority would want the communal dish (15 out of 24 flats have dishes) but looks like they did not read the voting letter properly so didn't bother to reply. Or is it not worth complaining as their decision is final? Also is it right that non-replies can count as a no vote? Another thing I don't understand is why they needed to consult with us on this, why not just get on with it and put the communal dish up? My guess is because the money to pay for it was going to come out of their precious reserve fund. They seem to have no problem not consutling with us on anything else, like getting us to pay £400 to remove a birds nest!! Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 24 September, 2013 Share Posted 24 September, 2013 Possibly because 15 dishes on the side of a building makes it look hideous. Secret of life is to read the lease properly before you sign it, rather than bring up certain clauses afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie Posted 24 September, 2013 Author Share Posted 24 September, 2013 I'm not talking about the lease, I already said there is nothing we can do about that. I'm talking about the way they have gone about the voting for the communal dish and whether there is anything I can go back to them with to try and reverse their decision not to put it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andysstuff Posted 24 September, 2013 Share Posted 24 September, 2013 Suppose it may rest on whether a sat dish is an aerial or not. If not and the lease is silent on sat dishes then they may not be within their rights to remove them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie Posted 24 September, 2013 Author Share Posted 24 September, 2013 Suppose it may rest on whether a sat dish is an aerial or not. If not and the lease is silent on sat dishes then they may not be within their rights to remove them? Possibly, but it was written years ago so it probably applies to all TV devices. It is just the lack of common sense to see that the majority would want a communal dish because there are 15 already up there. I also don't see how a non-vote counts as 'no' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Bateman Posted 24 September, 2013 Share Posted 24 September, 2013 Can you get Virgin Media in your street, but just not to the block of flats? If there are enough people willing to take up VM and there is a cable running nearby, they may well come out, do an assessment and see if it's worth doing. I managed to get someone out for a friend of mine in Derby once and they cabled up 8 houses in a new cul-de-sac which ran off an already cabled road. As for the voting - it's their prerogative, but it may be worth pointing out that if they took the same approach with elections, would a no show mean a vote a certain way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 24 September, 2013 Share Posted 24 September, 2013 If you want a communal sky dish installed get around the block and organise the majority to ask for it. im sure its not a one time only offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrant Posted 24 September, 2013 Share Posted 24 September, 2013 If you want a communal sky dish installed get around the block and organise the majority to ask for it. im sure its not a one time only offer. This, tbf. With only 24 flats, that means you only need to get 13 of them to agree to it for the management company to proceed. I've been having a similar issue at my place but with a fibre-optic broadband installation (a communal dish was fitted when the place was built), slightly trickier when there are 224 flats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 24 September, 2013 Share Posted 24 September, 2013 My advice would be go door to door and canvass for support. Get 13 signatures or whatever you need then let them know. Easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutch Posted 24 September, 2013 Share Posted 24 September, 2013 Did you try telling them all that they can sign up for only a fiver a year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie Posted 24 September, 2013 Author Share Posted 24 September, 2013 Cheers for advice guys. Think I will try get all the signatures of the people that want the communal dish. That's better than me ranting and raving at the management company! They are an absolute pain though, never buying a flat again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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