nazarko

Hi everyone,

Ed and I just got back from Selwo Hills about two hours ago. We were out for a fortnight so had time to find out what was happening. We're in 1712.

The latest is that there will be two separate communities. The communities are separated by a road and have separate keys etc. So under Spanish law they are, according to the administrator who took advice on this, separate.

That's good news as far as we are concerned. The advantages of separating the communities are that those of us in the smaller community will be able to determine what happens in our community. Frankly on our visit we were concerned that resources were being directed at the larger community to the detriment of the smaller community. For example we saw a cleaner on only one ocassion during our visit, the litter bins didn't have liners and the gardners only visited birefly. There are lots of weeds in the grass and this makes it harder for it to grow. The sign on the entrance is cracked and dirty. Most of the activity appears to be concentrated on the larger community. We are not yet paying for gardeners these are I understand being supplied by the developer however our concern is that when we do take over there will be more work required to bring it up to scratch and this will have cost implications.

We went to see Tommy the president and he informed us that our service charges for our appartment which is a 2b will be 189 euros per month. this is 50 euros per month more than the charges in the larger community for a 2b appartment!! We were unable to discover why this should be. We questioned the legality of this as if we have two communities then it is for those of us who live in the smaller community to set our own charges. Tommy agreed that we had the freedom to set our own charges and determine our own services.

The way forward is now to:

Convene a meeting with sufficent notice to enable people to attend to elect a president and committee
Circulate an agenda in advance that everyone can understand
Work out a voting system where each appartment has one vote and is clear about what is being voted on.

We can then determine wether or not we as a community require a security guard. When we were there people were talking somone climbing over the fence but this was a resident who couldn't get his key to work on his first night there). We don't think a security guard is necessary. We can also decide about a concierge. This seems to be a strange concept as my undertanding is that they hold keys but some people including the president's wife are offering a key holding service. I don't think we need this either but these are issues that we can decide democratically.

On the issue of the pool we're pleased to report that its around 900mm deep in the shallow end so its usable for kids. Our kids will be able to use it safely. If however people with younger kids want to have a splash pool we would be happy to contribute. this would help people with young kids, those who wish to rent and resale values. The pool is not currently chlorinated and Tommy said that it has not been chlorinated to save money. The plan is that pool and gardens will be usable by April.

Our phone number is 020 8668 9367. Our email is linda(at)nazarko.co.uk

Despite all these teeething problems we think that the community is going to be brilliant. We've already met some nice neighbours and there's a good community spirit.

Ed and Linda

Nigel Hall

Ed, Linda

Interesting news from Selwo. We are on the smaller phase too, block 15. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out, but I am frustrated by the lack of communication from the deveoper and administrator.

I am happy to get involveed with the comunity. I have written to the administrator to get every ones contact details. I know that another chap in oue area is planning to do the same.

Good idea about meeting up. We are out there agian 17 Sept for a few days and then again in December.

Wonder if it is practicle to get a meeting over here with every one. Difficult to know where when and How etc.

Nigel

Roy Leon

Hi everyone,
Greetings from wet & windy Holland. Oh! how we miss Selwo already.
So much has been said and there is still so much to say but I'm going to be brief for a change.

Reading all the calls for our own Forum, I have taken it upon myself to register a Web Page it is called:- www.selwo-hills.com

You can visit it now, but it is still in embryo stage. I'm no expert so I am still at the beginning of a learning curve. I hope it will improve as I gain experience. I am busy at the moment trying to download a useful Forum. It will be nice if I have some success this week. It might ease the burdon on the Ex-Pats Forum. I have read some mutterings already.
I have e-mailed the Administrator and told her of it too. I would like to include a Public Notice Board exclusively for her use.
Later I'll try and add other features like advertising space for owners that want to rent or sell, or residents that want to advertise their local businesses.
Also local places of interest and links to other sites such as the Selwo Safari Park.All ideas will be welcome but I do need some time to learn the ropes.
Anyway we are on the air if not yet active. The selwo-hills webpage has an e-mail facility which will just come to me. When our Forum is up & running it won't be necessary for owners to use it at all.
Lets all stay on the case of this Proibinsa scam!!!!!
Have a grand evening folks, you lot in the south will anyway, lucky devils.
Best Regards to all
Roy

Pete & Sandra

Just one or two things to say about the above post. I think people should be made aware that just because they have a smaller amount of properties on their part of the development does not mean smaller community charges. It would in most cases mean higher ones. The cost of maintaining the pool, for instance, would be the same for each part, the charge would be divided between a smaller amount of owners, hence higher charges.

As we understand it, the caretaker (conceirge) would not hold the keys to individual apartments but to the common areas and service rooms only. However, perhaps he would if requested to do so.

In connection with your comments about keyholding services, we provide an apartment management service and would be pleased to discuss this with anyone who would like to contact us directly. We would put together a package based on your individual requirements, but we do not charge for simply holding keys.

Because of the nature of the properties we believe that owners should leave a key with someone on site, in case an emergency occurs, such as a water leak, where immediate access would enable action to be taken to limit damage to your own and other apartments.

You can contact us on :
[email protected]
[email protected]
Tel : 00 34 952 92 36 45

Kind Regards
Pete and Sandra Rogers
Apartment 521

nazarko

Hi Pete, Sandra and colleagues,

Thanks for the reply to the post. We wish you well with the property managment services. We do understand that the costs of maintaining one pool split between around 32 appartments will be higher than that of one shared by around 78 appartments and have no problem with that. This is clearly set out in the budget. If your larger community chose to pay for a second pool as proposed your charges would obviously rise to take account of this.

Have now had the opportunity to look at the budget and it appears disproportionate ie the costs of the gardening and cleaning are not in proportion to the actual areas covered according to what is described as a budget. We have several areas of concern relating to the budget.

There are maintenance costs for items such as CTV, garage doors etc. I would expect that these would, as in England, come with a year or mores guaranteee and that maintencance costs would only kick in when these had expired.

There are costs for services that we are not recieving eg there is a charge for pool maintenance and testing but the pools are not available. So we are being asked to pay an annual cost on a service not available ditto the lifts, etc.

There are no tenders. Any budget should have three tenders for each service so that we can compare and make real decisions.

Finally although we realise that there may be some small additional costs I note that your charges are some 568 euros less than mine annually although I believe that I have a smaller appartment. This is why we consider that it is best to establish two communities as soon as possible so that we can determine our own budgets.

Best wishes

Ed and Linda

Nigel Hall

Hello everyone.

There is a lot of confusion with what is going on at the development, and I am sure that there is a degree of speculation. It is really impossible to move forward as a collective, unless everyone is able to comment. To do this , somehow, everyone needs to be contacted. Does anyone actually have all the contact details of the owners, preferably Email addresses. The words divide and conquer and mushroom management come to mind. The administrator and developer could respond to the requests made.

I am not at all happy about single tender action , i.e., the appointment of administrators and service providers without the involvement and consent of the owners. Competitive tendering against specification is the only way ahead. Perhaps if we all, i.e., each owner of the 110 properties that is. we could appoint new administrators and service providers to our own specification. (Decisions should be made by vote by all the owners, not based on the majority of those who are fortunate enough to be available and present at a meeting.) It is essential that a method of communicating to all owners established. The administrator must have this information!

Food for thought, Is it possible to have two communities and one set of service providers, i.e., maximising the economies of scale? (Appreciate there would be control difficulties with the resource). There again smaller land mass and building area is less intensive to maintain and clean. (industry standard on cleaning per sq Mtr is 350 per hour)

I have asked for a copy of procurement, tenders and terms of reference from the administrator. It might be a long wait, particularly if what Ed & Linda is correct, that there was no tenders!!

Has any one heard from their own lawyers on where we stand, or from the one in Marbella that was being approached?

Roy Leon

To Ed & Linda,
Sorry to disappoint you but I am in the larger section of Selwo Apto 602.
But I am in support of you being masters of your own destiny.
Cheers
Roy

Roy Leon

Hi everyone,

We have finally received the minutes of the inaugural meeting from the Administrator, and fine reading they make too.
For those of you that have not yet received them you may be interested to note that in a nutshell it says:-

1: Sign the attached direct debit form so that we can deduct your community charge without delay.

2: The Board is reviewing the budget

3: Only communal Sky Digital Dishes will be permitted.

4: Security night service can be contacted on 630.94.47.40

My comments:
I personally do not wish to pay by direct debit yet. I have no trust in the administration yet.
Also enclosed was a financial statement listing costs for garden maintenance, pool maintenance, garage cleaning, lift maintenance, Pool analysis, and many more, but there is enough here to show that none of these items are being attended to so why do we need to pay for them yet? It was passed at the meeting that no maintenance be paid until the gardens and pools were completely finished and handed over by the developer.
There are a whole host of other costs, some appear to be duplicated and some need further explanation before I pay anything.
I think it prudent to wait until the board have reviewed the budget.(Item 2)

It would also appear that the original meeting and the election of the committee is null and void as we now understand that one community cannot serve both sections of Selwo. This clearly calls for another extraordinary general meeting, where ALL owners can be informed in advance of the date and the agenda. Then those not being in a position to attend can at least make their views known by mail.

The enclosed Financial statement with the minutes is confusing to say the least and lacks a lot of detail but does not lack costs. There is insufficient room here to discuss it at length which I would very much like to do.

Also attached is a breakdown of the community charge per apartment. For some reason it has been called a coefficient (the Oxford Dic says it's a multiplier that measures some property) It is a puzzle why none of the apartments have the same coefficient % even though they appear to be the same size and in similar locations. In the next column headed TOTAL there is an identical number (143455,76) on every line. So we can imagine that our cost is 1.15% of 143455.76 = our Cuota of 1649.74. but what is the significance of the big number.? We suspect this is the sum calulated by the Administration to run the site for a year.
As someone said....Has there been more than one tender or even one tender for each of these contracts?
There is so much more to discuss and dispute that I'm running out of time and no doubt you are all running out of patience.
I feel we are being railroaded, like we were railroaded to sign up before a set date, like we were railroaded to set up the comunidad before we had all been informed of the date of the meeting, like we are now being railroaded to sign to accept the gardens so that the developers can shirk their responsibilities.
Like we are being railroaded to pay up "Without Delay" so that all mistakes can be paid for and covered up.
I am certain that if we accepted liability for the gardens and pool the developer would have the Pool licence signed sealed and delivered within a few days, and no doubt the lifts would suddenly be working too.
The whole organisation stinks, I can smell it all the way up here in Holland.
and our only defence is a lawyer appointed by the developer. Some chance we have of retribution.
We must get some democratic values into our community without delay. I feel we are being dangled on a string by our developers.
I've said enough for now...Thank God I hear you mutter..
Good night folks
Sleep in peace.
cheers
Roy

jezz1

Roy
My name is Jeremy and I have just bought an apartmentat 611 Selwo Hills.
I agree with everything you say and I feel that the only way forward is to a hold a proper meeting in December when hopefully many more apartment owners will be able to attend. Certainly we should not pay maintenance fees until this matter has been looked into and if necessary, we should all put fees in to intsruct an independant lawyer to get an action going against the developer. There is also talk about spending 100,000 euros for an additional children's pool which I am truly against. I will however mention that we are not alone. Many of my friends are buying in Spain and they have also had problems like this. The whole development is superb and it is our responsibility to sort this matter out efficiently before it gets out of control. Whilst I am avaiable to go to Spain any time, I feel that it would be more appropriate to organise a proper meeting where there will hopefully be a better turn out than the last one.

Look forwrad to your comments.

Regards

Jeremy

L D 1

Benalmadena is quite a progressive town,they have spent huge sums to modernise it, frankly it is not on my list of favourite places to live, but that is a question individual taste. The port area is fabulous & getting better. If you are talking about Benalmadena Pueblo I cannot help as I have only been there once. The mañana thing does take a bit of getting used to, but if something has to be done urgently it usually is.

Nigel Hall

Hi Roy and everyone else.

I agree 100%Put things in perspective, we own the site, not the administrator. It is up to us how matters develop. This is not a time share development owned by a faceless organisation. WE OWN IT ans only WE CAN CONTROL DESTINY.

I wonder if the minutes have been received at my UK address or in Spain?

I still have had no response from the developer or administrator to my queries and requests.

If the smaller part of the development is subject to a separate agreement and management, themn anything that has been discussed at the first meeting can not apply. Was anyone from smaller section at the meeting?

judemclaggan

The minutes for the first meeting show a mix of people present or represented from SH part 1 and part 2. So those proceedings are clearly invalid and nothing that has followed from them has any legal standing.

This is good news I feel as it means we now require a new meeting for each part with the opportunity for an agenda circulated to all and providing for all owners to vote on aspects of the budget. We also need to decide on voting rights - one for each apartment I assume but should votes be carried by simple majority of those voting or of apartments in each part?
I will put these points to the administrator but given the lack of response so far we will have to rely on the committee to lean on her.

Which brings me to Tommy's very welcome letter on the pools and gardens. Unfortunately this asks for a reply by 20 August but was not posted until 24 August. Not clear if the date is an error or the letters were held up somewhere but adds to the confusion.

Personally, gritting our teeth, we will vote for paying for improvements ourselves rather than drag on for years with a much inferior set up. But I see problems getting those who do not want to pay to cough up which is why I think we need to agree as two separate communities on what voting regime should be. Tommy says we need 60% of the owners to agree and if that is the legal standard that's fine. But it contrasts with the procedure at the 9 July meeting where only a minority voted. If we do agree a voting procedure there will be some legal obligation to pay for agreed community expenditure.

Needless to say we have no intention of signing a very vague direct debit for fees until the community has the amenities such as lifts and pools and rubbish areas we paid for. Indeed given that the community set up is invalid we could not do so anyway.

Thanks to Roy for setting up the website but there are still a great raft of non IT communicating owners which only the adminitrator and committee can reach through letters. What worries me is that many owners, blissfully ignorant of problems including the lack of a valid community, may be merrily signing direct debits. We could do with e-mail addresses to try and remedy this but they are not asked for as part of the owners' details in Tommy's letter.

And finally sorry again that those on the spot led by Tommy are left to try and sort this out on behalf of us all.

jude and dave mclaggan

jezz1

I think it is important to arrange a proper meeting and give everyone plenty of notice. As previously mentioned, this is unlikely to be until December when most people will be there.

All previous votes should be ignored until everyone is given an opportunity to attend with at least two months notice to allow plenty of time.

I am not sure that the occupancy is even legal as there is not inhabitance certificate and therefore technically you are not allowed to live in the apartment - that being so makes paying management fees a nonsence.

Presure needs to be put on the developers to get the necessary regulations and certificates sorted out so that we can use the pool and lifts.

Jeremy Clifford
Apartment 611

Roy Leon

Calling ALL owners at Selwo Hills. http://www.selwo-hills.com

Please be advised that your own Forum is now up and running.
I would be pleased if you would all take her for a spin.

There are a number of you who's e-mails I don't have.
If you would be so kind as to e-mail me I will send you instructions.
If you need them that is.

Particularly Gary Moffat, Mike & Eileen Davies, Dave O'Neill, Jeremy Clifford, Neil & Janice McLachen, old uncle Tom Cobbly and Aaaaall.

I think the British Expats Forum will be relieved to see the end of this thread.
They deserve a vote of thanks for enduring our rantings over the last few weeks. They have served us well and we are very grateful. Thank You .

Very Best Regards
Roy Leon (apto 602) [email protected] or [email protected]

tedeboy

31st August 2004


Dear Friends

Contact at last.

Since I signed over the Deeds for Selwo and made all final payments, I have been trying to find a contact, to help with my problem, alas no help from my solicitor, agent, or Developers.

Through a friend of a friend, I finally made contact with someone living at Selwo who was very helpful and gave me this website.

I am a 73 year old disabled widower with a walking up steps Disability, who has bought a property at Selwo hills to spend my retirement in, as was the plan between my Wife and I two years ago, sadly she died before I could get it under way, it is however still my wish to do so. Having signed the Deeds, received the Keys, and of course made all the payments on The 16th of June, I was told I could move in anytime, as everything would be in order and working in about a few weeks.

With Happiness and excitement my Friend and I went over to arrange to have it Furnished, but could not get to the Apartment (3rd Floor) because no Lifts were working, we were told it would only be 2-3 weeks, so we carried on and chose all the Furniture and arranged to have it delivered and set out. The apartment was fully furnished and ready for occupation on 8thJuly.

Since this date I have been waiting for the Lifts to be Operative, as I cannot climb more than about seven steps, of all the constant Enquires, I have had nothing but lies from the Solicitor, Agents, and of course Proibinsa, the last words I heard was that they were at the Town Hall? Waiting for the Certificate, this was just before they closed down for August.

I have yet to see my Apartment, all I have ever seen is the Show Home and the Brochures, which now appear to be misleading. I am very annoyed and frustrated.

If anyone can offer me any help or advice, it would be most appreciated.

In the last two weeks, I have received a copy of the minutes of the residents meeting, and four Days ago a letter from the President, Both asking for money? I regret my answer is, whilst I am unable to get to my property, I will not part with any money whatsoever.

I would have thought that instead of asking everyone to pay to redo the developer’s shoddy work, it would be better to have a fighting fund to pay for a Solicitors advice, and action if necessary. My first question would be, is it illegal to sell a property as complete, when it is not, and is not accessible, as is my case.

Within the next two weeks, It is my intention to try and get into my Apartment. even if it means on my backside.

My best regards to you all.