Flat owners fear millions of pounds of frozen funds could be at risk

Scores of people living in flats in Brighton and Hove fear that millions of pounds they have paid to a company appointed to manage their blocks could be at risk.

PS & B Estate Management, which manages properties in Brighton and along the south coast, has told leaseholders its bank account has been frozen by Lloyds Bank because of money laundering checks.

This has left the company temporarily unable to pay routine bills for services such as cleaners – and leaseholders fear if utility bills are not paid this could put essential services such as lifts and fire safety systems at risk of having power cut off.

Meanwhile, HMRC has lodged a petition asking for the company to be wound up – the third one since January 2025, about a year before the bank account was frozen. This has now been dismissed, and PS&B says the petition has been “fully settled”.

And in looking further into PS&B’s affairs, leaseholders were alarmed to discover that the sole director of PS&B and its various sister companies, Peter Hewett, was excluded from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 2024, and severely reprimanded last year over allegations of unpaid and/or unfiled taxes.

Mr Hewett says the first decision was based on incomplete evidence and was incorrect, and in the second case, it was HMRC who was responsible for unfiled taxes.

One leaseholder, who lives in a block in Brighton, said: “This is affecting hundreds if not thousands of leaseholders.

“Our block alone has more than half a million pounds in trust with them. There will be millions of pounds in the accounts from across the blocks without any doubt.

“They hold money for leaseholders from service charges in order to do maintenance on the buildings and if there’s been work coming up.

“If they go bust it would be a disaster. It’s very worrying.

“It became clear to us about three weeks ago. We were told by the cleaners that invoices haven’t been paid this year – this was the middle of March.

“PS&B were saying we can’t pay you because we don’t have access to our bank account.

“That was because of an anti-money laundering investigation and as far as we are aware, that’s still the case.

“We were told this is quite routine, and it shouldn’t take too long to sort out. That was on 16 March.

“We’ve since heard they’ve opened up a new Revolut bank account and are asking people paying money to pay into that.

“Our concern is that if they’re not paying bills, then what about electricity for the communal areas, because that powers the fire safety system?

“There are lots of elderly and infirm people who rely on the lift – if that’s not working, they can’t go out.”

Property management companies are typically appointed by freeholders, who have responsibility for the upkeep of blocks’ communal areas, but collect money from leaseholders on their clients’ behalf. Leaseholders do not have a say in who manages the freehold.

The leaseholder’s MP, Peter Kyle, said: “The leaseholders in his block have paid thousands in service charges to this company are very worried what will happen to the money.

“The constituent had send Lloyds Bank a formal Notice of Beneficial Interest on behalf of the leaseholders in his block.

“I will be monitoring the progress of the court action as I am aware that there could be other blocks in my constituency similarly affected.

“I would urge anyone with concerns to contact Leasehold Advisory Service – GOV.UK for legal advice at this time.”

Mr Hewett told Brighton and Hove News the leaseholders’ funds are held in a Lloyds client account and separately from those of the business He said the account is a Trust Fund under s42 and compliant with legislation.

He said: “All information requested by the bank was supplied immediately but since then we have heard nothing from them. We have now instructed lawyers and are following official complaints procedures.

“Lloyd’s have sadly let us down badly and indeed there is a significant knock-on effect.

“Setting up new banking facilities for the company has taken time causing some payments to be delayed. However, to say that money is at risk of disappearing is wholly wrong as it is held securely by Lloyds Bank and in new business bank accounts.

“Significant sums of money are held by Lloyds Bank which we are unable to access for any purpose.

“With regard to the HMRC petition this is a direct result of our accounts being frozen; the petition was dismissed in court this week.

“All taxation submissions had been filed correctly. 5,600 petitions were issued in 2025 and HMRC are using this form of collection process far more than agreeing Time To Pay Arrangements with taxpayers.

“The company has alternative office banking arrangements and has and will continue to provide office funds to pay for client costs on urgent items such as those you refer to, if required. There is very little danger of that happening.

“However, if lessees on a site that we manage have not paid service charges and so there is insufficient money in the trust bank account to pay for the costs expended on the site, then contractors and utility companies will not be paid on time until the funds were there.”

Leasehold consultant and campaigner Shula Rich said the situation underscored the need for a scheme to protect leaseholders’ money.

She said: “People think because agents have rows of letters after their names and belong to respected organisations their money is protected.

“We need a national scheme for leaseholders that protects all our funds in full however much we have – like the tenancy deposit scheme.

“There are no proposals yet to do this – regulating agents means nothing without full financial protection for us.”

Lloyds Bank said it could not comment on a client’s bank accounts.