Several staff at a troubled property management company have reportedly quit after not being paid for several weeks.
PS&B Estate Management told clients its Lloyds bank account had been frozen in February – leading to fears essential bills such as utilities, contractors and insurance could be going unpaid.
PS&B’s website has previously claimed it holds £7.7 million in funds on behalf of clients, for whom it managed more than 400 schemes.
Since then, an alternative bank account set up with Revolut has also been frozen, and Trading Standards has launched an investigation.
It now appears the company has been having difficulty paying staff, leading to a reported exodus from the company last week.
Yesterday, doors to the company’s office in Queens Road, Brighton, were locked and nobody inside was answering the door. One staff member who left as Brighton and Hove News arrived confirmed they had not been paid.
Another at Carr and Priddle next door – a sister company of P S and B – declined to comment because, he said, staff were taking action against the company.
Another client who managed to speak to someone inside yesterday said she had also been told staff had not been paid – and advised to find another agent.
The woman, who owns a flat as a leaseholder in one of the affected blocks, said electricity to communal areas had been turned off at the beginning of April because of non-payment leaving communal areas in the dark.
She said when she visited yesterday morning, the lights were off and the doors locked, but she was eventually allowed in.
She said: “During this visit, I was informed that there were currently no working property managers and there wouldn’t be for the foreseeable future because staff had not been paid.
“Most concerningly, I was advised by someone within the office as I left that, ‘I would suggest you find a new agent’.
“As a leaseholder, I find the apparent lack of communication and uncertainty surrounding the management of our homes deeply concerning.
“Residents are left wondering who is responsible for maintaining essential services, how service charge funds are being administered, and what protections are in place if the managing agent is unable to continue operating.”
Another leaseholder also contacted Brighton and Hove News to say he had been told more than a dozen staff had quit after not being paid May’s salaries.
Leaseholders said in April they feared the frozen account would lead to unpaid utility bills, which could put essential services such as lifts and fire safety systems at risk of having power cut off.
This is a sad and infuriating day for residents and leaseholders who have (had no choice but to) put their trust in PS&B for years (generations in some cases) in their role “managing the blocks” in Hove and further afield.
It seems as though the management and owners care less about their clients and employees than would be reasonable.
No one deserves to be treated the way we leaseholders and the Parsons employees have been.
We need a secure, government-backed service charge guarantee scheme to ensure that the millions of pounds leaseholders have paid in good faith can never be placed at risk or locked away by failing agency operations.
Well done Jo Wadsworth for the report on PS&B we have been ripped off by them for many years paying for work at Blenheim Court that was either never completed or carried out correctly.
As a leaseholder in a block of flats that PS&B have managed for many many years with a constant turnover of property managers, I am sadly unsurprised by this latest development. Full marks to Brighton and Hove News for digging out this information as neither PS&B nor our freeholder have seen fit to alert us to the freezing of funds and hence the cessation of service and potential loss of common area utilities – eg electricity, lifts, water etc as bills/invoices went unpaid. The sooner the legislation going through parliament to improve leasehold tenure is amended to provide better and tougher protection against rogue/incompetent/fraudulent Property Management Companies the better.
Maybe Brighton and Hove News could follow up this excellent report with one on the effectiveness or otherwise of freeholders in these situations. After all, they are the people/companies contracting the Property Management Companies to provide statutory services and financial protection to their leaseholders. Are they informed buyers of these services – surely not just “all mates together”?
Again? This seems to happen every five years or so. Thank goodness we moved managing agents some time ago.
Hi who are your new managing agents and old you recommend?
I live in one of the blocks affected by the PS&B situation. There must be millions of pounds in frozen clients accounts and it’s very worrying for the hundreds if not thousands of leaseholders affected. Peter Kyle’s office and Shula Rich have been very supportive but Lloyds bank (and presumably the FCA) have been intransigent. We should all be grateful to Brighton & Have News for throwing a light on the subject when other media outlets have chosen to ignore it.
I cannot thank Jo Wadsworth and B and H News enough for surfacing this and pursuing. The suggestions so far from the organisations there to protect us are pathetic. The Property Ombudsman says have we been through PS and B complaints procedure? Their own organisations RICS and the TPI only protect us for £50,000 and even then, if the firm is dissolved. This really shows up the Govt. proposed regulation scheme for managing agents when it contains no regulated protection for Service charge money but literally promises us the right to an extra Gigabyte of internet access – as long as we pay for it. The next Brighton Leaseholders drop in is at the Friends Centre in Ship Street from 5pm this Friday. Please drop in if we can advise and support at all. Best wishes. Shula
I would say I’m surprised, but PS&B have had money issues for years. The owner of the company also owns an accounting company so hate to think what they are doing. Feel for the people still there, no information coming through from the owner, they have been left in the dark along with all their clients. I would suggest going to ACAS or getting some sort of legal advice. Too many promises being made.
Maybe the City of London fraud squad?
It’s not just leaseholders and parsons staff that have suffered, the contractors ie: cleaners, gardeners, window cleaners and electricians (the list is endless) have all been promised by the poor unpaid stafff of parsons that they were to be paid next week! This was a statement given out by the staff on numerous occasions! Contractors haven’t been paid for work since march! Parsons staff have only been unpaid for one month!
I suspect that others will follow. I live in Hove and the leaseholders in my block are acquiring right to manage as the property management company appointmented by the freeholder has all but given up. The service charge has gone up astronomically but there’s a constant turnover of staff and nothing ever seems to get done. Property management companies have been fleecing leaseholders for years and getting away with it. Stricter regulation actual powers are needed to weed or the rogue operators.
Property management company found to be shady? Whatever next? Man finds sea to be wet?
Property management are all scammers
Just pocketing service charge from leaseholders
They just copy and paste and forward invoices by emails , the leaseholders should look after their blocks cost you 80% cheaper than property management.
Curious as looking to do this… who would do the accounts, legislation, arrange repairs, insurance renewals/claims etc.? Basically ensure it’s all compliant.
The leaseholders can appoint a property management company of their choice to administer that.
Lots of info on line.
To me, it highlights a need for regulation in this sector. Currently, anyone can pretty much set up an estate agents.
The worst part is that the manager of our block, who has taken £100k from the leaseholders, over 3 years, for exterior works which are still not done, will be able to get off the hook and walk away, should the company go to the wall. Shame on him and his boss.
As an owner of a property management business I feel comments that we are all ‘scammers’ are unjustified. There are many poor managing agents out there, my business is certainly not one of them and we pride ourselves on honesty, integrity and transparency. Our clients can vouch for this. I would be happy to speak to any Leaseholder caught up in this who needs help or advice.
Couldn’t agree more Melissa. We (Cosgroves) are based in Southsea and pride ourselves on the transparent service we offer to clients. There are some terrible companies marketing themselves as block management agents but there are also some excellent ones, and we welcome regulation to tell the difference between the two. We are also available to help anyone in need further along the coast.
Hi, Melissa. I am sure that everyone is different. It is reassuring to know that there are some honest Property Management companies around. I have been a leaseholder since about May 1997. My dad helped me buy a 2 bedroom flat in Worthing which was /has until recently been managed by Parsons Sons and Basley. I have spoken to a couple living next to me in a block of 6 flats and like me they are very concerned about reports they heard through a cleaner contracted by PS and B that they had recently gone bankrupt! What can we do to guarantee being looked after by a more responsible agent, please? I am autistic with learning difficulties.
Well done Jo with your reporting as this needs to be made public as it is affecting many leaseholders. PSB service has been shocking for as long as I can remember. They are not professional, do not communicate thoroughly, rarely came to inspect our building. We have had at least 14 Property Managers in 20 years! Leaseholders are treated as “cash cows” without any thought or concern.
I live in one of the blocks in Worthing, which is managed by Spratts (who come under PS&B). We have been having issues since the beginning of the year. Our gardener hasn’t been paid and has been told not to continue working in the garden, so hasn’t been for 2 months. As a collective, we wrote to the freeholder and they haven’t replied or addressed our concerns.
We only found out that the bank account had been frozen in March and we were then asked to pay our maintenance into the Revolut account which it appears has also been frozen. I was reassured by Spratts that our money was ringfenced in law and that it could not be used to pay any debts accumulated by the owners. Hopefully, that is true, but who knows?!