If you can't attend

Assign a Proxy

I, [Your Name], leaseholder of [Your GMV Address], being a member of the Company, appoint [James Evans] as my proxy to attend, speak, and vote on my behalf at the General Meeting of the Company on 12 June 2026 and any adjournment of that meeting.

At a glance

Key issues raised so far

No Transparency

No budget has been provided, and residents have no right to request invoices. Company Administrative costs are less than £10,000 per year, so it is not clear what the rest of the money will be spent on. Maybe it was already spent.

Sales and remortgages

When selling, both LPE1 and TA7 vendor forms require details of all types of payments. Without a budget, we can't answer basic questions that any solicitor or lender will ask: how it is calculated each year or what it is actually spent on.

Loss of protections

Every year government introduces new protections for residents in relation to service charges, and the tribunal is increasingly willing to scrutinise costs and hold companies to account for unreasonable charges. Our lease protections and statutory rights are valuable, and we lose all of them with this new fee.

Administrative errors

The communication of the new bylaw and the issuing of the payment requests have been riddled with errors, direct debits were charged incorrectly, wrong deadlines, and inconsistent information about how to pay.

Future liability risk

Basically any expense that the company incurs could be passed on to residents through this fee, and there is no cap on future increases. This creates a risk of open-ended liability for residents, and it also creates a risk that the fee could be used to pass on costs that would not be allowed under the service charge regime.

Tax implications

With this new fee, company is no longer dormant, it must file accounts with HMRC, it is subject to random, expensive inspections, fines for late filing and errors, and any profit made from the fee will be taxable.

What's the solution?

Specific requests from residents

  • A clear budget showing how the £85,700 will be spent.
  • A thorough explanation of changes to the legal rights and protections of all members.
  • A consultation with all members on the financial and regulatory consequences of this change.
  • A cap on future increases.
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Consider a scenario

You want to dispute an increase?

Service charge route: dispute can be brought in the First-tier Tribunal for £114. The increase has to be reasonable and justified, and only specific types of costs can be included. The tribunal is a simplified court specialising in leasehold disputes, and the process is designed to be accessible for residents without legal representation. If residents win, the tribunal can order the company to reduce the charge and/or refund overpaid amounts, and it can also make orders about legal costs. If the residents lose they will not typically be ordered to pay the company’s legal costs. Every year new protections are added to the service charge regime, and the tribunal is increasingly willing to scrutinise costs and hold companies to account for unreasonable charges.

Member-fee route: Resident don't have automatic right to see budget and invoices, so they must claim in the county court to compel disclosure, which would cost around £500 in court fees alone. That's just to see the budget and invoices, not to dispute the fee itself. Then to dispute the fee itself in court, residents would need to bring a claim under company law, which is more complex and expensive than the leasehold tribunal route. Legal representation would almost certainly be necessary, and legal costs could easily reach several thousand pounds. There are no specific legal protections for residents in this route, and the court would not be able to order the company to reduce the fee or refund overpaid amounts in the same way as the tribunal can with service charges. If residents lose, they could be ordered to pay the company’s legal costs, which could be substantial.

Legal Consequences

How your rights differ under the new member fee

Issue Service charge New GMVML Member fee
Legal basis Lease-based and inside the service charge regime. Claimed to be a separate debt created through company membership and a bylaw.
Who pays Usually apportioned under the lease formula. Flat-rate member charge, payable once per registered member.
Challenge rights Stronger statutory challenge rights. Weaker challenge rights; more dependent on company law and member action.
Budgets and invoices Specific statutory routes exist to inspect relevant costs. Less transparency if treated as company money rather than service charge money.
Consultation Major spend can trigger statutory consultation protections. Those protections do not obviously carry over.
How funds are held Service charge funds generally benefit from trust protections. No equivalent automatic trust protection if treated as company funds.
Future increases Constrained by the lease and service charge rules. Potentially more open-ended unless members step in.
Main route to challenge Leasehold and tribunal-based routes. Demand disclosure, organise members, and if needed push for a general meeting.
Documents

Reference files

These source documents are available here for residents who want to read the underlying papers directly.

General Notice of Meeting

PDF · 220 KB

Formal notice confirming the General Meeting on Friday, 12 June 2026 at 6:00pm via Microsoft Teams.

Member Guidance for General Meeting

PDF · 332 KB

Guidance for members, including how to appoint a proxy and the proxy appointment template.

General Meeting Letter from Directors

PDF · 222 KB

Directors' letter circulated with the General Meeting materials.

Articles of Association 2024

PDF · 682 KB

Memorandum and Articles of Association for GMV, including the Article 23 wording residents are referring to.

Download file

Ringley FAQ Member Fee

PDF · 180 KB

FAQ document circulated about the member fee, useful for checking the explanations given so far.

Download file

Ringley Member Fee Letter

PDF · 210 KB

Letter issued in relation to the member fee, included here so residents can review the original wording.

Download file

Demand with bylaw - anonymised preview

Page 1

COMPANY CONTRIBUTIONS

REQUEST FOR PAYMENT

Ringley Limited

Ringley House

1 Castle Road

London NW1 8PR

Posted on: 09 April 2026

Demand Number: redacted

Your Property Reference: redacted

Greenwich Millennium Village

London

SE10 0BP

Subject: IMPORTANT: RE-ISSUED NOTICE - GMVML Member Contribution 2026/27

Dear Member,

Following the "Request for Payment" issued on 30 March 2026, the Board of Directors has identified several administrative errors in the documentation issued. To ensure full transparency and legal compliance with our Articles of Association, we are formally re-issuing the demand today.

1. Formal Notice of Company Rule (Byelaw)

Pursuant to Article 23 of the Articles of Association, the Board has adopted the following Rule, which is now binding on all Members:

"Pursuant to Article 23 of the Articles of Association, the Board of Directors hereby adopts the following Rule: The Company shall collect an annual Member Contribution from each unique Member, as recorded in the Register of Members, to meet corporate administrative and statutory costs not recoverable via the service charge. The Board of Directors shall determine the rate of the Member Contribution annually based on the Company's requirements, and for the first financial year commencing 1 April 2026, the Board has determined the Member Contribution to be £100.00 per unique Member. This contribution is a contractual debt due thirty days from the date of the formal demand. To ensure the timely collection of funds for Company objectives, any contribution remaining unpaid after thirty days shall incur a fixed administrative late fee of £20.00 and interest at a rate of 4% above the Barclays Bank base rate until the debt is paid in full. The Board of Directors reserves the absolute discretion to waive or vary these late fees and interest. Furthermore, in the event that the Company is required to take formal action to recover an unpaid Member Contribution, the defaulting Member shall be liable for all professional and legal costs, on an indemnity basis, incurred by the Company in the pursuit and recovery of the debt."

2. Adoption of Byelaw

Rule 2026-01 was adopted by the Board of Directors on 19 March 2026.

3. Demand rescinding and re-issuing

We have listened to the feedback from the membership and agree that the previous paperwork was confusing; thereby Ringley have rescinded this demand.

4. What this covers

This fee is a single, annual contribution of £100.00 for the 2026/27 financial year. It covers essential company-related costs, including D&O insurance, audit, legal and secretarial fees, that have been moved out of the service charge to ensure transparency and fairness across the estate.

Page 2
5. Updated Bank Details

To ensure these funds are ring-fenced for Company use, please use our new Barclays Bank account administered by Ringley:

Sort Code: 20-32-37

Account No: 43666697

Account Name: GMV Management Limited

6. What you need to do

If you have already paid: Thank you. No further action is required. Your payment will be allocated to the re-issued demand and transferred to the new account.

If you have not yet paid: Please disregard the previous demand and use the attached updated invoice, ensuring payment is made to the Barclays account details above within 30 days.

Where you were in credit on your Service Charge, these monies were originally allocated to the Members Contribution demand. These funds have been reimbursed and are back showing on your Service Charge account and will not be allocated to this demand.

Yours faithfully,

The Board of Directors

GMV Management Limited

Yours sincerely,

Kate Robinson

Kate Robinson

Ringley Limited (Chartered Surveyors)

02045068246

For and on behalf of GMV Management Limited