Hi all,

Can anyone tell me an actual rough figure of the annual service charges? Say for
a studio flat.

Do they have any extra sporadic charges on top of these, say for example renovations?

Thanks

The Du Cane Court Residents' Association committee would like to respond to a post on this thread as we feel it is not representative of the situation at DCC.

We don't know what your member means stating that the service charge is “poor value.” The service charge covers the cost of running and maintaining the building. The running costs include the supply of hot water all year round and central heating during the winter (October to April), cleaning, gardening​ and ​staffing costs​ including 24-hour concierge and security,​ and so on. The maintenance is organised and carried out to a ten-year plan so that, as far as possible, large fluctuations are avoided.

The Du Cane family had nothing to do with the construction of the building. It was built by the Central London Property Trust who were also responsible for Hightrees House on Nightingale Lane.

The figures quoted by your member for the number of flats in the building are quite simply wrong; there were never as few as 420 flats. It is hard to know exactly how many flats there were originally as some flats have been divided, a few within a year or two of the building being completed, others more recently, but it is likely to have been around 650. There are 676 flats in the building today.

It is highly inaccurate to say that many flats have been regularly flooded.

Leaks do occur from time to time and any necessary repairs are carried out promptly. We have a resident plumber who is very familiar with the kinds of problems that arise.

Many of the internal walls in the building are thin and do not give the best sound insulation, some residents do notice noise from adjoining flats. Sound insulation standards are much higher nowadays than they were 75 years ago and a newly built building would be better from this point of view. The building management are always helpful in dealing with noise problems.

We can assure you quite categorically that Du Cane Court is not used for care in the community, for patients from Springfield Hospital or for police cases. We cannot comment on the assertion about battered wives, but can say that we are not aware of any such incidents in the last 30 years in the block.

It is true that one resident did die following a fire in his flat.

What your member fails to mention is that the gentleman concerned was a hoarder with huge quantities of possessions, newspapers, magazines and so on stacked high in every available space in this flat. The fire started when a burning candle in his bathroom fell over and ignited the newspapers stacked in the bath.

The difficulty with opening the door of the flat arose primarily from all the goods stacked in the hall leaving only minimal circulation space. Apart from some smoke damage in the corridor outside the flat where the fire broke out​,​ no other flat in the building was affected by the fire and no other lives were put at risk​. ​

The fire brigade inspects the building every year and informs the managing agents of any changes or improvements that are required. The fire brigade is happy with all of the fire precautions, escape arrangements and so on.

The Association’s experience of the management company is rather different from that of your member. They maintain an office in the building that is staffed during working hours and the door is normally open. The senior manager responsible for Du Cane Court is in the office for three or four days each week. I do not believe Knight Frank and Rutley ever managed Du Cane Court.

We have no knowledge of the reviewer’s 'mad neighbour' and have asked Allsop about the allegations made; they have no knowledge of them.

I do wonder why the reviewer has not complained to Allsop about the ​'W​est ​E​nd dancer​'​ living above. The management are always very swift to act on noise complaints and if, as the review suggests, the flat above has no carpets on the floor they will make sure that carpets are put down as this is required by every lease in the building​ except for ground-floor flats​.

The present Residents’ Association committee includes an accountant, a lawyer and an architect amongst its members. The accountant carries out a very thorough audit of the service charge accounts each year and finds these to be in order each time.

We find that by co-operating with the management and freeholder owners (Dorrington Belgravia) we achieve much for the benefit of all residents. The committee is consulted and involved in decision making and budget planning to a greater degree than is statutorily required.

It would be fair to say that Du Cane Court is not the best place for raising children, but many babies are born here with the parents typically moving on after a couple of years and we know of a family with two nearly-teenage children who have lived here very happily for over ten years. Our experience is that the elderly residents are very happy to be here; the building is warm and secure.

In closing we would point out that to the best of our knowledge no lender has ever declined to lend on a flat in Du Cane Court, the prices of flats (both to purchase and to rent) compare favourably with other flats in the area and when flats to come onto the market they are snapped up quickly.

We love our block and hate to have it disparaged in such a way by someone who clearly has no real knowledge of what it is like to live in this historic and beautiful building. Many thanks for the opportunity to respond.

It's very noisy - that's a lot of people living on top of one another and you can hear doors slamming and people coming and going day and night????


== Chess ==

I personally would hugely recommend Du Cane Court.

I've owned a 2-bed flat here for 7 years now and lived in it (first with flat mates and then my boyfriend and now husband) for about 5 of them. I have to agree with other posters that the service charge is extortionate (it does however include heating, hot water, buildings insurance and all the services in the building like in-house plumber on tap (sorry!), 24 hour porters (brilliant for deliveries) and security, lifts etc) and there are quite regular boiler maintenance issues which is annoying, but the noise is luck of the draw depending on what neighbours you have. My flat is at the back so generally actually lovely and quiet and I've rarely had noise problems in all the time I've lived here.

I love the sense of community in the building too (you get to know all the porters, there's a Du Cane Facebook group etc), and obviously you can't beat the location as Balham is on your doorstep and you're perfectly situated between Tooting and Wandsworth commons - less than 10 min walk to both commons.

We are expecting our first baby next month so I can't comment on what it's like raising children here..but will let you know in 6 months or so!

"One of the residents wrote a book a few years ago telling how it was used by the Germans in WWII, so it has interesting history."

Please forgive me if I have a wee chortle, mungomuffit, but this is not entirely true. Maybe your knowledge of WW2 is sketchy, but Germany neither defeated nor occupied the UK.

Rumour had it that Hitler had his eye on Du Cane Court as a potential residence for his staff if Germany had defeated us. - which didn't happen.

It's very noisy - that's a lot of people living on top of one another and you can hear doors slamming and people coming and going day and night????

Hi there, we have been living in DCC for 18 months in a 1 bedroom flat. It has been great as a little bolt hole while we were first moving in together, getting engaged and then getting married. Now that we are married though we are excited to be making plans for moving out. As someone previously mentioned the noise of the neighbours (while not loudly noisy) is constant, you are always aware here that you are surrounded by people.

In addition, any of the flats on the front of the building have the constant hum of Balham High Road as background noise. And there have recently been some issues with the drains in the dry weather and the rain - I gather we were particularly unfortunate but our kitchen and bathroom flooded from the drains. The real kicker for me has been finding a cockroach in the kitchen after the flooding. I do have friends with a baby here, they are on the 7th floor which I believe is quieter and its a bonus having the lifts and the 24 porters who are all lovely and very helpful. If you've heard all this and you're still keen then you'll know your decision. good luck. Oh and as far as I know, no pets allowed. There are two dogs in the building on special allowance but there was an issue about a dog having been snuck in recently and we all had letters reminding us they are not allowed.

Thanks Anett, that's what the front desk said but there was no one in the office today when we were there...I will have to get the estate agent to ask I guess.

Hi there,
I am surprised they could not answer to your question.
As far as I know pets are not allowed. We rent a studio here and I think it is in our contract.

But you should ask someone from the office next to the reception.

Hope I could help.
Anett

Hi there
Today we looked at a flat to purchase in Du Cane Court and fell in love with it.
We have a question which the front desk was unable to answer....are you allowed pets? We have a small dog, a Cavapoo (poodle and KC Spaniel cross) and if pets are not allowed, then this could be a deal breaker....anyone know???

I would have to disagree with ducaner. We are raising our toddler at Du Cane Court and have had no complaints or issues in doing so. I'm hoping that we are not the exception to the rule!

I have to say from personal experience that Du Cane Court is not a place for children. Space in flats is limited and all the floors are of wooden floor board construction where footsteps resonate through the the floor below, toddlers often create complaints. Baby's crying echos up and down the corridors and around the courtyards during the summer which cause neighbours to complain and alienates parents from other people within the building. It is ideal first home for young couples and single people and also pensioners, in fact the building houses more residents between 80 - 100+ years old, more than any local care home. It's a great place to live, but if children are in the equation, it's not the most acceptable place I'm afraid.

Thanks all! Tack Stine! The feedback corresponds quite well with our impressions...good to know!

We have lived in block for nearly 12 years and love it.

And having Arthur Smith as a neighbour can only ever be a plus!