Service Charge - huge price hike - where to go for help?

Banderman

smileypigface wrote: »

I have just received notice that from 1 April the charge increases to just over £22!
Audit Fee - £0.72
Grounds Maintenance/Landscaping - £5.96
Homeowner Management Charge - £11.83
Play Equipment - £0.34
Surplus/Deficit Brought Forward - £3.74

?

My service charge is £1,950 per year. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

smileypigface

Thank you to the people who posted helpful posts.

As for the posts where people have pointed out their charges are higher so I should count myself lucky or the amount seems very low and the equivalent to a couple of pints so again, I should count myself lucky. I'm afraid you seem to have missed the point somewhat.

We all have expenditure in our lives for one thing or another - we can probably all find someone in the world who pays more than us - but this shouldn't make us just accept our lot without question - surely this is the very fact is why the MSE website is here.

Yes, I know other people pay more - but actually none of us have any idea whether this is a fair comparison as different charges result from different services provided and I doubt that any two locations attract identical services so comparison is irrelevant.

The, apparently quite common, attitude that it's a relatively small amount of money so I should just crack on and pay it without question, quite frankly mystifies me

zcacmxi

From what I've heard Peveral are part of a group of management companies, that also includes "Solitaire Property Management."

I nearly bought a property that had a management charge administered by Solitaire, but I did a search and found people with a lot of problems. The most common complaint was excesive charges, huge increase etc.

A few disgruntled owners have set up a website:
http://www.thetruthaboutsolitaire.co.uk/

zcacmxi

People in leasehold flats that pay £2,000 per annum as a service charge should remember this includes maintenance of common areas like the roof, exterior of property, lift maintenance, etc.

The OP was discussing service charge levied on a Freehold house. The OP is responsible for the maintenance of the roof, exterior, gardens etc and the Service charge is on top of that!