Bought house from housing association 2005. Just got a service charge bill for £548?

rsykes2000

princeofpounds wrote: »

Sarah, you probably did not buy the house at all, you probably bought the leasehold of the house. Which is practically a similar thing, but not exactly. With a leasehold, you basically own the building for a period, but at then end of the lease (99 or 999 years often) it would revert back to the freeholder who owns the ground it stands on (unless you extend the lease which you would have the right to do).

Leaseholders often have to pay a service charge to maintain the fabric of the communal areas - roads, paving, gardening, stairwells, communal piping etc. What can be charged will be specified in the lease document.

Even if you don't think you use communal areas, you probably do. Without it, a broken door on the front of the flats would not get fixed. It may be that the grass verge does not get cut (you do not pay council tax for this, but for things like grass cutting on public land). Graffiti on the entrance gate would not be cleaned. A broken sewage pipe which is not adopted by the water board would not be fixed. Litter and fly tipping of broken white goods would not be sorted. It is likely that even though you own one of the houses, all the flats and the houses are counted as one freehold.

All this would have been perfectly clear, if a bit long winded, in the lease.

Of course it may be you bought the freehold, in which case they don't know what they are talking about. But you need to check your documentation to be sure.

She did say in the first post that it was the freehold that was purchased.

sarah7610

Thanks for all the replies although I do have to point out some things again.

I live in a house not a flat so why should I pay for their lighting and cleaning ect. As for the lamposts, I rang the council and they said they were responsible for those and for the roads and pavements, NOT the HA.
Also, on my deeds, my house is freehold so where does this leasehold come in?

There is another little twist to this. They say we have to pay to have communal grass areas cut. There is one of these at the end of my row, however, there is a great big willow tree in the middle of it which has caused no end of problems with the drains. Three properties, includng mine, are flooded at least 3 times a year when it rains. It has been proved that the tree is the problem but the HA say they will not pay to sort it as it doesn't belong to them but if the grass belongs to them, surely they are responsible for the bloody great tree in the middle of it?
Thanks again
Sarah

sarah7610

There is no breakdown given on the bill, not even any kind of explanation

poppysarah

Double check your deeds. And then you might need to write them a letter explaining it's not in your deeds and they can stop asking you.

Pepzofio

If you have bought the house freehold then you may have ground rent to pay for upkeep of roads and communal areas (although if as you've said these are maintained by the council it's a bit of a mystery!)- but this would normally be a nominal fee of no more than £100pa.

You should not have to pay for any costs associated with other properties on the estate - e.g. communal heating/lighting/electricity for blocks of flats. It sounds to me like you have been sent someone else's service charge in error.

Write to the HA explaining that you have not received a breakdown of costs and that as such you are not prepared to pay anything towards these charges until you do.

princeofpounds

She did say in the first post that it was the freehold that was purchased.

Ah, that's what I get for reading it too fast. Seems like they are trying their luck then. Just one point - it might be freehold with a covenant to help pay (most unlikely though, looks like an admin error to me).

neb_3

you really should check your deeds or if you cant do this then speak to the solicitor / conveyancer who acted for you when you purchased - even if the property is a freehold house there may be an obligation to pay towards communal charges - it will be set out clearly in your deeds if there is.

If there is no obligation then no you shouldnt have to pay it but please do check your legal position re the deeds before making assumptions about whether you are or are not liable to pay it.