Sudden new 'management' charges on our leasehold maisonette

MikeRB_2

Hi,

We've been paying £45 a year ground rent since 2005 when we moved into our 1 bed leasehold maisonette.

Today, a demand arrives for £91.94 for a year for a 'management fee'. There is a card with it saying how THEY are saving us money as it should be £110+VAT. Gee thanks! Now, the card has a lot of stuff on it trying to justify this charge but in my eyes they do nothing on the upkeep of the land these properties are situated on.

Is this legal that they can demand this money with no notice (its due date is 1st April, received 29th Apr)? What's to stop them demanding more money for other 'services'?

I'm a bit worried as we arn't financially well off and every penny is going towards our first child due in June.

I pay my ground rent which I understand is my obligation, but can I refuse to pay this?

Debras_Angel

MikeRB wrote: »

Hi,

We've been paying £45 a year ground rent since 2005 when we moved into our 1 bed leasehold maisonette.

Do you pay the ground rent direct to the freeholder or a management company?

Today, a demand arrives for £91.94 for a year for a 'management fee'. There is a card with it saying how THEY are saving us money as it should be £110+VAT. Gee thanks! Now, the card has a lot of stuff on it trying to justify this charge but in my eyes they do nothing on the upkeep of the land these properties are situated on.

Is it the same company asking for the management fee?

Is this legal that they can demand this money with no notice (its due date is 1st April, received 29th Apr)? What's to stop them demanding more money for other 'services'?

Normally within Leasehold you will pay a fee for the management of the building/common areas on an annual basis.

You may not have been paying if this is a new development and they've only handd over the management to a company now.

Do they state what the payment is for?

I'm a bit worried as we arn't financially well off and every penny is going towards our first child due in June.

I pay my ground rent which I understand is my obligation, but can I refuse to pay this?

You should have had the information when you bought the place, you need to check this out and you can get advice from here. http://www.lease-advice.org.uk/

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Debs

MikeRB_2

Do you pay the ground rent direct to the freeholder or a management company?

Direct to the managment company.

Is it the same company asking for the management fee?

Yep.

Normally within Leasehold you will pay a fee for the management of the building/common areas on an annual basis.

It's odd as we've only ever paid ground rent until now. I guess I will just pay up. Many thanks.
You may not have been paying if this is a new development and they've only handd over the management to a company now.

Do they state what the payment is for?

They list reasons such as employing people to process ground rent etc etc.

Richard_Webster

Look at your lease to see if they are entitled to charge for this kind of thing. If they are not insuring the property or responsible for structural repair/maintenance, then it is quite possible that there is no service charge provision in the lease and they are not entitled to charge for it.

Some managing agents are notorious for scams. Google their name and you may find other comments.

cattie

If the company is collecting ground rent and/or service charges on behalf of the freeholder, then they are entitled to charge a fee for this service.

I don't know where you live, but in London it's very common to have to pay a management fee like this.This fee doesn't contribute in anyway to upkeep of grounds, neither does ground rent. Ground rent pays for the use of the land on which the property stands. Service charges, if any are payable, sometimes contribute to upkeep of surrounding grounds, but you'd need to read the lease to find out if this is applicable to you.