Maintenance charge for shared areas?

frafferty

Hiya,

I need a bit of advice and guidance please

Our house is ex HA. We have owned it for 11 years and last year the HA decided that they were going to start charging everyone in the road for maintenance of shared areas, landscaping etc. So last year we (and the other 18 houses of which 7 are still HA) started to pay the HA £5 per month for the maintenance. This year we get a letter to say that the price is going up to £11 per month. I think that is a ludicrous amount to pay for 2 men in a van to come round with a pair of hedgecutters, if they show up at all :mad: Our deeds state that they can take a charge of £1 for this but they had never aked for anything until last year. So do I have any right to say to them that £11 is too much and that I will only be paying them the £1 stated in the deeds? The house is freehold.

TIA

dander

I'm sorry, I can't help other than to bump your thread a bit.
I've never heard of anyone with a freehold house having to pay for maintenance of communal grounds before, but I'm sure there are cases where it has to happen. I'd certainly be inclined to seek some kind of legal advice if you've got deeds that you can take for someone to read through. Maybe start with the CAB?

phill99

In terms of what it says in your deeds, it is impossible for us to comment. My parents live in a freehold house on a small estate that was built 15 years ago and thay have a maintenance charge for the common landscaped areas. Its quite common now as Local Authorities, who used to adopt landscaped areas on estates don't seem to do so any more because of the long term cost implications.

iamcornholio

This seems a bit unusal to have a house with communal areas. Are these areas really communal areas or just random areas of land owned by the landlord (incidently is this council or a proper housing association?)

Anyway, if there is a covenant ot suchlike in the deeds allowing for a charge, then you may be liable for it.

But the charges must be reasonable, and no more than market rates. Ask the HA for a breakdown of their charges, and information as to how the cost was determined and how the contract was let - you may get this via a FOI request if the HA wont provide the details willingly. Obviously this should not be a cash-cow for the HA

You can challenge the costs via a rents tribunal

You need to investigate the actual rights of the HA to charge you, and your obligation to pay, as the charge from the HA may not be enforceable. If your deeds do as you say, allow for £1 payment, then the HA would have to prove that they can actually enforce a charge more than this. But as often in cases like this, its all in the detail and wording

Initally, I would request a full writen explantaion of the HA's rights to make the charge and where their rights to charge come from, and then the breakdown of the costs and contract details.

In the meantime, pay your £1 ("under protest" if need be) as then you are not in breach of your existing agreement