is property management service fee fair ?

gazpacho_uk

I purchased a new build property in Aug 2008. I was not aware of any property management fee applicable and have not been asked or paid any such fee whilst I have been in my property, but now 19 months later and a bill has landed through my letterbox giving me 30 days to pay a bill of £111.00. This might not sound much to get wound up about but when I read the breakdown of charges Iam being charged for:

Window cleaning
ground/carparking maintenance
estate repairs
electrical repairs

This is frustrating as I own my own driveway, my own parking space and garage and I certainly dont have windows cleaned by this company.

On the development, which is made up of two cu-de-sacs there are a number of apartments. these are not accessible from the cu-de-sac I live on and for me to benefit from any of the landscaped grounds i would have to walk 1/4 of a mile to get round to the other cul-de-sac and the maintained area. I cannot view the area from my property either. There are 20 houses on the cul-de-sac I live on and all have received this bill and all have private driveways with garages. there are no planted areas that are maintained by any third party company. The second cul-de-sac comprises of the apartments and some houses that have shared carparking facilities.
I have contacted the property management company (HLM ) who have basically disregard my concerns, stating the payment is much lower than those living in the apartments and the fee MUST be paid or legal action will taken against me.

If anyone has any advise or can assist me in this matter I will me grateful.

Do I have a leg to stand on ?
can I reasonably dispute this "fee" ?
is there anything the property owners can do collectively to dispute this ?
can HLM take legal action against me if I have a valid reason for not paying their "fee"

thanks for reading, I hope you can help !

ormus

when you signed your lease or buying contract, it will have stated the fees involved.
virtually all blocks of flats have a similar arrangement. mainly for the maintainance of the common hold/parts of the property.

hence i would never ever buy a flat.

as for the amount? well it sounds very cheap compared to other horror stories you hear about.

gazpacho_uk

thanks ormus,

I have a three bed house not a flat ! it just happens that there is a block of apartments/flats on the same development, but these are not accessible from the private houses. The flats are on the second cu-de-sac and there is no connecting pathway or road. the flats cannot even be seen from my property.

We did sign something regarding this, but when I questioned it with the builder, it was stated that any cost would be minimal, but it would probably not apply to us as we were not in the part of the development where the flats are. In hindsight (if only) I would not have signed anything regarding property management or at least put up more of an objection.
As HLM or any other property management company did not contact us for payment at the time of purchase, we thought that what Bloor (the builder) said verbally was probably correct...... that was until now, 19 months down the line.
(looks like a nightmare ahead.................)

daveyjp

To stall whilst you research whether you are liable (it will be in your contract of sale when you pourachsed the property) ask for fully audited accounts showing how the figure has been arrived at.

gazpacho_uk

thanx for that Davey ... Iam compiling a letter right now (to buy me some time)