MENTAL Service Charge Prices!!

vickib3107

Me and my boyfriend bought our 1st flat this September. Its a block of 4 1960's built ex council in Hertfordshire.

The service charge is £33.97 per month (very cheap i know) and since we have moved in they have painted the walls of the common areas and cut the grass and trees twice.

We are one of two leaseholders with the other two a council tenant and a key worker.

We have just had our reviewed service charge consultation through and they want to hike the service charge up to £113.98 per month!!! Nearly £80.00 extra a month!!

Has anyone else had this problem and can anyone help me out with some expert advice as to what i can say or do to protest this!! I know they will be putting the prices up annually as they are variable service charges......BUT THAT’S MADNESS!!

:eek:Cheers guys!:eek:

BitterAndTwisted

Next year's service-charges budget are usually based on the current year's expenditure but legend has it that in blocks such as yours the s/c are weighted with the leaseholders paying well over the odds to subsidise the council tenants.

Dispute the increase and ask to see what the figures are based on. It's entirely possible that there are major projected works in the pipeline or that the increase will be allocated to a sinking-fund for those future works.

Still, just over £100 month doesn't necessarily sound completely excessive.

Did your solicitor question the Local Authority about whether there were any major works planned in the next five years during the conveyancing process?

vickib3107

When we bought it the solicitor did ask and there are no major works taking place, however, they are putting in a new aerial (digital tv) and the tenants have had new front doors (not me nor the other leaseholder mind you....) so i'm prob paying for those.....still seems a massive jump and i am going to dispute it so wish me luck....

valten

‘maintenance fees’ are a real pain and are subject to little or no regulation. You also have virtually no consumer rights and thus companies can pretty much charge what they like in the knowledge there is little you can do about it. It’s a total racket.

I would suggest talking to your neighbours, they will also be subject to the same fee’s and will almost certainly be just as outraged at a 400% rise. If enough of you agree you can fire your maintenance company.

BitterAndTwisted

I think you'll find that the Council are the freeholders and you won't be able to fire them.

Where is FireFox when you need her, she's a seasoned veteran in these things.....

valten

I also don’t think £33.97 is necessarily ‘very cheap’. It all depends what you are getting in return.

If you’re getting the lawn cut a few times a year and the halls swept once a week then £33.97 is about right. If however you have lifts, a car park and security cameras then it’s a total bargain.

If all they are doing is basic lawn maintenance and painting the halls as you indicate from your post then £113.98 is totally unacceptable.

valten

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I think you'll find that the Council are the freeholders and you won't be able to fire them.

I can't see anything in the original post that specifically states if the maintenance is done by the local council or a private maintenance company.

Perhaps the OP could clarify?

valten

To the OP, check out the following thread from earlier in the year. Some good advice here.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2371297

Euphoria1z

when i bought my flat, we were told service charge around £400 per yr (aprx £33 per month). Which is what we started off paying.

3 yrs down the line, my current monthly payment is £75 per month.

BitterAndTwisted

It's a four property ex-Council block with two leaseholders, a council tenant and a key worker so the chances are that the freeholder is the Council and they are also managing it.

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I think before you can dispute anything, your first step needs to be to find out from your freeholder why the service charge is increasing so much. It could be for many different reasons. Once you've determined this, you can then argue if you think the cost you're being charged for that particular element is unreasonable. Hopefully it's just to recoup the cost of a responsive repair and will drop back down once it's been paid for, after the year is up.