Ground Rent and Service Charge

adriandilly

patman99 wrote: »

So, there are a total of 60 properties on the development. It is unusual that you are all paying different service charge amounts.

Not quite, our block of 9 is part of the 11 in our courtyard (block of flats plus two coachhouses). In turn this 11 is part of the 40 properties managed here.
So our eight flat neighbours and us, pay three charges 1/9 + 1/11 + 1/40


I've asked for an audited account this evening from Solitaire. I shall look through all paperwork tonight, find out what could be done and also approach the neighbours and ask their views perhaps if they're in.

What a great way to spend a Friday night eh? Oh well, basically snowed in anyway!

tim123456789

z1985m wrote: »

service and ground maintence companys are complete con artists, they really are. the charges they charge just don't add up. there should be more regulations on how they operate because at the moment they can just do as they please.

In E&W there is perfectly good legislation that stops agents doing as they please.It isn't the legislators fault that flat owners can't be bothered to find out what rights they have been given and how to enforce them.To the OP. The charges that you have received are within the normal range. Whether they have actually be incurred is another mattertim

mynameisdave

£50 "health and safety" costs.

I'd love to see this broken down!

Sounds expensive. I pay £65pcm for Service Charges (and that a large block of flats) and some of the self contained flats/houses on the development pay about £20 per month.

glottalstop

Your development must be quite new. It may be that no annual accounts are available yet - they are due 6 months after year end.

Your overall charges seem to be within a normal range, no individual charge seems extreme, although the ground rent does seem a little high. Your contributions to Reserves are significant, but that can be a good thing.

When first reading your charges it looked like a residents management company (RMC) had taken over. Solitaire / OMPM would not charge you by item for directors insurance, audit fees and company secretarial services for example. It is possible that Solitaire / OMPM have been displaced by or come under the control of an RMC; I also vaguely remember seeing a Right To Manage case where part of a courtyard development broke away from Solitaire, so you may find there is now a mixture of managers for separate parts of the development. Separate charging for insurance is another sign of this. It may also be the case that Bellway have now sold the freehold.

All these features indicate you have already been saved from what could have been a much worse problem. Before removing OMPM a flat in my block used to pay £1,510pa service charges, in a development similar in size to yours. We have reduced that to £1,260pa under RTM, plus we still pay OMPM £470pa estate charges and £175pa ground rent.

You may have picked this up from the earlier posts - it would really pay you to thoroughly understand the lease and management arrangements, being a leaseholder can be a nightmare (see www.thetruthaboutsolitaire.co.uk ). You should have had some expectation of these charges from the conveyancing when you purchased.

Among the post you might find an invitation to a residents meeting. And as you suggest yourself, why not knock on a neighbour's door and ask what they make of it ?

glottalstop

Tim - I agree with you to some extent, but the unscrupulous managers rely on people being unaware or frightened of the complex legislation, and the time and cost to get compensation.

Eg when you sell the landlord/manager will charge you a fee for an "info pack" as part of the conveyancing, knowing you cannot proceed without it. The worst companies charge £300+VAT, almost as much as the solictors fees, a fair charge would be half that. You would have to apply to a Tribunal to get money back - it can take 12+months, they would put a lawyer against you, you could lose, and end up having to pay court and legal fees.

Scams operated by big freeholder-manager-contractor groups are much more complex and obscure than this, can run into many £000's each year, the practice is widespread, and very few people have been helped by the law so far. In fact the only people making money so far seem to be the lawyers and some outstanding developments who are large enough to stand up and fight - City Heights, Matthew Parker Street, Charter Quay, St Georges Wharf - just have a look at www.cqra.org as an example. It is stunning how hard they are having to work for justice, and the extent to which they have been ripped off is astonishing.

The industry is only weakly self-regulated, and dominated by a few big players who are the worst offenders. Current law does not adequately protect leaseholders, it merely provides a process to compensation if you are savvy and determined enough. Its a bit like having permission to sue the guy who shot you.

In the case of the many hundreds of thousands of people in managed retirement developments, the distress this causes in later life is as unfair as the financial burden, and yet the government considers current legislation and regulation to be adequate. Please take a moment to have a look at some of what has been going on - www.carlex.org.uk

G_M

Some good advice/info above. But be aware that self-managing is quite onerous. It depends on goodwill by a small number of residents to take on some hefty responsibility. If they don't get co-operation (especially over annual payments - chasing non-payers could be a nightmare!) it can be very discoraging.

On the other hand, it's a great way to meet neighbours, make friends, organise additional local events (ie down the pub after a meeting or whatever turns you on).

patman99

Once you have started self-management, you then begin the process of appointing a M/C to take-over the day-to-day running of the site. Just avoid 'Pier Street Management' and 'Century Property Management' both based in Pier Street, Southend. They have a less-then-savoury reputation.

Norman_Castle

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/leaseholders_rights/service_charges

moromir

mynameisdave wrote: »

£50 "health and safety" costs.

I'd love to see this broken down!

It would be quite easy... a lot of blocks have fire risk assessments on an annual basis for insurance purposes, or have building related surveys, which serves as proof of the construction of the building, when flats are sold these are often requested by purchaser's solicitors as part of leasehold enquiries.

adriandilly

Hi again,
Just got a final reminder (dated 28/02/2011) to pay our Ground Rent and Service Charge and as such we have only 7 days to cough up
I have just been reading up on legislation though

Apparently, ground rent is supposed to be requested using this form....
http://www.lease-advice.org/documents/Form_of_Rent_Demand_Notice.pdf
or
a form with substantially the same content

I've been reading page 21 of this...
http://www.lease-advice.org/documents/Service_Charges.pdf


and amongst other things, a demand must include...

• The date the payment is due
• "certain supporting information, provided as notes to the Notice."

Our demand (sent 10 Dec 2010) included neither of these.
My questions are...

• Should the payment due date have been included?
  (but, there are three lines of ground rent shown -
  "Ground rent for Half Year due 01/01/2010 in advance 125.00"
  "Ground rent for Half Year due 01/07/2010 in advance 125.00"
  "Ground rent for Half Year due 01/01/2011 in advance 125.00" )
• What supporting information is required?
• How different can the form be to the template (linked above)?
• and if we don't pay, what would realistically happen?

Thanks in advance
Adrian