Service charge increased by 900%!!

PlutoinCapricorn

To get back to basics:

- charges that you do not accept may be disputed: for example, lift maintenance when your block has not got a lift! The company may be trying it on in the hope that you will not notice anything, or more likely they have cut and pasted another block's details.

- charges that you think are excessive may be questioned: for example, you may find that people in a block similar to yours may be paying a lot less for maintaining their communal garden which is also much larger. Ideally these contracts are put out to tender and the company should be trying to get a good deal.

- legitimate charges that are not presented correctly or in good time may be rejected on the grounds that procedures have not been correctly followed or the bills are "out of time". Everything must be itemised, and sent within a specified time limit. I got some big refunds and write-offs for services I had actually received for these reasons.

- where some repairs and major works are concerned, leaseholders may not be liable if it can be shown that the work is needed because of negligence on the part of the management. For example, there was water damage in the corridors, but as this was caused by improper installation in a previous exercise, the leaseholders did not pay anything.

- you should be kept informed of future developments. I was told that the maintenance of our CCTV, entryphones etc would be put out to tender, and later the selected company was announced.

- sink funds are common: there are pros and cons. People who do not pay into one right from the start should be consulted before this is imposed on them.

- leaseholders often manage their own blocks. Again there are pros and cons. There may be battles between wealthy leaseholders who want to spend a lot to add value to the property and others who want to spend as little as possible!

Shelldean

wow thats a steep charge IMHO.

Ours is appox £400 per year ( house) with the flats paying slightly more as they have stairwells and communal areas that are cleaned.
I live in a courtyard of houses, and our charges cover everything from gardening, lighting rubbish clearance (dumped bits) money towards certain projects ( tv aerials and new huge communial bins) and also included is a extra rubbish collection.
And this is London so I think we're actually doing rather well

PlutoinCapricorn

£1,500 approx without a sink fund here. In fairness, they have cut it a bit by finding cheaper contractors here and there.

tim123456789

depends what you are getting:

if you have a lift, that will be a money pit

if you have a concierge, that will cost quite a bit

if you have communal constant hot water, that will cost twice as much as installing you own supply (but you wont be allowed to).

Most managed properties include insurance and, even where the MA have tried to get a competitive quote, this can vary by 400% depending upon location

OTHO in the grand scheme cleaning and gardening ought to cost: not a lot.

But it's not possible to compare absolute amounts without knowing what is included

PlutoinCapricorn

Yes, lift and resident caretaker are included.

RupertTheCat

£287 a quarter doesn't sound bad to me either - I have a property that is £800 a quarter!!

My partner's father pays £1200 a quarter for a flat in a building with 3 flats. Now that is steep.

Is there a lot you can do about the charges? One of my properties just shifted to a new management company and they put the charges up 50% a month. I just rolled my eyes and paid.

Blue_Max

Hi Nayine

I was in a similar position and was under a lot of stress in the last couple of years; so I do empathise. Had to do a lot of studying but won in the end :-)

From what you said, "pest control" and "security charges" appear to be rediculous.
But the £50/year for ground rent and £30/quarter for service charges seem very low.
It is important that the flats are adequately maintained to ensure quality of living and the value of your property.
Having said that there are rougue managing agents around. Leaseholders should make sure that certfied/audited accounts are kept and available for inspection. I recently became a director of our management company. Looked through the bank statements and found that the managing agent can not produce invoices/recipts for £20,000 of service charges collected!

"Sinking Fund" is the monies collected and accumulates for any major expenses in future. Not a bad thing, at least in principle.

Most important thing is to read and understand your lease.
It is the legally binding contract and paramount.
For clarification of any clauses, contact
http://www.lease-advice.org
You can phone them but you get much better advice if you send them copy of your lease with a letter about the issues.
Once they have the documents and a case number issued to you, you can communicate by email with the person actally handling your case. From my experience, I found that they are very knowledgeable about leasehold matters.

Another document to look into is the
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and 1987
You can view and download it as a .pdf file at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/70/contents

After getting advice from Lease-Advice, check to see if the managing agent is a member of ARMA, RICS and/or OmbudsmanScheme.
They also look into complaints.

http://www.arma.org.uk/public/members_search.cfm
http://www.rics.org/uk/regulation/complaints
http://www.ombudsman-services.org/property.html

Good Luck!

Jamie_B_29

Hi,

I have had similar problems when I purchased a flat some years ago. I have since sold the property and bought a freehold house because of the issues caused by managing agents & service charges.

I also used work for a property company, and my role was assiting leaseholders acquire the "Right to Manage". The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 was introduced to bring free market conditions to property management, as in more cases than not the freeholder is related to the managing agent, and they instruct themselves!

Only through Right to Manage (or purchasing the freehold - very expensive) can you remove incumbant and expensive agents. If anyone would like any advice please feel free to message me- I am more than happy to help as I know exactly what your going through!!

giddypenguin

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