Purchased a freehold house that attracts annual management agent fees

ffor99

Hi,

I have purchased a freehold end terraced town house. There are 3 townhouses in my block and we share 6 parking spaces which are bordered by a brick wall and hedging. To gain access to my par kings space(which is part of the land I will own) you need to drive onto a shared bit of the drive first.

My conveyances has said that there is a management service agent to which I am obliged to pay and annual fee of approx £150. This would cover things like hedge trimming and repairs to the brick wall etc

The majority of the development on which I will be buying is mainly leasehold apartments, townhouses, and detached houses.

If my property is freehold does this mean that any management agent fees I need to pay will only be applicable to the parking spaces outside of my property? What I am worried about is if I would need to contribute to any general future works applicable to the surrounding areas of the development?

My conveyancer also said I would need to become a shareholder of some sort of association but not sure what this means.

Is this now common practice for newish properties on these kind of developments?

Many thanks in advance

G_M

You would need to read the terms of the lease (for the shared drive?) or other docs relating to this.

Since you have employed a professional, why not ask him
a) to explain and
b) to send you the relevant docs to read???

Guest101

Basically as part of the purchas eyou are agreeing to become a member of this housing association, which will look after, or pay a company to look after the common grounds of the estate. This is as opposed to paying the council on a non-private street. This however is ontop of council tax, as that pays for alot of things.

Chances are your money will be pooled and shared with the rest of the association and paid to the upkeep all of surrounding areas. I do not believe you can withdraw from this, as it is part of the purchase contract.

But best ask your conveyencer what it states in the contract

ffor99

I have asked my solicitor but he says he is awaiting the management pack. However the vendor has kicked up a fuss and is refusing to pay for this pack although my solicitor has said they can't sell the property without it!

I was just trying to get some prior knowledge, that's all.

I'm just confused how if the property is freehold (100% owned) that there is some sort of lease involved like you say? I don't particularly like the sound of that. I am about 8 weeks into the process, all the searches etc are complete. Just this management pack outstanding and could be the deciding factor whether I pull out or not!

Guest101

you own your land, but not the communal areas, the fees are to maintain those. as they are not council owned, the council would not maintain them, so the owners (ie u and the other freeholders/leaseholders) pay

BobQ

I own a freehold property on an estate like this and pay a management fee to the a site management company. Its certainly common practice on newer estates where the site and its roads have not been adopted by the council.

I clearly cannot say what the situation is for you but in my case the site management company categorise properties on the site and maintain separate accounts for each. So the fees paid by an apartment (for its common areas, cleaning hallways etc) are different than for a maisonette and a house. So in this case the costs are not strictly pooled.

Your costs may be for just the parking but it might also include a share of site upkeep if there are grass verges or pathways to consider.

gld73

I had a similar situation with my last house, which was freehold but had a compulsory monthly management fee for the communal areas of the housing estate. I certainly paid a lot less than the flats, and it meant the area was kept pretty neat in terms of grass cutting, hedge trimming etc in the communal areas. It was initially a surprise finding I had compulsory fees despite being freehold though. I did attend one of the 'shareholder' style meetings where the management company invited all freeholders and leaseholders to hear updates and to vote on issues, so you do get a voice if you want to raise anything.

That was in England, but I'm now relocating to Scotland and all the new build or recently built houses I've looked at there are similar; all freehold, but with monthly or quarterly fees covering the communal areas.

So it's nothing unusual.

stebiz

Just out of interest. Would these fees include sewers etc?

Windsorcastle

I own a freehold house but it comes with a leasehold parking space in the communal car park in front of my house and the attached building which is divided into flats.

I had to buy the lease on the car park space when I bought the house, and I have to pay ground rent and SC which is worked out a small percentage of the fees for the whole plot of land, which includes the 4 leasehold flats next door and the 5 car park spaces.

So, in short, your liability should be limited to whatever your percentage of the lease is for your space; you certainly shouldn't get stung for maintenance related to other leasehold properties. But your solicitor needs to verify all this for you by looking at the title deeds.

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Check the lease regarding the parking space.

Has a parking company infested the site?

robatwork

I see this as a good thing, in general. My house has communal garages for which nobody is solely responsible, and there's no agreement about who maintains what.

If I for example want to repair part of the garage block or pathway, then not only do I have to go and ask the neighbours if they want to contribute, they could object to me doing the work even if I wanted to pay for it alone. Minefield.....