Shared ownership service charge problems

maccp

Dear all

My family and I live in a shared ownership property. We received a letter in the post this weekend telling us we owe over £600 due to an undercharge by the management company for their management of the services we receive such as grass cutting, window cleaning etc. Apparently it goes back 18mths and they have only just discovered it. Strangely there are around a dozen properties here but this mistake only applies to three properties all of them shared ownership? Under the terms of the agreement we have agreed to pay a fee but why should this include mistakes made by the management company ?

We have spoken to our association who are worse than useless except to say we agreed to pay a service charge under the terms of our agreement.

We have always paid our share no problem but Im sure this cant be right ?

propertyman

If it is freehold and subject to a service charge then what you pay and how they recover any expenses in excess of the initial budget are recovered will be in your deeds.

If it is leasehold then this refers to expenses in 1-4-12 to 31-3-13 and therefore if the expense exceeded the budget for that period they are only obliged to notify you by the 30-9-13 ( unless the lease says otherwise).


:(Unless either the lease or title says otherwise, this is paying your share.

Each year they make an estimate of what they think they will spend and the nasty letter is “what they actually spent.”