Grassed area new build estate

comeandgo

Most new housing estates have jointly owned areas where all residents are liable for the upkeep. The management company can increase costs but the home owners can vote that particular managment company out and get in another one, well these are the rules on our estates. The rules were documented in the house deeds. Regarding fencing off land, I know in Scotland we cant do that due to right to roam legislation, and the fact we dont have tresspass legislation, anyone can come and stand on it, have a picnic on it etc. as long as they do no damage.

ging84

You absolutely should find out everything you can about the agreement, £12.84 pm might not be a deal breaker, however having a finical liability which is not made completely clear from the outset might. These fees can potentially shoot up when the management agency decides it wants to pay it's self more admin fees to arrange more services which it can spend the residents money on because it has decided they are needed.

moneyistooshorttomention

I know I would wonder in that position whether the £13 approx. per month would ever go up in real terms and be concerned in case it did.

I would also bear it in mind as an extra charge that I personally would still have to meet if I ever became unemployed for a while. Mind you...back in my day...I knew the DHSS (as was) would pay all my mortgage interest from Day 4 until Day Unemployment Finished and my concern was purely and simply to make sure that the only money going out on mortgage payments consisted of capital (which the Building Society would just have to forget about for the duration if it came to it) and interest (payable by DHSS). One of the reasons I took out a repayment mortgage (rather than an endowment mortgage) was because the DHSS wouldn't have paid the endowment part of my mortgage payment, but the building society would still have expected it. That meant I would have had to find this missing bit from my personal money (meant for living on and bills) and I wouldn't have been able to afford that.

So, maybe OP is bearing in mind that, should they become unemployed, then that £13 per month would be unaffordable by them personally (ie out of their personal money). Little as it is, I would have been wary of it back then even. Nowadays (ie where Dole Money is much lower than it was and mortgage interest payment has all sorts of conditions attached to it, including not paying it at all for the first however-many weeks) it would worry me a LOT.

hazyjo

As comeandgo says, it's common. I recently sold a 'new build' (well, 10 years old) which had around £200 a year to pay, but that also covered our two garages (and insurance for them) which had a flat above. We paid every 6 months.

If I'd been made unemployed, that bill would have been the least of my worries lol!

Jx

Winkle1908

I bought a 9 year old house last year and have to pay £11.81 per month for upkeep of grassed areas. To be honest we resent paying it slightly because the work does not cost that much. There are about 40 houses on our development and the grass is cut and the shrubs are cut down but not every month like the itemised bill states. The public can also walk through it, it is however a nice area to walk the dogs, there is no litter and all the little children play football on it and its great in Winter when it snows. I've found out some people don't pay for it, I haven't worked out if this non payment would cause an issue for them if they sell though. I'd rather pay each month because I use it every day, rather than get lumped with a bill.

I read a post the other day by someone who purchased a new build with Barrett homes (sp) had their nice grassed area turn into a Basket ball court which left loads of teenagers, and anti social behaviour. It sounds like the developer lied to them, or at least sold the land.

If the land has not yet been used as part of the development, I would do some real digging, and not necessarily just take the developers word for it. I'm not sure if you could contact the local council offices to see if they have made any provisions to buy it which I think is what happened in the other post. When the houses were sold it was then too late for the residents to do anything. - I'll see if I can dig it out and forward!

Winkle1908

Here you go!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4789210

onefurlongout

Hi all many thanks for all your responses.


I'm not against paying but I certainly want to know what I'm paying for. Its not a deal breaker but I need to see the contract, to understand what is being completed when and by whom, it will also need to have terminate.


Hopefully the residents will set up a resident association to discuss such matters. I'd hate to think it would turn into a basketball court


I will discuss matters with my solicitor as well, as I assume this will turn up in the checks

daveyjp

My advice is avoid. Forward thinking Authorities are now avoiding such arrangements, preferring a contribution to public open space, as after a few years the management isn't kept up to.

bylromarha

Ditto avoid.

We bought a new build in 2006. Had to pay £75 pa for parking space upkeep, garden maintenance and the like. Currently selling and the new owner will have to pay £400pa. The management company do nothing. You complain, they do nothing. Things break. They do nothing.

When I questioned it with the solicitor during the purchase (independent from the builder) he said you buy the house, you are accepting that the maintenance cost can go up as much as deemed fit. You refuse the clause, the builder withdraw from the purchase.

Others on the estate were only told they had a nominal £1pa - which they did for year 1. They were rightly hacked off when it then increased to £150pa yr 2.

But not enough to set up a company to manage the properties themselves - which you can do. I tried, but the residents thought the potential company had no legs, despite all the evidence I showed them.

Better the devil for most of them...and annoyingly I had to grin and bear my money being poured down the drain.