Merry Xmas Leaseholder. Pay me MORE money!

Newtie_Newt

Merry Christmas!!! :beer: In need of advice..!


This afternoon I received an email from our charming freeholder stating that as of next year service charges will increase by 40%. We own (leasehold) a 2 bed Victorian conversion in a house where the other flat is owned and rented out by the freeholder.


This year the freeholder has had to shell out a lot of money due to his tenants practically destroying the place. None of this has had anything to do with us but I know it's been an expensive year for the FH.


We feel wholeheartedly that he is trying to recuperate his costs somehow by increasing 'service' charges. Incidentally, we've never really understood what the service charge covers anyway as the lights in the communal hallway are connected to our own electricity supply and there's certainly no cleaning or decorating of communal parts going on.


Any advice on what we can do to help prevent ourselves being scammed here?


Thank you!

G_M

Newtie_Newt wrote: »

. Incidentally, we've never really understood what the service charge covers anyway as the lights in the communal hallway are connected to our own electricity supply and there's certainly no cleaning or decorating of communal parts going on.

Thank you!

Ask???!

What do the annual audited reports say?

More advice here:

http://www.lease-advice.org/

Newtie_Newt

Annual audited reports? Never heard of them!


Our lease states the service charge is an 'administrative charge' (though it's always been called a service charge on invoices) and that the lessor is 'entitled to a minimum sum of fifty pounds per annum'. No mention of % increase and we paid £75 last year.


Ploughing though lease-advice.org it appears that we would need to take the matter to a tribunal and this can be lengthy and costly.

G_M

Have you asked for them?

Why do you keep paying if you're not provided with them and not told where the money goes?

:huh:

You go to a tribunal if you don't get satisfactory responses to your written requests, but by the sound of it you've never even bothered to write and ask......

ValHaller

Newtie_Newt wrote: »

This afternoon I received an email from our charming freeholder stating that as of next year service charges will increase by 40%. We own (leasehold) a 2 bed Victorian conversion in a house where the other flat is owned and rented out by the freeholder.


This year the freeholder has had to shell out a lot of money due to his tenants practically destroying the place. None of this has had anything to do with us but I know it's been an expensive year for the FH.


We feel wholeheartedly that he is trying to recuperate his costs somehow by increasing 'service' charges. Incidentally, we've never really understood what the service charge covers anyway as the lights in the communal hallway are connected to our own electricity supply and there's certainly no cleaning or decorating of communal parts going on.

With you so far

Newtie_Newt wrote: »

Annual audited reports? Never heard of them!


Our lease states the service charge is an 'administrative charge' (though it's always been called a service charge on invoices) and that the lessor is 'entitled to a minimum sum of fifty pounds per annum'. No mention of % increase and we paid £75 last year.


Ploughing though lease-advice.org it appears that we would need to take the matter to a tribunal and this can be lengthy and costly.

So this year you are being asked for £105? And you feel your freeholder is trying to recover costs on his flat which was trashed? On yer bike! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I suggest you go with G_M's advice and get hold of the accounts. Bear in mind if you want them audited - which I expect you would be entitled to, then this would be reflected in increased service charges .....

chris_m

ValHaller wrote: »

So this year you are being asked for £105? And you feel your freeholder is trying to recover costs on his flat which was trashed? On yer bike! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

To be perfectly honest, if the increase is only to £105/year, I wouldn't waste too much time on it. Many people pay more than that in ground rent alone.
Yes, it would be useful to see the accounts but only to check that there's nothing untoward which might cause further steep increases in the future if unchecked.

Kynthia

Surely the OP has misposted the amount and their service charge must be more than that, as wouldn't building insurance alone for the property come to more?

chanz4

£120 site mantinance fee we pay barratts

ACG

For £105 or £75 a year i dont think you could honestly expect too much in terms of maintenance anyway.

A gardener would cost more than that if they came once a month for an hour. A decorator would charge more than that for a days work.

Percentage wise its a massive jump, in reality its not a massive jump. Question it by all means just to ensure they are not doing it year after year, but as has been suggested its not a huge amount its not worth spending too much time on.

Newtie_Newt

Buildings insurance is separate from the service charge and we pay roughly £190 per year. We do see the documents relating to this. Ground rent is £250 per year as stated in our lease.


We have one flat in a house, it is not a purpose built property so no managing agents like Barrats etc. The FH manages the property on his own.









We may need to ask to check accounts but fear that this will put up our service charge next year.








How do we have control over how much the FH increases service charge by each year? He could increase it each and every year couldn't he?

Kynthia

I used to own a flat that was in a building that had two flats and a shop. The freeholder was the shop owner and split everything three ways. The service charge, which included building insurance and a fee for his time, varied between £350 and £1.5k per year depending on what work needed doing. I'm struggling to see how you might be ripped off but ask to see what the money is needed for.