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Is this a reasonable service charge (London?)
Comments
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My God that's loads! I would not pay it. No way.
Then again, I would never buy a flat.You didn't, did you? :rotfl::rotfl:0 -
If they're charging that, and spending it all, then it must be going somewhere. Is it on routine maintenance, or on management fees? What do the accounts and budget say? And, yes, they should be providing those annually.
If they're not saving anything up in a sinking fund, it's not going to reduce any, unless they cut back on the routine maintenance.0 -
Depends on the location and whether there's a heavy fee component, sinking fund, cost intensive communal areas, etc... I have 2 little 2-bed BTLs which only cost £500-600 p.a, but I've just been served warning of a one off £5k periodic maintenance bill on each this year (after several years) as there is no sinking fund...
Whereas I only paid £1,500 pa in a 2 bed flat in listed building in a fairly posh private estate (4 years ago) and that included the usual insurance & communal energy & Maintenance, but also landscaping, roads repairs, gatekeeping to keep rat-runners out at rush hour and a hefty sinking fund. But we managed that ourselves as a shared freehold so controlled our own costs. Comparable, less well-managed flats locally cost twice that.
So yours seems par for the course on London?0 -
If that's a newish property then the charge seems high. Have you looked at exactly what it is being spent on?0
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£180 a month - outer London. Insurance of the fabric, gardening, cleaning of communal areas etc.
Lifts are a very expensive component, but nobody would want to live there without lifts. And a sinking fund, though it barely covers emergency repairs each year.
It's just a fact of life. If it's too much for you, look elsewhere.0 -
We have just bought a 1930s flat in London. Service charge is £200 per month. Insurance, communal gardening and cleaning are all that is included.0
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camptownraces wrote: ȣ180 a month - outer London. Insurance of the fabric, gardening, cleaning of communal areas etc.
Lifts are a very expensive component, but nobody would want to live there without lifts. And a sinking fund, though it barely covers emergency repairs each year.
It's just a fact of life. If it's too much for you, look elsewhere.
£280 for inner London. All of the above plus hot water.
Feel better yet, OP?0
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