Service charges.

Hermia

eddddy wrote: »

I'm assuming there's an element of sarcasm there...

I guess the big difference is that when you own a house you are more likely to change light bulbs, clean the hallway, cut the grass etc yourself - rather than paying contractors to do it. Which reduces costs.

In theory, leaseholders could also do these jobs themselves, to reduce costs - but it rarely seems to work out well.

I live in a large block and we have our own caretaker (he works for a few blocks managed by our management company) who does most of the work himself. I have got a friend who lives in a small block of flats and they get out contractors for everything which is obviously really expensive. It is definitely a good idea to do your research before buying and ask the management company questions via your solicitor.

I definitely think leasehold flats have their disadvantages and you do need to think about whether they are right for you. I do think they suit certain people and certain lifestyles though. I have friends who I know would be so much better off in a flat, but they are too frightened to try because they have had it drummed into them that flats are evil!

VeryMan

eddddy wrote: »

If you want to see the kind of things service charges are spent on, you can take a look at the doc below:

See "APPENDIX C: ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE SERVICE CHARGE ACCOUNTS" - page 13 or 15 (depending on how you count the pages)

Link: http://arma.org.uk/downloader/bd3.pdf

£1000 accountancy costs per year?
that's almost accountant's salary for a month from 1 block of flats! and I suppose he does hundreds of them!
£2400 for managing agent fees???
cleaning costs more than lift repair??? £2500 just to swipe the floor??? with that money, we can pay a person at £7.2 to work one 8h day every week!!! and the stairs could easily be cleaned every month

as expected alot of sharks and ridiculous unnecessary people are involved, agents, fees, etc which increase the charges so high, that is plague

VeryMan

is that sink fund refundable when you leave the flat or sell it?

sniggings

VeryMan wrote: »

is that sink fund refundable when you leave the flat or sell it?

no, as the roof will still need replacing one day, likewise you won't be expected to pay for all the years you where not living there, to catch up with the other residents, who had been paying in before you got there.

moneyistooshorttomention

eddddy wrote: »

I'm assuming there's an element of sarcasm there...

I guess the big difference is that when you own a house you are more likely to change light bulbs, clean the hallway, cut the grass etc yourself - rather than paying contractors to do it. Which reduces costs.

In theory, leaseholders could also do these jobs themselves, to reduce costs - but it rarely seems to work out well.

Plus house-owners get to do these things according to their personal order of priority and, if there isn't enough money to do something at the moment, then can often postpone it a bit until there is enough money.

There must come a time eventually too for home-owners when they've finally got together all the money needed to get a secondhand house together/everything is well-maintained and their taste etc etc and then it shouldnt cost much at all to just "keep it all going".

robatwork

£100 pcm is probably average. That should cover general maintenance and hopefully provide a fund if a big ticket item needs doing - roof replacement, block painting, new floors. If you have a really big ticket item eg. a lift, expect further bills during your time there if it needs a major repair.

Pete9501

We were paying £200 a month before selling (you can guess the reason) and the buyers are now up to £300 a month in the last 18 months.

Watch out for buildings with lifts, boy can those things ramp up service charges in maintenance and repairs.

Pete

ognum

robatwork wrote: »

£100 pcm is probably average. That should cover general maintenance and hopefully provide a fund if a big ticket item needs doing - roof replacement, block painting, new floors. If you have a really big ticket item eg. a lift, expect further bills during your time there if it needs a major repair.

None of the faults I own cost as much as £100 pound a month service charge.

They are all well kept. I have chosen carefully. None have lifts, most have no internal corridors. These are more expensive to insure and need more expensive fire safety apparatus. None are more than three stories high, this is cheaper to maintain and scalfold. None are new builds, all have long 999 year leases or share of freehold, none are conversions.

Buy sensibly, read the lease, look at the ground rent, location is key.

stonehedge

We pay £200 per month. This mostly goes into a major work fund. The block is managed through a right to manage company.

The decent major works fund was a bonus when half the roof had to be replaced at a cost of £250,000. In our circumstances, the £200 per month has been worth every penny so far.

VeryMan

ognum wrote: »

None of the faults I own cost as much as £100 pound a month service charge.

They are all well kept. I have chosen carefully. None have lifts, most have no internal corridors. These are more expensive to insure and need more expensive fire safety apparatus. None are more than three stories high, this is cheaper to maintain and scalfold. None are new builds, all have long 999 year leases or share of freehold, none are conversions.

Buy sensibly, read the lease, look at the ground rent, location is key.

why no conversion?