Misinformed about service charge :(

westernpromise

If £400 is a big deal to you you aren't cut out for ownership.

ilikepancakes

AdrianC wrote: »

Thank you for the confirmation...

Clue: Service charges are usually not apportioned absolutely equally. They're usually related to floor area of individual leases.

So if "your" flat is bigger than "next door", you're paying more.

I am aware of that it depends on the floor area so what "confirmation" are you talking about?
You asked for neighbours and I don't know which neighbours you mean, that's all

ilikepancakes

need_an_answer wrote: »

I mean your next door neighbour...

He could live in a slightly different configuration of property and pay less or more than you.

I'll let you into a secret...I'm a director at a complex where there are a small amount of properties ranging from 1 to 2 beds and the service charges range in price by up to £60 a month difference dependant on the individual apartment you are the leaseholder of.....

Its not uncommon.

I am perfectly fine with that and I don't have any problem if the service charge fis different because of flat configuration or floor area. It would be odd if it was not dependant on the floor area!

I don't have any problem if the service charge goes up £400!

Only problem I have is I was misinformed by the EA and it had impact on my decision

SallyAnneBooth

ilikepancakes wrote: »

Only problem I have is I was misinformed by the EA and it had impact on my decision

Put the pancakes down and tell the EA then!

AdrianC

ilikepancakes wrote: »

Only problem I have is I was misinformed by the EA

Were you?
Or were you given in good faith information which the EA believed accurate?

Do you appreciate there's a difference?

and it had impact on my decision

Yes, it did. But the normal pre-purchase due diligence revealed the accurate information before you were contractually bound to any purchase.

need_an_answer

ilikepancakes wrote: »

I am perfectly fine with that and I don't have any problem if the service charge fis different because of flat configuration or floor area. It would be odd if it was not dependant on the floor area!

I don't have any problem if the service charge goes up £400!

Only problem I have is I was misinformed by the EA and it had impact on my decision

not quite what you said in post #106 but at least you are now accepting of differing charges.

so what it boils down to now is your dissatisfaction with the estate agent.

So make a formal complaint...however as its been pointed out by many here there will be an agents disclaimer in place to cover for inaccuracies in descriptions etc.

Your choice therefore is to continue with your purchase or pull out...given that you seem to want to continue to challenge the service charges and apportion blame to someone else I'm still very much of the opinion that you will not get on with the leasehold culture going forward and you should seriously reconsider if it is the right sort of ownership for you personally.

Good luck with either this or whatever purchase you end up making but on that note I'm out.

Smodlet

Fgs, OP, just get a life. I'm out.

ilikepancakes

Smodlet wrote: »

OK, OP, I admit I missed the wink. The point just about everyone has been making is one of proportion. Service charges are not set in stone... Or granite, or concrete or whatever building material this flat is made of. They can change at the drop of a hat. It seems there is a consultation process in place for sudden, large increases, according to a previous post but the fact remains, were a plane to hit the roof, the damage would have to be paid for somehow. Yes, there would be insurance, which would have to be paid for and which would increase after such an event.

Don't you get it? Repairs and maintenance have to be paid for by those they benefit. By their very nature, they are largely unpredictable, whether you buy a freehold house and are solely responsible or whether you buy a leasehold flat and share the expense.

The EA (in this rare instance, imho) did not lie to you; they made a mistake. We all do: You have, by your own admittance; I did just now when I attributed the credit for the Martians's demise to Jim Reeves when it should have been Slim Whitman.

You should never rely on a word that comes out of EAs' mouths anyway. Were they bound in law to tell the truth (that would be on another planet) no-one would need to engage solicitors to buy a property, would they?

As most have said, you need to decide whether you want to buy this flat or not and stop messing the vendor around. If they need to find another buyer, tell them now. How would you like to be treated the way you are treating them? None of this is the vendor's fault; they are not responsible for what an EA who can't be bothered to check guesses the service charge is; they were not there to correct them, were they?

Perhaps you should consider continuing to rent since you seem to me to be totally unprepared for home ownership of any kind. What on earth (?) would you do if something really bad happened? It's £400 a year; if you don't like it, don't buy it.

Smodlet, you missed my point entirely... I wrote it like 3 times already but I understand you could miss it as it is already 6 pages here, so I will write 1 more time:

I won't be worried even if the service charge goes up £1000 after I move in. Service charge fluctuation has nothing to what I am complaining about - and I am complaining because I was misinformed, I was provided with a wrong figures which potentialy could affect my final offer for the flat.

What do you mean by saying "How would you like to be treated the way you are treating them? "?
As far as I am concerned I am not treating them bad as I haven't contacted them yet about this service charge. I

westernpromise

£2,000, £2,400 - same thing.

£2,000, £10,000 - different.

No issue here.

pattypan4

ask for the vendor to pay for a year upfront. One town house we had in a manor house development with many acres of parkland to maintain, cost us £2000 pa in management charges, part of which was put away in a sinking fund, later used by the developer for his own ends. We thought that £2000 was fair for the size of estate, window cleaning, insurance etc. £2000 seems to be fair for what the op is getting but I would ask about the sinking fund ie how much is in it and is it safeguarded