Freehold paying management fees when others on the development do not!

lyork901720

Saajan- firstly, thank you for taking the time to read my post however, I think you may misunderstand. We are homeowners, freehold and do not live in flats. I am not disputing paying the fees at all, we have and will continue to pay the fees due as we are legally obliged to. I have no issue with paying the fees in principle, they were disclosed to us at point of sale. Obviously I’d prefer not to pay them but we were told this wasn’t negotiable. And as far as we were made aware, everyone on the development would be contributing to these costs. It transpires that that isn’t the case and that only a small proportion of us on the estate were signed up to this and had it written into our title. My issue is that it doesn’t seem correct that only some of us had this added in and many others have not. We are talking in my example above about people in the same street with the same house type where we pay and they do not. The houses were purchased 18 months apart. To me, I believe the developers have made a mistake when processing these documents and where I understand the other homeowners can not now have this clause added in, they need to address the clerical error they have made and actually do something about it as if it is a mistake on their part, and everyone should have been paying then they need to remedy this. The reason for my post on this forum is to attempt to validate my thoughts with you guys who may know more than me. I’m willing to accept a feasible answer to the issue I have, I just can’t see one materialising. I really do believe they have messed up somewhere. 

FinallyStoppedLurking

Possibly a mistake possibly not. Either way, I'm not sure that there's much you can do about it. You might just have to let it go and accept that whilst some people are getting off likely it's beyond your control. 

I think the only time you could justifiably kick off is if there was a large cost (eg repair of the road) and only some of the houses were expected to cover this. Even then you would probably be screwed if it's in contracts. 

Is there any pattern with who has the fees? Is it just the large properties or is it random? Any link with when they were sold or where they sit on site? 

peppapig14

been reading with interest as we are in a similar position ( half of the street pay charges to the management company for grass cutting, maintenance etc, the other half don't)

lyork901720

Finallystoppedlurking, thank you. The only pattern I could guess to, is who sold us our house and when we bought it. But I’ve only spoken to a handful of neighbours, the 2 that are paying (us and next door) bought pretty much at the same time with the same advisor. I totally agree there’s nothing we can do about the clause in the TP1, but if the developers have made a mistake then surely they should take some responsibility for this as it’s a pretty big mistake to make and has a pretty big impact long term for us. It’s all just very annoying. I’m looking forward to seeing what the developers eventually come back with. 

[Deleted User]

I nearly bought a new build. Didn’t like the TP1 and management fees. I think my solicitor (not recommended by developer) said one clause said the cost would be divided among all the houses, if some didn’t pay, the shortfall would be made up by those who were paying and the management company would pursue those who didn’t pay for the fees, at the cost of all the freeholders (ie increased management fees, lose-lose situation) 

Do you get a bill for the management charges? Could your neighbours just be really unaware that they’re supposed to pay? I know people who didn’t read their contracts at all when they bought. 

lyork901720

Peppapig14, sorry to hear this, it’s so frustrating isn’t it. Do you mind me asking which developer you bought with? Out of interest. 

peppapig14

lyork901720 said:

Peppapig14, sorry to hear this, it’s so frustrating isn’t it. Do you mind me asking which developer you bought with? Out of interest. 

sorry should have been more honest in my original post! 
we are in process of buying a house in a private estate built in the 80s.it was sold and developed in 3 plots. Ours was the 1st plot. It seems there are 2 streets (half of 1 street and half of the other street -where our future house is ) out of the 7 on the estate that have this charge stipulated on the deeds. so we will be paying council tax, along with management agency fees, and have access to the same grounds as everyone else. We know the area and often see the council maintaining the grass areas around the other parts of the estate so bet annoying. But we want to live in this location so it's a compromise we need to make

lyork901720

ftbhopes said:

I nearly bought a new build. Didn’t like the TP1 and management fees. I think my solicitor (not recommended by developer) said one clause said the cost would be divided among all the houses, if some didn’t pay, the shortfall would be made up by those who were paying and the management company would pursue those who didn’t pay for the fees, at the cost of all the freeholders (ie increased management fees, lose-lose situation) 

Do you get a bill for the management charges? Could your neighbours just be really unaware that they’re supposed to pay? I know people who didn’t read their contracts at all when they bought. 

I don’t blame you for steering clear! I’ve been doing some research and it seems there’s widespread issues with managing agents fees... this is just another one to add to the list! Yeah we get a bill and a breakdown of the fees. They’re brutal with pursuing anyone who doesn’t pay, our next door neighbour tried to not pay one year and fight it and landed up with court letters. So there’s no way the neighbours are missing it. It’s all just so bizarre and frustrating! I’ve managed to find some documentation that shows a breakdown of what plots should pay what but none of it adds up or makes sense!