NO management company

Haircut15

How do I go about it??

Mickey666

Haircut15 said:

It means the crown own the road but have no interest in it. If management company was in place none of it would be a issue.

Hang on a minute.  When a company is dissolved and has not disposed of its assets then my understanding is that they pass to the crown, simply on the basis that no-one knows what to do with them and with no-one else having a claim of ownership the crown is the ‘owner of last resort’.
Also, a management company doesn’t necessarily have to OWN anything in order to manage and maintain it.  I once lived on a private road and each house owned the road (or half of it) and paid an annual sum to a management company that maintained the road (each house was also a shareholder of the mgmt co, but that’s a slightly different issue).
So, I would investigate the management company accounts and reports to find out how it was dissolved and what assets it had at the time.  I’d also check titles of the houses in question to check the extent of their plots and whether they cover the road area, plus check if they have any covenants for payment of fees to the mgmt co for maintenance of the road.  Their titles should also have something in them giving them a right of way over the road,  regardless of who owns it.
You say there wouldn’t be an issue if the mgmt co still existed, but where would it get the funds to maintain the roads in the first place.  Usually the residents contribute - after all, who else would want to pay?
When all that info is known then it should be easier to form a plan of action going forward.

Haircut15

I assume devolper went bankrupt. No fees were ever paid to the management company. Management company was owned by the developer, to my knowledge.

Restriction in the title to say you agree to pay the management company.

Plots don't cover the road. Def got right of way over the road.

AskAsk

Haircut15 said:

Nobody!!! That's the problem. Eventually it will deteriorate. But really good at mo. It's a dead end of bout 17 houses. You wouldn't go down there unless you lived down there x

we used to live on a private road.  the owner of the road could not be found so the residents formed an association and ran the maintenance themselves.  luckily the council installed and paid for the street lightting but everything else we had to pay for through an annual subscription.

if you do end up buying the house, it may be worth setting up an association for the road.

greatcrested

AskAsk said:

Haircut15 said:

Nobody!!! That's the problem. Eventually it will deteriorate. But really good at mo. It's a dead end of bout 17 houses. You wouldn't go down there unless you lived down there x

we used to live on a private road.  the owner of the road could not be found so the residents formed an association and ran the maintenance themselves.  luckily the council installed and paid for the street lightting but everything else we had to pay for through an annual subscription.

if you do end up buying the house, it may be worth setting up an association for the road.

That's fine provided everyone (or most) agree. But there'd be no way to legally force residents to either join or contribute to the association.

Mickey666

But their title obliges them to pay for maintenance through the 'management company'.  What's to stop the residents setting up their own 'management company'?  Doesn't have to be a limited company with all the associated costs.  I started a 'residents association' to maintain our private road over which eight other properties have a right of way.  I set up a no-cost 'community' bank account for everyone to pay an agreed subscription into each month, two signatures required for any expenditure (could be more), residents to elect two 'officers' each year.  Has worked well.

In my experience it's much easier to get, say, £10/month from each resident than £500 when some repairs are actually required.  besides, a monthly subscription is fairer on everyone if there is a reasonable turnover of residents because some will move away before having to pay anything and some may move in and almost immediately be hit with a large bill.

I agree that much depends on people behaving reasonably, but that won't be known until it is tried.

AskAsk

greatcrested said:

AskAsk said:

Haircut15 said:

Nobody!!! That's the problem. Eventually it will deteriorate. But really good at mo. It's a dead end of bout 17 houses. You wouldn't go down there unless you lived down there x

we used to live on a private road.  the owner of the road could not be found so the residents formed an association and ran the maintenance themselves.  luckily the council installed and paid for the street lightting but everything else we had to pay for through an annual subscription.

if you do end up buying the house, it may be worth setting up an association for the road.

That's fine provided everyone (or most) agree. But there'd be no way to legally force residents to either join or contribute to the association.

you couldn't force all residents but it is in everyone's best interest to particiate.  if someone could be bothered to set up the association, i am sure the residents would contribute.  it affects the value of their property in the long term so it makes sense to contribute.

we paid £70 a year, so it wasn't exactly breaking the bank and the road needed maintenance.  an association was set up with its own bank account and treasurer.  there were 21 houses in the street.

Haircut15

Thanks 4 all your replies. 

Haircut15

Just out of interest. Was it then put onto title deeds that you had this residents association?? X

AskAsk

Haircut15 said:

Just out of interest. Was it then put onto title deeds that you had this residents association?? X

no.  you couldn't mess around with the title deeds.  an article of association was set up for the association and when we sold the house, we said that there was an annual fee associated with the property. 

a copy of the article of association was obtained and forwarded to the buyer's solicitors.  also the association annual account was sent across.  all went fine without any issue.

it is not unusual that the owner of a private road can not be traced.