Buying a house on a private road

naboo94387

I'm buying a house on a private road, this isn't a subject I know a lot about, aside from some Googling.

There are 5 houses on the road, all of them built in 2011 (including the access road).

The residents of the road have formed a 'management company' to look after issues around maintenance and repairs of the access road and other small issues (grass cutting, cutting nearby tree branches etc). There is a small monthly management fee to cover these expenses (they don't keep any money in reserve, so at the end of the year they return any unused money to the residents).

The problem is that on top of the management fee, it's been mentioned that residents will be expected to cover the costs of resurfacing the access road, when it becomes needed. This isn't covered by the management fee so they have suggested that residents build up their own reserve, ready for when it is needed.

As I mentioned, the road was initially laid in 2011, so in theory it should have a lot of life left in it. But I've heard that the builder at the time estimated that it had a lifespan of 10 years. It looks in good condition to my untrained eye. And I guess that small repairs would start being necessary long before a full resurface would be needed.

At a rough guess, if the resurfacing cost 30k, divided between 5 houses that would be 6k each. I don't think I would ever be prepared to spend that kind of money on a road resurface. It also raises the question of what other expenses may crop up.
The obvious answer seems to pull out of the purchase - but it's a house that ticks all of my boxes, so I'm just in two minds. Maybe I could save this money slowly over a number of years. Maybe the road won't need resurfacing for another 25 years and we might be overreacting. Maybe the hassle of a private road is going to be more trouble than it's worth.

I realise that these are things that I will have to weigh up and decide for myself, perhaps with the help of getting a survey to look at the road, I just wondered whether anyone had any experience or advice?

Sandtree

I'd certainly be asking the lawyer to look at any of the agreements and opine on how enforceable etc they all are.

One of my cousins has lived on a private road for at least 30 years and not once has any material repairs been done to it because the owners cannot come to an agreement... its a much longer no through road and they're about 2/3rds down it, the houses at the beginning of the road don't believe they should contribute as much as those at the end of the road because they only use a small proportion of it. 

In earlier years it wasn't so bad, some do pour loose gravel into the bigger holes but now anything with below average ground clearance certainly has to park up the road and walk down it. 

canaldumidi

I don't think it's a reason to pull out if the propery is what you want.

Is the managemet company a formally constituted one, and is it mentioned in the properties' Titles. Or is it just an informal arrangemet put together by the 5 owners and which, in theory, one owner could refuse participate in/contribute to?

But as for the re-surfacing, I'd buy the house, get involved in the managemet company, and pursade them to increase the monthly/annual charge to build up a reserve fund.

GDB2222

At some point the road surface will become so bad that you won’t have a choice about spending the money. It’s either £6k to repair the road or  a few £k per year to repair the car. 

If the road has lasted 10 years and looks okay, it may be fine for a long time, but saving up for a rainy day seems sensible. It may be the road, or something else that needs attention. 

naboo94387

Sandtree said:

I'd certainly be asking the lawyer to look at any of the agreements and opine on how enforceable etc they all are.

One of my cousins has lived on a private road for at least 30 years and not once has any material repairs been done to it because the owners cannot come to an agreement... its a much longer no through road and they're about 2/3rds down it, the houses at the beginning of the road don't believe they should contribute as much as those at the end of the road because they only use a small proportion of it. 

In earlier years it wasn't so bad, some do pour loose gravel into the bigger holes but now anything with below average ground clearance certainly has to park up the road and walk down it. 

Thanks this is another concern. At the moment there is a 'management company' made up of the 5 houses on the road, they all seem to meet up and are on the same page regarding repairs. But this might not be the case in the future.
I am finding lots of stories online about pot-holed private roads that just carry on deteriorating because some members don't want to pay the costs. And that would no doubt start adversely affecting property value.

canaldumidi

naboo94387 said:

Sandtree said:

I'd certainly be asking the lawyer to look at any of the agreements and opine on how enforceable etc they all are.

One of my cousins has lived on a private road for at least 30 years and not once has any material repairs been done to it because the owners cannot come to an agreement... its a much longer no through road and they're about 2/3rds down it, the houses at the beginning of the road don't believe they should contribute as much as those at the end of the road because they only use a small proportion of it. 

In earlier years it wasn't so bad, some do pour loose gravel into the bigger holes but now anything with below average ground clearance certainly has to park up the road and walk down it. 

...At the moment there is a 'management company' made up of the 5 houses on the road, they all seem to meet up and are on the same page regarding repairs. But this might not be the case in the future....

Which is why I asked about the constitution of this company. How was it set up, and what legal obligations do the properties have to belong to and contribute to it?

thegreenone

I live on a private road and we have a Resident's Committee of around six volunteers (22 properties).  No chair but there is a Treasurer and we pay £100 per year.  This money goes towards patching the road, future resurfacing and, importantly, insurance.  

In some cases, road management committees are not allowed to build up reserves and this sounds like one of them.  Sorry, don't know the ins and outs of that.  

Insurance:  your solicitor needs to find out if the houses own the area of road in front of each house.   If they do and there is an accident ie postman slips on ice, your house insurance will cover.  However, we don't here and so have public liability insurance.

If the residents are proud of their road, which sounds as though they are because they formed an MC, deteriorating road shouldn't be a problem.

user1168934

You don't necessarily have to pull out. Just make sure you are able to afford the possible expenses - I am sure there will be some sooner or later.

Personally I would avoid it especially when there are management fees to pay as well.

bland

Certainly a lot of things to consider buying a house on a private road. Maybe have a read of this as it talks about maintenance and insurance: https://www.ashburnham-insurance.co.uk/blog/2020/02/purchasing-a-property-on-an-unadopted-road/

I considered a house on a private road once and there were just so many little things I didn't make an offer on it. The plus side is you have an element of control of your community and if everyone on the road is singing off the same hymn sheet then it can become a lovely place to live. It will certainly add additional cost to you living there so must be considered but I wouldn't think there would be any major expenses other than a road resurface once every 10-20yrs and even that is down to everyone agreeing to do it.

Gavin83

To be honest either outcome here is bad for you. If this agreement is enforceable then you could suddenly be hit with a huge bill, likely for work you don't believe needs doing. Similar situation to living in a flat. If it isn't enforceable then it means it isn't enforceable for anyone. This then means inevitably some residents won't wish to contribute (probably hoping they'll get the benefit of the work for free) which will likely end up with no one wanting to contribute. The road goes unrepaired way past the point it should be.

Almost every private road I've ever seen has been in poor condition. There's one near me which is to the point it's basically impossible to drive on. Huge potholes several feet wide and a foot deep, lumps and bumps everywhere with delivery drivers who refuse to go down it. Whenever I see it I just know it's because the residents can't agree.

I've lived on a private road in the past, although I was renting. Luckily we were at the public road end which had recently been resurfaced by a developer up to our house but the rest was also in poor condition. We had issues with parking as well as the general public seem far happier to park on a private road than a public one. Personally I'd never buy on a private road.

thegreenone

I beg to differ @Gavin83 ours isn't in poor condition!  On the contrary. 

It was last completely resurfaced over 20 years ago (we've been here 27) and a few bits of patching have been needed after bad weather.  My husband repaints the white triangles on the speed humps every year and we have two or three mornings a year where a good number residents get together to have a tidy up and cut back the over-hanging bushes/trees from the next road (ends of their gardens). 

A good time for squash, biscuits, a catchup and get to know any new neighbours.  Those residents that are not able to help, leave their garden waste bins out for filling.  The Recycling guys must groan after each clean up session.

There are 22 houses in this road and it hasn't been resurfaced for over 20 years.  With five houses in your road, unless the builder did a cowboy job, you should be looking at least 2031 before it needs attention (30k seems a lot for a street with 5 houses).  Yes, be prepared.  As above, your solicitor should ask lots more questions about how the management co. works.