Service Charge rip-off, when I've nearly finished selling my home.

freeguy1984uk

Hi people,

So I'm roughly 1 month away from completing the sale of my flat.
I had been making sure my service charge balance is always at £0.

A few weeks ago I got a letter from the property management company saying they have added a £75 'estate works' charge to my 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 actuals.

This was apparantly for fly tipping removal from around the side of the building.

I know the fly tipping they were referring to, two sofas basically.

There are 10 flats in the block, so £750 to remove two sofas seems crazy high.

We're in South England (not London), if that helps set the scene.

I've emailed 3 different people at the property management company asking for further details and stating the urgency, and they are coming back saying things will be looked at in due course. I said I need answers quicker than this, can someone call me, but nobody is calling me.

So to summarise my main issues here are... 

1 - £750 to remove two sofas seems extremely expensive?

2 - The actually fly tipping removal happened in October 2023, so how can they add it to the 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 actuals?

3 - I'm pretty sure I'm going to be forced to pay this £75 so I can complete my sale, so can I continue to dispute it and get a refund AFTER I've moved out?

Thanks people.

(Proper annoyed with the company)

Flugelhorn

probably find that 50% of the cost was "management fees" and the rest will be because they didn't find a better value company to do the job. 

MultiFuelBurner

Probably best to pay then complain after if any previous threads about unpaid management fees are anything to go by.

Jonboy_1984

We had a spate of it at our last flat (part of an “estate” of 60 or flats in 5 small adjacent blocks). The management company not only had to deal with it, but also started more regular inspections to ensure no fire/health risk to the property’s.

The other side of it was where they just disposed of, or dealt with under Tort legislation (which binds them to either label the goods with a 14 day notice to remove or to keep safe for the same period in case someone claimed them)?

Service charges should be paid under protest and then disputed, but you might want to discuss with your solicitor to ensure any refund is offset against any other retentions that arise ( or just pay it and move on to be free of the place…).

eddddy

Looking at this pragmatically, maybe you want to pay the £75 quickly with zero fuss.

If this turns into a "service charge dispute" which you have to declare to your buyer, or your buyer's solicitor finds out there's an "issue" with excessive service charges - that might spook your buyer.

i.e. The buyer might think "We don't really want to buy a flat where the management company allegedly overcharge leaseholders for jobs they do." 

propertyhunter

Agree with eddddy. Just pay the charge and be happy you're selling the property and never having to deal with a management company that overcharges the residents. Think of the bigger picture and move on with your life. 

user1977

freeguy1984uk said:

2 - The actually fly tipping removal happened in October 2023, so how can they add it to the 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 actuals?

That doesn't make sense to me either, but does it matter which year they allocate it to? You're going to be liable for any costs incurred during your ownership, whether that's last year or the current one. Your purchaser will want to ensure they're not paying for it.

Larac

user1977 said:

freeguy1984uk said:

2 - The actually fly tipping removal happened in October 2023, so how can they add it to the 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 actuals?

That doesn't make sense to me either, but does it matter which year they allocate it to? You're going to be liable for any costs incurred during your ownership, whether that's last year or the current one. Your purchaser will want to ensure they're not paying for it.

Totally agree with this comment - we had sold my late Mothers flat and 9 months later got hit with some work done around 18 months previously which had just been billed.  As she was the deemed owner - the Estate had to pay the bill.

eddddy

freeguy1984uk said:

A few weeks ago I got a letter from the property management company saying they have added a £75 'estate works' charge to my 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 actuals.

....

This was apparantly for fly tipping removal from around the side of the building.

I know the fly tipping they were referring to, two sofas basically.

....

2 - The actually fly tipping removal happened in October 2023, so how can they add it to the 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 actuals?

Reading this again - I think it's very likely that there's been a misunderstanding.

Service Charges almost always work like this...

• Your management company estimated a the Service Charge for 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 - which you paid in advance.
  

• They've now calculated the actual Service Charge for 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 (and had the accounts audited) - and it turns out their estimate was £75 too little.

• So they're now asking you to pay the remaining £75 that you owe

And in reality, it's nothing to do with the fly-tipped sofas.

As I say, that's how Service Charges normally work. It would be fairly miraculous if the management company managed to estimate a future Service Charge exactly right - with no adjustment required.

(Just like it would be miraculous if an electricity company estimated your future electricity bill exactly right - with no adjustment required.)


So could that be what has happened?