New home service fee too much?

mallard_resident

Hi all, my partner (26F) and me (28M) moved into our first home in September last year, and it's a newer build 2007. We were made aware when buying the home that there was a service fee of around ~£200/year on the estate and that was fine, the previous owner had paid for the year starting in May ahead of time. We've just had a letter through the door from the management company with a breakdown of costs, with this next year as of May being £320, up from £225 last year. Now, I wouldn't have minded if it was within £10-15 of last year's, but it is a £95 (42%) increase, with £100 of that being 'management fee', which is absolutely astounding. It's not that we can't possibly afford it, but I don't know how they can justify such a sharp increase, considering Council Tax has also gone up? Is there anything we can do about this? I'm already planning on calling to see if they can give a justification or discount on this.

webmasterpolo

It's likely you're stuck between a rock and a hard place I'm afraid the same as I am. My management fees increased from £500 in 2021 to £1,100 now. The only option you may have is to replace the managing agent if you and your neighbours have control of the management company for your development. This is where we are trying to get to but it's very slow going (5yrs now).

mallard_resident

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994112#Comment_81994112

Thought this might be the case. Just seems such an unprecedented increase, would be interesting to know the reaosn, no doubt they'll say something about oil or conflict.