Renting - Maintenance Charge ?

DGJsaver

Hi All
Quick question , we are renting a flat privately , but a property management company charge a maintenance fee monthly to look after the `area` im not really sure what this means and I wondered if anyone could shed light on it ? the flats are as follows , 2 Victorian 4 floor properties , and there are 3 flats on each side , and a small courtyard for everyone to park in
Now there's gravel , a floor drain that's a bit rickety and an entrance of poorly laid concrete (old) the thing is this management company charge £50 a month !! that's £600 per flat per year , what is it all about !!!
Any advice or opinions welcome , because £50 seems extortionate !
Dan

PasturesNew

The Landlord should pay maintenance charges on a flat

drc

We rent and in both our old and current flat (which is in a block of flats with a garden) the maintainence charge was included in the rent. This covers stuff like cleaning of the communal hallways, a recent redecoration of said old hallways - painting and and wallpapering, keeping the communal gardens clean and well looked after etc.

We pay our rent directly to the letting agency who forward it to the landlord and he is responsible for hte bureaucracy of any such charges relating to his property.

I think the landlord is supposed to pay any maintainence charge from the rent, you shouldn't really have to be paying this unless it was specified in your contract and you agreed to it.

DGJsaver

PasturesNew wrote: »

The Landlord should pay maintenance charges on a flat

Hes crafty , he asked for £500 then we met up and he added that as a separate payment , but i insisted that it be put into the rent and now we pay £550
i cant think about it too much it makes me angry , but it was a deal breaker if we didnt pay it....

p.s the maint is for the grounds.....

drc

DGJsaver wrote: »

Hes crafty , he asked for £500 then we met up and he added that as a separate payment , but i insisted that it be put into the rent and now we pay £550
i cant think about it too much it makes me angry , but it was a deal breaker if we didnt pay it....

p.s the maint is for the grounds.....

Don't you have an actual tenancy agreement in writing? Was it a verbal agreement? Sounds a bit odd to me...

I don't think he can just introduce a new charge *after* you have signed a tenancy agreement because you are agreeing to very specific terms and a set amount that you pay, otherwise any landlord could suddenly introduce X charge for this or that willy nilly.

PasturesNew

I don't know the law, so unless somebody can link to legislation that say absolutely that the Landlord has to pay maintenance charges I can only tell you how I see it.

Landlords imho should and do pay the maintenance charges on property. However, if the agreement set out in writing that you were to pay it and you agreed that, then it's yours to pay (unless proven illegal).

You say there was a letting agent and I take it they arranged for you to see the flat with the owner showing you round; in talking about the flat the owner then slipped in the matter of the maintenance charge and you accepted this. You then agreed to rent the flat and the sum for the maintenance charge was rolled up into an increased rent and that rent (including the maintenance charge) is what you agreed to pay and is the sum in your (assuming) Assured Shorthold Tenancy?

I'd say he was cheeky, however, you agreed to it and it was all above board and the deal was struck.

I think if you'd called him out on it at the time, he might have backed down. Normal practice would have been for the maintenance charge to have already been included in the original advert you saw for the flat. But at the end of the day the landlord would normally have taken the maintenance charge into consideration when he was deciding how much he needed to charge for the flat. So you'd have always ended up paying it in some form or other.

So, without making any legal points, I'd say, it is annoying, but legal; there's nothing you can do about it, you agreed the rent and it's in your contract.

Maybe he was a bit short of his needs, so tried it on during the viewing and you fell for it. Maybe he's just not used to being a landlord, although the letting agency should have advised him sooner on these matters and advised him to increase the rent to include it rather than having it as an additional item mentioned later, but maybe the LA are also a bit slack.

DGJsaver

Hi Guys

to explain further...

we are renting direct from a friend , he has no mortgage on the place and the contract is verbal (plus a text message he asked me to save guaranteeing no increase whilst were there)

Its just he said £500 when he offered and then a week later when picking up keys he said about the maintenance charge , i think he forgot to add that in the rent when he offered originally , so made it up by adding the charge...

Thats what i meant by deal breaker we wanted the place that much we didnt want to fall out over it

He pays the annual insurance by the way..

thanks for all your replys

Dan

EdInvestor

Typically the landlord would pay this not the tenant, but it seems you've agreed to pay it.

The amount may include something for a "sinking fund" which goes towards the periodic external painting and maintenance of the building: this is usually the biggest overall cost, but you would only see the money being spent every 6 or 7 years.

olly300

The bill for the maintenance charge is addressed to the legal owner of the flat, which is the landlord. However as you have no written contract and have agreed to pay it then you have to pay it.

If the rent plus maintenance is lower than the market value for the area then stay put if it isn't then move.

DGJsaver

olly300 wrote: »

The bill for the maintenance charge is addressed to the legal owner of the flat, which is the landlord. However as you have no written contract and have agreed to pay it then you have to pay it.

If the rent plus maintenance is lower than the market value for the area then stay put if it isn't then move.

Hi OLLY

even with the £50 the total is £550 and the going rate round leighton buzzard is at least that , and we have the security of knowing we can be there as long as we need with no increases in rent in that time

so we weighed it up decided to not kick up a fuss , it`s annoying me at the moment but that will pass with time (i hope!)

Dan