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Management company Freehold property

Hi All,

Last May we bought our first house with a Mortgage, and purchased as Freehold, one of the bugbears that came with the property however was that the area was managed by a Residential Management company.
I would be happy to pay the annual fee if we benefited from the services that are provided, but due to the location of our property on the estate, we have no benefit of maintenance to the grassy areas, trees and shrubs etc and the only other work carried out in the last 8 months has been parking space line painting for areas of the estate that needed it - ours has private driveways and has no need/space for this.
Am I now forever tied into this agreement to fork over money when we don't get anything in return, or do I have any legal case (or otherwise) to politely back out?


Many thanks in advance

Comments

  • NeilCr
    NeilCr Posts: 4,430
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    What does your house purchase documentation say about the payment of service charges?
  • Exodi
    Exodi Posts: 2,835
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    Am I now forever tied into this agreement to fork over money when we don't get anything in return, or do I have any legal case (or otherwise) to politely back out?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46279048
    The estate's builder Persimmon said: "The residents are legally obliged to pay the fees and have the right and ability to change the management company should they be unhappy with the costs and service provided."
    Know what you don't
  • OldMusicGuy
    OldMusicGuy Posts: 1,752
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    edited 21 March 2019 at 1:20PM
    Am I now forever tied into this agreement to fork over money when we don't get anything in return, or do I have any legal case (or otherwise) to politely back out?
    You are forever tied in to this and you have no way of backing out. If your agreement is anything like ours, the management company can come after you for non-payment of service charges and you have no recourse.

    The only way you can back out now is to sell the property and move to a house that does not have any shared areas.

    And don't believe that Persimmon quote about having the right to change the management company, you need to see what your agreement says. Our agreement allows the freehold owner of the shared areas to appoint whoever they want as property manager. The only way we can force a change of property manager is by going to arbitration, which would be an expensive and complicated process.
  • SallyDucati
    SallyDucati Posts: 559
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    Hi All,
    I would be happy to pay the annual fee if we benefited from the services that are provided, but due to the location of our property on the estate, we have no benefit of maintenance to the grassy areas, trees and shrubs etc

    How do the other houses benefit? Who would look after the grassy areas etc. if not the management company (doesn't sound like it's an adopted road)?

    I would say you do benefit to an extent, as if the grassy areas etc. were not looked after the estate you live on would look very messy, and I doubt anyone would choose that. Could also affect saleability should you wish to move.

    If the charges go up disproportionately that would be a different matter.
  • SmashedAvacado
    SmashedAvacado Posts: 1,262
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    you could look at your lease / document - it might be that you have to pay a "fair" proportion and you have an argument that the proportion you are paying is not fair.
  • OldMusicGuy
    OldMusicGuy Posts: 1,752
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    you could look at your lease / document - it might be that you have to pay a "fair" proportion and you have an argument that the proportion you are paying is not fair.
    Very unlikely. The way these agreements are usually written is on a simple arithmetic basis, that is if there are x houses on the development, your share is 1/x of the total maintenance costs. It's usually very clear and explicit. The OP's solicitor should have pointed all this out to them prior to purchase.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596
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    Very unlikely. The way these agreements are usually written is on a simple arithmetic basis, that is if there are x houses on the development, your share is 1/x of the total maintenance costs. It's usually very clear and explicit. The OP's solicitor should have pointed all this out to them prior to purchase.
    Indeed, it's much more likely to be a specific percentage - so nobody can "opt out" unless everybody else agrees to cover their share.
  • flashg67
    flashg67 Posts: 3,993
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    If it's like mine, you become a shareholder in the company. Mine's in place for a min 80 years. I don't directly benefit as I have a drive etc, but do see a benefit for the overall area and hence my house value/desirability in maintaining parking areas, green spaces and boundary fences
  • No, "opting out" is not an option.

    I am happy to be corrected here, but I believe your TP1 (Title Document) will set out the ownership of the house, and the obligations to pay a share of the shared Estate Costs.

    As someone else has pointed out, for an Estate management, it is usually 1/xth of the cost (x being the number of units on the estate).

    Different estates have different facilities. I remember a young couple owning a house and trying to refuse to pay for the communal playground, because they had no children and therefore didn't use it. Tough... they had to pay.
    The playground was a nightmare with costs. The signage, the maintenance/upkeep to ensure it was safe was very costly. Add to that, it was actually physically accessible to the public as it was on next to a public walk way/through footpath. Fences and locking it with a universal key/code for all authorised residents would be very costly. The cost of getting the rubbish bins emptied was also high... especially in the summer!
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