PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.

Freehold services charges - what are my rights?

2

Comments

  • rtho782 wrote: »
    It's anecdotal, but after the fees increased from £200/y to £400/y, then £800/y, then £1200/y, my friends sold their Persimmon new build.

    They can charge whatever they like.

    "We need a sinking fund as we chose not to get the council to adopt the roads so they will need resurfacing in 30 years and it will cost millions" for example.

    The thing is, as freeholders you don't even have any rights to see accounts, so nothing you can do.

    http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:u2nWt08040wJ:www.solegal.co.uk/estate-rent-charges-beware-buying-freehold-homes-private-estates/+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

    That's absolutely wicked.

    Over what period of time did that charge go up from £200 pa to £1200 pa?

    It's very very odd that there doesn't seem to have been a law passed yet to stop this.:cool:
  • Kyresa
    Kyresa Posts: 1,534
    First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    Welcome to how councils sell off land these days... Yes you can build your 400 new homes, but we won't adopt the road and you have to continue to maintain the land.... and thus new build managed estates were born.

    Just wait till you come to sell, they'll charge you £300 odd for a management pack (which you won't be able to avoid) and the incoming buyer about £250 or so to register their interest!
  • moneyistooshorttomention
    moneyistooshorttomention Posts: 17,940 Forumite
    edited 5 February 2017 at 7:53AM
    That hadnt occurred to me until you said that.

    But...yep...I guess it is one tactic Councils can/do use to deal with pressure from Government level of being pushed to build extra houses they hadn't decided to build themselves. You can take a horse to water but you cant make it drink translating into = the Government can force us to build more housing than we decided on - but they cant make us pay to maintain the extra roads that come with it.

    Though, in fairness, the residents of those extra houses will be paying Council Tax (which, presumably, at least covers the cost of maintaining their roads - as well as being their share towards communal facilities of street-cleaning/library/etc).
  • Kyresa wrote: »
    Welcome to how councils sell off land these days... Yes you can build your 400 new homes, but we won't adopt the road and you have to continue to maintain the land.... and thus new build managed estates were born.

    They will adopt the roads, but you are right about the green spaces, footpath lighting etc
  • You can't have it both ways.

    Either you want him to manage the facilities - or you don't. If you do, then his time and overheads need to be paid for at a proper commercial rate.

    I never suggested that I'm not prepared to pay a fair and proper rate for the work he carries out... that's why I signed the agreement.

    My point was that the agreement says the service charges are to be payable bi-annually and it's been well over year since we were last invoiced. Despite promising services such as regular gardening would be covered, he has done absolutey nothing to maintain the communal areas over that period other than changing this bulb the other day... and I thought it was worth noting that this coincided with the day he finally decided to post invoices through our door.

    I was merely intrigued to see if others had been through similar experiences and whether anyone knew of any legislation that would enable us to ask to be invoiced on a more regular basis in line with the agreement (so we can better monitor the charges and services carried out) and request a breakdown of charges. As pointed out there is a lot of legislation covering leaseholders but I drew a blank when looking for freeholders rights.

    Thank you to those of you who have taken the time to provide a polite, informative response. It has explained why my searches for relevant legislation revealed very little. However, I'm surprised at how blunt and frankly critical others have been on here.

    I thought this forum was a place for people to come and share experiences in the hope the general public get more informed. However, having now glanced at a few other threads, I'm getting the impression some people just want the opportunity to appear clever and patronise those of us with slightly less experience.

    With that in mind I doubt I shall bother using this forum again. I expected so much better.
  • Menu



    Hi rtho

    Could you please let me know over how many years the service charge went £200 a year to £1200 a year with the developer Persimmons ?

    I am looking for a new built freehold with a £200 service charge but I do not understand this.
    There are no playgrounds or communal parks on the development site of the private estate.
    and
    Could this mean if I have a garden the the managing company will also cut the grass in my garden because I will be paying them the service charge of £200 a year?

    Could someone help me inderstand this please?

    Thank you for your help in advance

    Isha
  • Mickygg
    Mickygg Posts: 1,737
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    I think it's a pretty safe bet that they will not cut your grass.

    Has the road been adopted? If not that would be part of the cost right there.

    Ask the developer as we would all be guessing.
  • Hi Mickygg,

    Thanks for your speedy reply on my very first post on the forum!

    Yes I will sk again but the answers are not very clear.

    The roads will not be adopted so they will be a part of the service charge.

    and the site is still under construction but they are in a rush to sell the plots and anyone who wants to reserve has to pay a deposit and exchange contracts within approx 30 days time frame.
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Photogenic First Post
    Forumite
    With that in mind I doubt I shall bother using this forum again. I expected so much better.

    That's your prerogative, of course, but equally, it's a kick in the teeth for those who were helpful.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Mickygg wrote: »
    I think it's a pretty safe bet that they will not cut your grass.
    They might, as I have encountered newbuild developments where everyone owns their front gardens but the grass-cutting is arranged communally.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.4K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards