If buying new house

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Out of interest there is a new building site with 2/3/4 and 5 bed houses for sale in Bexhill. Big glossy brochures on the inter net. £20,000 help to buy from building firm. lookes really great.

UNTIL ON READS THE CONDITIONS !!!

Resident Management Companies typically manage common
parts of a development. The individual property owners
will fund these costs by making periodic contributions into
a pooled fund by way of a service charge paid on account.
These funds are collected and administered by Gateway, the
appointed managing agent, and held in a client account on
behalf of the Management Company.

So you get locked into paying an unknown fee which could increase year by year for ever more.

If this is not a criminal offence demanding money for ever more then it should be made so. This is now standard proceedure with all new houses on an estate I undestand

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Just goes to show always read the small print - or get a really good conveyancer, or solicitor to do it for you.

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Hasn’t all of that just been outlawed? Everything now has to be fully transparent.

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But isn’t the OP typical of a management/maintenance fee paid yearly ?

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My initial thought was that these houses were leasehold, but then agree, wasn’t this practice outlawed. If freehold, then I would have thought no service charge was payable. It was the thought of having to fork out for new windows and doors, and other costs, (ok, each resident was liable for paying 5%) that made me decide to give up my shared ownership flat. (Not that it has happened yet, according to my friend still living there).

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My sister recently moved to a new freehold property on a private estate in West Sussex has a yearly fee payable for landscaping & ,roads/pavements within the estate.

I am leasehold however I am responsible for the cost of replacing & repairs to windows and exterior doors at my apartment, on top of my maintenance fee :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

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What the OP is referring to is a management fee. Many private estates have these, the problems arise when the management is run by a company. A friend lives on an estate like this but the costs are kept to a minimum because the management is run by a committee of property owners.

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If it sounds to good to be true,it usually is.

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9

On a large new estate near here, where you are only part owner with the builder. My daughter was enquiring when she was between houses and decided not to buy there. You can’t actually sell the house before you have found somebody to take on your part of the ownership contract, or something like that. I’ll ask her for more details next time she wants something… :disguised_face: Er, I mean next time I see her… :wink:

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I have been stung by ever rising service charges on some flats. When challenging them it’s really impossible to prove whether charges are genuine.

For example one of many vague charges is recorded as a health and safety annual assessment