AIBU to be absolutely devastated by this?

Gosh. They'll stop at
nothing to continue exploiting people. Good luck with appeal

Contact your MP. Casework is what they are there for. Good luck x

No, you are not being unreasonable. You and your partner are under immense pressure, and the feeling that you are not powerful to do anything about it is driving you to despair. As you'll know, the government is actively pursuing abolition of leasehold. It has been on the table for a long time, but the Tory government procrastinated, likely because of vested interests, and it will take some time to enact.

I suggest that rather than despairing, you immediately sign up for the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and write to its co- founder, Sebastian O'Kelly, to see if he has any suggestions. At least you will feel that you are getting support, and perhaps meet others in the same position: https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/ It is a registered charity and extremely reputable, and the charity has fought successfully for some of its members. Do you live in a block or large apartment building, and have you contacted other leaseholders. If you complained en masse, perhaps that would be effective; I don't know your legal position if you refused to pay.

I'd also say - don't panic or despair! Your apartment has only been on the market for six weeks, and in your position I'd take advice from Legal Knowledge Partnership before you go into the auction process. And you are only 31. It is very frustrating to feel that you can't start a family and are stuck in a holding pattern, but time is on your side so don't make major decisions in haste. What is your asking price?.

Service Charges never 'include' Ground Rent. They are two separate things, often collected by two separate companies. Plus, you cannot pay Service Charges out of a Ground Rent pot and vice -versa.

I’m so sorry to read this. We have the same issue with our flat in Milton Keynes. But ours was always just an investment property. I’ve always said to my husband how bad I feel for people whose main property is caught up in this cladding saga. I can’t imagine how trapped you feel. It’s ridiculous 😓

This also sounds like a situation that might interest the media? The journalists who take on the banks/mortgage companies in the Consumer pages?

Look at BBC NEWS Charged £720 to have a key cut - soaring bills drive leaseholders to breaking point. This program was on a few days ago. You are far from alone. I hope your situation changes soon. Disgusting greedy behaviour by the management of some / many of these properties

Have you considered going down the tribunal route on the bases of unfair charges

FTT costs are low, I believe it's only £100 to register your case. However, if the FTT judgement goes against you, you CAN be liable for the costs of your management company. This is the predicament my block is facing ATM.

Hi op I feel your pain and I believe government are looking into this sort of shady practice but it is a slow process, I think there is a process that you can use where a court can rule on whether or not these sort of charges are reasonable or not. Not sure how you start the process or how much it may cost. Perhaps like minded residents can help with the cost. Check out home owners alliance and the leasehold advisory service, there are others if you Google for them. Good luck

Could you part ex it with a new build developer? Your loss might not be so big?

You have my sympathy OP. Leasehold management companies are the latest way to bleed people dry. They will keep upping the charges every year to keep the shareholders in luxury.

You won't need telling this, but never buy leasehold. Hope for the greater fool when it comes to selling, if you can get rid of this property.

Feel your pain and feel so angry on your behalf. X

I've been there, long story but we had same issue in that I owned a flat with my sister & service charge increased so high (more than mortgage) it became an absolute scam. I organised meetings with the management company & had them went through everything with them - they agreed a few reductions in costs. I did a tonne of research at the time & there is a law where they can't make an increase above a certain amount without consulting tenants first. If your service charge is due to double - I'd have thought this would fall under that. I was like a dog with a bone, I knew the ins & outs legally & challenged them on every item on the bills (eg a sinking fund they wanted to maintain which was unreasonably high).

I really feel for you, it was so unbelievably stressful. We managed to sell without making a penny (covered legal costs only). Wishing you luck with it.

I agree that there are managing agents whose costs seem to be very excessive and need challenging.

The sinking fund thing is a challenge in itself though. I deal with lots of properties - some managed by agents and some have their own in house property manager who deals with everything with the oversight of resident directors.

Trying to find a balance between keeping service charge costs down, while maintaining a suitable fund for future major works can be a challenge.

If they don't forward plan for the major works, there would be a sudden demand for a lessee's share of a major cost.

Some blocks come with lots of facilities now and many were built a number of years ago and are coming near due for some major costs.

I deal with a self managed block where all the residents were moaning that their windows were draughty and leaky. The directors explained that there wasn't currently enough money in the reserve fund to pay for new windows, but they'd factor it in to the future budgets. This would have meant increasing the service charges to cover this cost. Then the lessees moaned that they didn't want their service charge to go up. I'm not quite sure where they expected the magic window money to come from!

In the end, they had to just arrange a deal with a window company so that the people that wanted their windows done could just pay for them themselves.

They have done a 10, 15 and 20 year maintenance plan with everything costed out. Many leases have clauses that the common parts must be redecorated every X number of years and outside Y number of years. There's two issues with this - paint is now a lot more expensive than when the lease was drawn up but has also got better in quality, so, if maintained well, should last much longer than the covenanted period in the lease.

And if you've got a lift? Big, big ££ will need to be spent on overhauls and eventual replacement.

This, combined with insurance policies increasing massively since Grenfell makes the costs astronomical before you even have a dodgy managing agent.

As I say, I know there are some managing agents that over-charge, or just don't have any incentive to keep costs as low as possible, and the £720 key charge example is just outrageous, but even the best managed properties have seen their service charges rise significantly.

Word to the wise for anyone buying a flat in a new development. They will advertise the service charges at a rate that seems very reasonable compared to other local "second hand" flats. Those service charges too will increase significantly over time, so don't be swayed by the sales tactic of low service charges..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy84g9822gro

My daughter bought a house in a small development which also had a leasehold management contract. The company were useless and very expensive. She and the other leaseholders got together and got "right to manage" sorted out saving everyone a huge amount of money. There are a lot of specialist companies who can help (bearing in mind their costs would be split between all leaseholders). There is power in numbers! Why not start a FB group to get everyone together?It's possible that there is someone in your block who could sort out the legal side. Also tne legislation to stop these gits ripping off homeowners has started going through parliament. Good luck, I feel for you.

There are specialist companies which can (and should) steer you towards RTM. Don't try to do it yourself- one tiny omission in the 'Application' and your case will be thrown out. You'll have to start all over again and right now, the backlogs in the Property Courts are extensive- at least 9 months. My block started the RTM application nearly 2 years ago and because of a simple typo error, legal challenges by our Freeholder and long delays in our application reaching the top of the pile, we are only now, close to a conclusion.