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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think our neighbours are ridiculous for paying this and refuse to pay my "share"

999 replies

Hiphopapotamus4 · 16/05/2017 21:20

A house on our road came up for sale recently (its empty at the moment, was rented) and as you do, I had a nosey at the particulars on Right Move. In the description in says that there is a service charge of £500 per year. I thought this was odd as we pay no such charge and it's not a flat or leasehold or anything like that so I couldn't figure out what the charge was for.

I ran into another neighbour who made a comment about the price it was for sale for so I commented that I noticed it had a service charge and how odd that was. Neighbour gave me a funny look and said "yes, well we all pay the service charge" I said that we don't and have never been told anything about it or asked for payment. I asked her what it was for exactly and she didn't really know but kept saying "we all have to pay it".

Now, she has obviously been and spoken to some of the other neighbours about this and they are now annoyed that we don't pay when everyone else does. They want us to start paying it so that their share becomes less. However NOBODY knows what it is for, they all just pay it without questioning it. I said I wouldn't be paying anything unless they can tell me what it is for and what "service" I am receiving.

AIBU to think they have all been a bit foolish to pay so much money without questioning it and that they should stop paying it/find out what it's for rather than ask me to contribute!

To be clear, this is a fairly normal road with no communal areas and no "services" (other than the usual bin collections etc). Apparently the invoice just says "service charge" and does not specify exactly what service it is.

(I am currently the "bad neighbour" and need to make amends - may have to bribe the neighbourhood with homemade chocolate brownies then convince them to stage a mass refusal of payment and demand for refunds!)

OP posts:
LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 17/05/2017 13:18

And like it or not, there is nothing like someone else being determined to change you to make you feel crap about yourself. And if he's overeating then he's going to eat more

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 17/05/2017 13:19

Ffs wrong thread Blush

Biggreygoose · 17/05/2017 13:20

Not read the full thread but:

Service charges maybe applicable for a number of things:

Private highways
Unadotable surface water drainage features (ponds, underground crates etc)
Unadotable foul drainage
Some public open space.

The following depends on age of the development:

To ascertain whether the street is public or private you will need to contact the local authority. Some LAs publish plans of adopted roads online, they can be tricky to find though. To avoid faffing around go straight to the highways department and ask for the HMPE plan (official name) for your street. Generally they will do this for free. If it's coloured in then you're in luck- it's adopted. If not you still have options. If the residents want the street adopted you can make an application under section 228 or 229 of the highways act. There are slight differences between the two so seek legal advice from a solicitor that deals with this sort of thing, one that has experiance with sections 278 and 38 will do. Be aware that local authorities may not be eagre to adopt very small roads serving 10 properties or less.

If it is a newer development then the charge may relate to the upkeep of attenuation ponds and other drainage features. This one is pretty much a non starter to get completely rid of. There is currently no mechanism to compel water authorities to adopt them like there are with pipes/manholes. LA's won't because of the maintenance burden and the government got rid of the SABs plan. There are some esoteric routes by which you could get them adopted and the charge removed but these would be rare and very much on a site by site basis. Payments would go to a private management company set up by the developer. Older (pre 2003) developments a much less likely to have these features.

Foul drainage - it is possible that the road is potentially served by a private sewer system, posibly including a pumping station. A charge would have been levied for its maintenance. However the sewer transfer regs 2011 moved the majority of these to the ownership of the water authorities. It is entirely plausible that this is the case and the charge is no longer applicable - just no-one thought to inform the residents. If you are the most recent purchaser and the first since 2011 to move in then that would explain why you didn't have the charge (as it wouldn't have come up on the search) and the others would. You can ask your water authority for their records of adopted sewers for your area. There will be a charge for these and the records are largely rubbish due to the aforementioned regs, information should have been passed over to the WA from whoever owned the system. However as quite a few dated back to the 50's and 60's or earlier the records are missing, incomplete and/or not digitised yet. Water authorities now own a lot they don't know about!

If it's public open space you can talk to your neighbours about forming a residents association to take over the management of this and thereby have direct control over costs etc. This can also be applied to surface water drainage features, but you will need to the be aware of what you are taking on for that.

Charge could apply to all of the above, none, or a random mix. They are the most likely culprits though.

Sorry for the long post.

Original poster
Hiphopapotamus4 · 17/05/2017 13:21

Grin some of you have summed up Roger to a tee! We call him the "street elder" he is certainly aware of all that goes on but is very mild mannered hence why he is paying this bill without a fuss I think. He is very keen for things to be "proper" and that we all take pride in the street etc.

The reason next door doesn't want to bother anyone is because she is very elderly has (I think) the beginnings of dementia and seems to think if somebody says she needs to pay then she just does. Sadly, she has been taken in by door to door salesmen before Sad

The no streetlights thing doesn't mean it's an unadopted road - there are no streetlights in the village at all, and none in any of the surrounding villages. We are just in a rural area and that is normal here. I only mentioned it to say that we have nothing that requires any upkeep/maintenance.

I'm sorry if I've missed any other questions I've not had a chance to read through every post yet but I'm popping home shortly and I'm sure Roger will be curtain twitching and will be straight over when he sees my car. Will try not to keep you in suspense for too long!!

OP posts:
MrsKoala · 17/05/2017 13:22

How do they pay? Sorry if i've missed it. Do they do DD? Or give their account details over the phone? If its a DD is it the same account details as the council tax?

ZeroFuchsGiven · 17/05/2017 13:24

Why don't you just call the estate agents enquire about the house and ask what the charge is?

CaptainObviousTwo · 17/05/2017 13:24

I'm agog with nosiness, OP.

and I fear that I may end up being my street's Rodger at some point

Bearberry · 17/05/2017 13:26

More blatant place marking here, bloody excited for the next update!

purplecoathanger · 17/05/2017 13:26

All the houses on our road pay an extra amount. This is to pay for a company to trim back the trees and mow the grass on a small area on the estate. We actually think it's a con but we tried to get out of it and couldn't as it's written into our deeds.

SimpleCreature · 17/05/2017 13:31

Tell Roger to hurry up will you? I'm on a tight schedule here.

(shameless placemarking)

IAmTheWorwax · 17/05/2017 13:35

Sorry op, another place marker here!

Can you not ring estate agents? Give me the address and I'll do it for you!

Ceic · 17/05/2017 13:36

In Scotland, where water is still publically-owned, water services is an extra charge on the council tax bill. If you have a septic tank, you don't pay this charge. Sounds like your house is old enough and rural enough to have a septic tank?

My guess is that it's either that or the council is billing the wrong street for service charges.

UndersecretaryofWhimsy · 17/05/2017 13:37

Ugh, Roger.

Tissunnyupnorth · 17/05/2017 13:38

I love a mystery....!

ocdprobs · 17/05/2017 13:39

Hello! I'm joining in.

I did have to laugh at the agogness of people that there are no streetlights, there are no streetlights anywhere near where I live.

WellErrr · 17/05/2017 13:39

How odd!

TheCraicDealer · 17/05/2017 13:42

Read this all over my lunch break, so invested right now. It's got to be a scam.

Did you get a chance to look at the payee details on the 'invoice'? Do they correspond (same bank, branch, etc.) with how you pay the council for the legit stuff?

buzzmoon · 17/05/2017 13:43

How do they pay? If it's a scam and someone imitating the council it can't be the same way? So intrigued!

requestingsunshine · 17/05/2017 13:44

Post the link on rightmove to it here. We'll ALL ring the estate agents and ask what its for. If they are getting a call every 5 minutes you can bet your life they'll find out exactly whats its for!

Allthebestnamesareused · 17/05/2017 13:44

I bet it Roger's bank account details on the bill!

BrownChickenBrownCow · 17/05/2017 13:45

I'm hooked! I need to know what it is!

requestingsunshine · 17/05/2017 13:45

Or call the council and ask. Say you are thinking of purchasing said house, and have been told the service charge is paid to the council. Whats it for

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 17/05/2017 13:49

Not placemarking in any way, oh no.

I'm intrigued though - as others have asked, is the payment directly to the council, are the billing details the same?

Seems incredibly bizarre!

NeedATrim · 17/05/2017 13:49

But but but, why can't you just ring the council and ask them what the charge is for? I'd do this in a flash if it were me. Not bribing with biscuit tins first and consulting with nosy neighbours. (although I wish I had homemade biscuits brought over by a friendly neighbour)

TheWhiteWolf · 17/05/2017 13:49

Blatant placemark