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

[Hiphopapotamus4]

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!)

That sounds incredibly weird! I would expect information about this to be handed over when you bought your house...
And like you said I would most certainly not pay unless I knew what for, to whom etc...

So weird ( trying to think of useful comment that doesn't allude to me just shamefully place marking....)

Those of you reading 38 pages might want to switch to one long thread.

Much easier to scroll through.

I'm strangely overly invested in this !!

Why am I so excited to find out what it's for?! 😖😖😖

I have an iPhone 6S+ and the bookmark king function works perfectly? I 'watch' the thread then bookmark each time I read it and it only comes up with new posts when I go back to it

Oh god, why did it have to be the council. It will be weeks before they get back to the op and probably with the wrong answer to a totally unrelated question 🙄

ChristopherWren Then you are one of the lucky ones. Next time I get a new phone I am going to ask the salesperson to go to Mumsnet and check whether what I am getting is able to do all the lovely functions others can access but many of us can't (even on our iPhones). In fact there may be a gap in the market ......

I sell mobile phones :) I'll definately mention it to head office.

Bookmarking often doesn't work if you have the MN app though.

I don't have an expensive phone - just an ancient Kindle Fire and a fairly ordinary smartphone, but I use the MN bookmarking facility via their mobile site. When I post, there's 3 dots in the bottom right hand corner of my post. If they appear when you post then click there and one of the options is bookmarking. That saves your place on a thread whether you are posting or are just placemarking on a thread. It takes you back to the the last bookmarked post when you open the thread next time :)

Rubens try swiping right to left on the post you want to bookmark.
I do that and the option comes up.

No answer? But the thread is nearly full...

(Bit bored of waiting now)

Sorry everyone, yesterday was hectic and I had no time to come and read all of your replies (SO many!)

I haven't heard back from the council yet, surprise surprise.
Roger has done some detective work and discovered that ONE other house isn't paying either - so 10 houses definetly pay.
I'm not sure how everyone is paying for it, next door sends a cheque but I suppose some of the others may have a direct debit set up. It's mainly elderly here so they're not very tech-savvy to be doing online banking etc.

I've had one other "clue" which sadly points at it being a scam
Ran into the farmer who owns the fields that surround our houses and asked him about it, as if it is some kind of ground charge he would probably know. He was just as surprised as me and reckons they've all been taken for a ride I hope he's wrong.

I promise to update you as soon as I've heard back from the council.

(DH thinks you're all mad and way too over invested!)

RING THE ESTATE AGENT

sorry for shouting

Btw, Roger says he can't help with the "investigation" too much today because his new lawn mower is being delivered and he will be tied up all day as he needs to test it for noise levels, cutting ability, speed, manoeuvrability and comfort.
I kid you not.

Might I suggest, OP, that you start a new thread NOW so that we know where to look for your next update. Thank you in advance!

We are overinvested

I'm thinking a service charge for maintaining the road but it's way too much. Thanks for updating. You may need to start a new thread soon as this one is nearly full.

splitinfinitive I didn't realise the three dots had a purpose. But when I click on them bookmarking isn't an option... I could PM or report or link it to Facebook or turn the thread the other way up or something, but no bookmarking option

OP you might need to start a new thread! Are you able to link it in here?

Have only read the OPs posts and can't see if it has been covered, but it sounds like most people are paying by cheque?

Where is the address that the cheques are being sent? Can it be visited? If it is a PO Box, is there any way of finding out who the PO Box is owned by?

Shocked and saddened that if it is a scam, so many people seem to have been paying this without question for years? I suppose if it is mainly elderly people they might have lived there for a long time? Surely solicitors would unearth this as a scam when a house is sold? If it is a scam, the police need to be involved.

A friend had to pay some sort of annual fee on her 19th Century mill workers cottage but it was fixed at a trivial sum like £5 per year for the next 850 years, so isn't really a worry.

@Westley how do you turn on that setting for one long thread?

next door sends a cheque

As a PP said, where it is sent and who it is payable to will be a clue as to whether it is a scam.

Smidge use the three dots to go up to top then there is a little v in a circle on the top right hand side, tap that and select the watch option

Weird thing is though. I'm guessing the house for sale has the service charge in the ad because the owners think it's genuine. But why only target 10/12 houses?