Service charge on flat in Tower Hamlets- how much might it be?

[PeachOctopus]

My son bought a flat in Tower Hamlets, he’s just received an official letter about many works being carried out on his building, it’s for the service charge- his building doesn’t have cladding but the letter is talking about the pipes in the roads, lots of other things.
Has anyone else experienced this and is there any limitations on the amount that it could be?

What’s his normal service charge level? In my experience there are two approaches buildings take: either

1. the general service charge remains low and you have to pay a heftier share of works - or

2. the service charges are higher but often that includes a reserve fund for works

The solicitor should have established this as part of the conveyancing process. There may be a fund built up over time to cover such costs and bills for communal area or he may be one of the leaseholders liable for a % share.It will depend on the freeholder and how the leases are written.

Why would a letter about service charge cover the pipes in the road? the service charge is for works on the flats in the block, not the outside (unless they're having pipes into the property installed or replaced).

Solicitor should have asked for service charge accounts for at least the last three years and details of what was charged/paid out. If work needs to be done over that is £ 250 per flat, then the management co should be issuing a section 20 notice of intended works.

Water pipes from the demise of the property are the owners’ responsibility.

I had to sell my flat as I couldn't afford the works, it was £21,000 and I had a small one bed. Others were three bed and one had a lift as it was the penthouse. Some were over £100k a bill for one off work you would think, but no it was scheduled to be done every ten years.

What does the letter refer to? Anything major will be a Section 20 notice and must be served correctly.

i had an ex LHA flat in London which had a £23k service charge bill for major works. Some of the leaseholders got together and we went to tribunal twice and hired our own surveyor and barrister. It took 11 years to sort and my final bill was £7k. A huge amount of stress and admin!

How long has he owned it? The management pack when you buy asks if any large expenditure is anticipated. There might be an answer there.

Leasehold scams. A modern day scourge .

The solicitor would have covered any upcoming works so your son will know the answer to this?

unless it’s a new request for something, in which case they have to service section 20 if it’s over £250 I think.

mention of pipes in the road suggest some confusion

He needs to just sit down and look at it all properly.

I loved my leasehold - just before I moved out, a couple moved in who didn’t appear to have read anything about how the service charge actually worked. And we got chatting and they admitted to me that they had only read the paperwork about a week before moving in so they didn’t realise how high it was. Baffling.

Thanks for all the replies, I will try and find out more information, he said it was an 11 page letter, he is away for the weekend. So far he has been paying around £250 a year.

The letter he received is not a section 20 letter, it is just a letter handing out contracts from the council to a company and letting the company decide what works need doing and what they can include, it is a consultation notice at this stage.
I guess he has to wait and see if they issue a notice of works when the block is inspected.