Experience of paying service charge in a property - does it always work out badly?

[Treehousehome]

Reposting here from chat. Wondering if there are posters with experience of paying a service charge.

I have very limited options and am considering a flat with a service charge (through a social housing provider). I have googled though and found so many articles on huge service charge increases, eg 3-400%
It feels like a huge risk.

Mine did with Clarion (housing association)
In 5 years it went from 300 pa to almost 3k.

It was the service agreements they enter that ruined everything. For us it was the communal grounds
Several people raised objections at the time but majority of customers are HA not privately owned and dont pay the service charge ergo dont care.

Butttt i wanted to get on the ladder and in fairness it did what it neededand its why i can afford to live in a house now

Service charges for things like grounds maintenance, heating/lighting/cleaning common areas and maintaining entry phones are a thing you're burdened with if you live in flats and similar developments.

Fairly applied they're fine but they can be used for legalised villanery though more in private developments than by HA/RSL type landlords.

I have paid service charge for years and it’s been great. Buildings insurance, garden maintenance, communal area cleaning etc are all taken care off with zero input or effort by me. This is in a share of freehold building though where all costs are carefully looked at and agreed to by all shareholders. I would be much more wary of a service charge levied by a commercial landlord.

Same. Service charges were necessary to maintain and insure the building and communal areas. It was all scrutinised by the freeholders.

Maybe it will be fine. I guess it’s only the horror stories that get reported. I’m fine in principle but when it’s a housing association you have no say in commission of work, who carries it out etc.

I’ve paid service charge in two different flats. No issue with either. Both had a legal provision in the leasehold contract for residents to manage though so the only way the SC could go up was if the directors of the management company (who had to be flat owners and therefore would be paying it) agreed.

In any event, in E&W you can’t get a flat without a service charge (unless the building is really badly run, in which case the likely consequence of no SC would be a sudden multi thousand pound bill)

Clarion, if you rent from them, are rip off merchants with their service charges. 🤷‍♀️

I'd be really cautious. Ones where leaseholders run the management via a committee or where it is shared of freehold, it might not be too bad. We are having major nightmares with our management company at present.

Be really careful . I had to pay circa £12k in 2007 for remedial works , a new freeholder arrived and deemed the works not good enough or not done at all and I had to pay the same again . Leasehold can be legalised robbery and I will never touch one again.