Anyone had a good experience living in new build freehold house with estate management fees?

[aviendha123]

My partner and I have been looking for a house in Gloucester for the last year. We are thinking of buying a new build house, freehold, off plan. The house ticks all our boxes apart from the fact that it has an estate management fee of approx £100 per annum once the estate is completed which is probably going to be 3 years after we move in. I have heard horror stories about estate management companies but maybe this is biased as plenty of people are still buying these houses! I’d like to hear if you are in a freehold new build house with an estate management fee and have had a good experience. Thank you!

Our previous house was a newbuild freehold with a management fee. Nothing terrible, but the prices did rise quite a bit each year and it felt quite expensive for what we got from it - gardening/rubbish clearing/maintenance of public areas etc. What we didn't like was that there were no rules on how much they could raise the price by and that if some homes on the estate were unable/didn't pay then the cost was supposedly to be divided by everyone who did (didn't see that happen though). Also when we came to sell it was an extra cost and faff with getting paperwork from the management company. I imagine as with anything it depends on the company, which of course you have no say in and can be changed at any time.
If you really want a newbuild I think this is just expected nowadays so perhaps just an extra cost to factor into budgets.

We did this and it was fine. We pay a low management fee and the housing company do a good job in terms of estate maintenance, gardening, security etc. Our issue was building delays (2 years over due).

Is it definitely only £100 per annum? That seems v low!

Apparently the estate management fee is linked to RPI but I will wait to see what is in the TP1. We looked at both older houses and new builds of and found that both were selling for similar prices but the older houses usually needed work done which was not reflected in the price.

Yes it’s pretty low compared to other estates although it may have gone up slightly by the time they start charging when the developer complete the estate.

I live on an estate where we pay an annual management fee of £300 for communal grounds maintenance and upkeep of the private road. The estate management company was set up and run by the residents and works really well as there are no external bodies involved. We get sent the accounts every year and can see where the money is going. We currently have a large surplus as we are saving up to get the road resurfaced. There have not been any unexpected charges and the amount we pay has not changed in the last 10 years.

do not go there - i live in a freehold house in a small development - i have the other problem the estate is under funded and no one wants to increase the service charge which was so low that nothing got done and - lighting not working - pitch black in winter - gardens overgrown and electric gates not working. -fences falling down no sink fund - in fact i i had a health & report done and it says it so bad that it will reflect on the sale and rental; values. anyway after creating we now have a management company who has put the charges up but at the moment apart from the gardens being hacked down and most of it left at various heights not a lot has happened.

the increased service fee with the agents fees might cover it this year but long term it will all become a problem again - if you purchase a freehold house with this agreement you always get people who do not think the works are necessary and are quite happy to let the estate look a mess. we all have different standards i am afraid but health & safety issues are not an option but a legal requirements

buy somewhere else/