Annual service charges?

[chopitoff]

Can someone give me info please on development annual service charges for covering the maintenance of communal areas. We are looking at a new build which or about 4 years old. What do I need to look into? What are potential problems?

Check the terms of the covenant carefully - some literally say that they can repossess your house if you miss a maintenance payment.

Otherwise, there should be ‘resident directors’ who are responsible for the management of the estate. It would be worth trying to speak to them before buying. Ours are really good, and are determined to keep costs manageable. We sacked the management company provided by the builders which has improved things no end. If the management company is FirstPort you might want to have a Google - prior to being sacked they were charging our estate high costs without doing any work.