Buying on a nearly new build estate with unadopted roads

[Tryingtomoveisdrivingmecrazy]

I’m currently in the process of buying a three year old property on an estate of around 150 houses. The searches have just revealed that the roads on the estate are unadopted by the council and instead seem to be maintained by a management company that I would have to pay an estate charge to on a yearly basis to cover any maintenance required. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience of this? Concerned at the potential costs that could be coming my way if the road needed resurfacing etc etc. Would be grateful for any advice as to whether this is likely to be a problem or whether I am over thinking it. Many thanks.

Sod that! I lived on a road like this - never ending repairs and bills

I've lived in my house for 17 years. The road is still.unadopted and there have never been any problems.

You should be able to get the accounts of the management company that they provide to residents. Check whether they have a sinking fund as part of the charges. Unless there is unusual heavy traffic, like a right of way for tractors or heavy lorries, the roads should be fine for a long time. So a small amount into the sinking fund every year should cover when the road does need work. I live on a private road with normal household traffic and the road is in a good condition and hasn't needed anything done to it since the houses were built about 22 years ago.

Pretty much all new builds have this now, it’s very common. It wouldn’t put me off but I guess that’s individual choice All houses come with costs. For me, what is saved on heating by living in a new build (in my experience, I understand others may have different experiences) would outweigh potential management company costs.

We lived in a new build for 5 years and the management fee was soemthing like £150. The management company sent people out to cut hedges / cut the grass and a street sweeper regularly came round. We had no issues (other than snotty letters to the whole estate every now and then about allocated parking spaces). The council eventually adopted the road.

There is usually a time limit on this and then the council will adopt the road as long as its been built to adoptable standards. can anything be found in the planning permission?

I would have thought there has to be some sort of liability insurance.

I guess the road will be good for quite a few years. The question is what happens when it starts to fall into disrepair and needs a complete resurface.

Does the management company have the right to levy a one off charge or increase the charges for that ? Do the charges have the potential to escalate into a money for old rope situation for the management company ?

Do you get a reduction in your council tax because the roads are not maintained ?

I used to live in a place where there were a few private roads. You could always tell because the roads were knackered. The residents would never agree on paying to have them resurfaced. That is a bit different to a management company though.

I would have thought your conveyancing solitictor would be the one to talk to on this.

Private roads are a deal breaker for me. Why pay more when on a public highway the road is covered by your council tax?

Also - hassle, no control over costs etc.

Ask for all the costs in the last 3 years. I have a friend who lives on a similar estate and they all just got billed £25 for fixing a fence panel in last few weeks

Will you definitely be liable for the payments? My last house was on an unadopted road on a new built estate but there was a contract stating that the developer would cover all costs until such a time as the road was adopted. It caused a bit of a headache when we came to sell as the Solicitors were nervy about it but in fairness to the developer the roads they paid to maintain were in great nick and we never had to pay a penny.

There were other developers on the same estate and I know with some of them the home owners were liable for the road payments. Personally, I'd avoid that at all costs, the fees the management company charged seemed to increase all the time and the roads were barely maintained at all.

They get adopted once the estate is finished. Mine is being done at the moment.

All new estates unfortunately have a maintenance charge, it's a money making scheme basically, they say it's for communal areas such as parks/areas of planting/bin stores and any communal car parking areas. Any new build you look at will have it, it's not unusual

Pretty much all new builds have this now. We bought a house that was built 2018 in 2022. We pay an estate charge, it’s very well maintained and the nicest estate in the town so in my eyes with it.

The council will eventually adopt the roads, I’ve just heard that there is a massive backlog hence why management companies take over the roads initially.

We lived in our old new build for ten years and paid about £200 a year- no problems. Now in another new build (house is around 8 years old and we are second owners). Same thing really. I didn’t think the council would ever adopt the road- it will be nice if they do

If you don't want to pay it you won't be able to buy a new /recent build

That is not necessarily true, it depends on the local council's policy. Some councils do not adopt ever now, so please do your due diligenceZ

I don't know about roads but we paid an amenity charge for the estate we lived on for years, something like 80 a year. Communal grass always looked neat, trees cared for etc. Much nicer environment than others on the area.

I lived in my house for over 20 years, a new build with an unadopted road. There was no management company or sink fund, we just all knew we were responsible for any repairs that arose - but none ever did. I think it's better to pay into a fund, but would worry about the charge increasing every year as I don't think there any restrictions about how much they're allowed to increase.

My friend lives on an estate like this, their street lighting is also paid from the company funds. The council will never adopt it, they knew this when they bought it from brand new. They have a decorative landscaped communal area with seating and that is maintained by a local gardening company. It does always look well looked after.

The management fund will cover any future road repairs needed. I would be wanting to know how much the payments are and what is the balance currently in the fund and what if any monies had been spent by the fund in the last 3 years since it started. My road is adopted but has never had any repairs on it and my house is 25 years old. The main trunk road around 30 years old running through the estate was resurfaced last year but it does have buses running down that every hour. Is there a bus route on your estate?

There's a new estate near me and because the monoblock won't support the weight of a bin lorry all the residents have to drag their bins out to the main road to get them collected. I'd always want to ensure the road had already been adopted.

I wouldn't, it's like writing an open cheque

I’m the treasurer for our private road. Your solicitor should know the questions to ask but I’m always asked:
Last 3 years of mgt accounts
Minutes for last AGM (may not be relevant)
Current bank account balance
How much service charge is paid annually
Has there been any unusual / large / one off expenses
Are any major works planned that would be in addition to the the service charge
Any monies owed by the property you’re buying

It’s not necessarily a deal breaker but i’d want your solicitor to review the above. They should also be asking if there are plans to adopt the road in the future and what the council’s policy is re new estates.

I missed off, details of public liability insurance.