| Topic: | Re:High service charges compared to the brochure at Barratt's Great West Quarter. | |
| Posted by: | Alan Clark | |
| Date/Time: | 25/02/13 10:08:00 |
| Ryan - this is common practice. The annual management fees appear affordable and reasonable at the time when the units are being sold. However, this is often artificially estimated on the very low side. Once the development gets up and running - then the managing agent reveals that the actual costs are much higher and the service charges need to be hiked up. Expect another hike for next year. Typically the charges for each property are calculated from a mix of estate costs (running of the whole develop - to be shared by all properties) and apartment block costs (costs directly related to the block the apartment is in). The allocation of cost per property for each of these two costs can be calculated in different ways but often relate to either the number of rooms or the square footage of that apartment. So your neighbours may be paying more or less than you - but my guess is that they'd also be getting the same 40% increase in costs. Barrats will already have appointed a managing agent - typically they bidding for that privelage is run during the build phase of the development. They should provide you with a breakdown of the charges (and should have done so with the invoice). |