RESIDENTS of a newbuild estate claim they've been "scammed" by sneaky hidden fees.
Locals on Cofton Hackett estate in Worcestershire claim that at the time of buying their properties they had no idea about the £176 yearly fee they have to pay to a developer.
The fees are charged to cover maintenance costs for shared green spaces and parks.
Crofton Hackett's lead developer St Modwen appointed property manager First Port to levy the costs - which locals have blasted a "scam".
They claim they weren't informed of the annual cost when they first bought their homes.
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Maintenance fees like these have lead many to blast developers for selling "fleecehold" rather than freehold homes.
Mike Pattison - a resident and Chairman of the Parish Council in Cofton Hackett - is leading the campaign against the charges.
He said: "This is a scam and it is an increasing problem across the country.
"The developers don’t mention these charges, they don’t refer to them on their website and many of us were unaware they were even a thing until we had moved in.
"I was told I would have to pay a one-off fee of £250.
"Another friend of mine was only told just before exchange when he’d already paid solicitors.
"Quite a few solicitors are behind the curve when it comes to these developments.
"They associate such charges with leasehold rather than freehold and did not tell the buyers."
Becci Byng - a management accountant who bought on the estate - said: "I was one of the first to move in in 2014 and I was never told about a service charge at any stage of the process.
"My solicitors did not mention it but then, as a first-time buyer, I had taken the solicitors recommended by the developer.
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"They started charging in 2019 and that is when I got involved trying to access accounts and see what they were spending the money on.
"But I have only seen one set of accounts. They are very secretive and arrogant and we as residents have no control at all.
"We are even paying for a balance pool connected to some nearby reservoirs.
"Much of the work is not done in a timely manner and we have a playground which is water-logged in the wet weather."
They are very secretive and arrogant and we as residents have no control at all
Becci Byng
The charges are incurred for the communal aspects to the new-build estate – grass areas, playgrounds, dog poo bins, drain covers and verges.
Retired housing officer David Dixon, 69, said: "Just before we were signing contracts on our house in 2014, my wife and I saw a transfer document that mentioned a maintenance fee.
"It said if you do not pay, the management company can enter your property. By that stage it was too late to back out.
"It is unfair paying Council Tax, the Parish Council precept.
"We have met with the Council who were sympathetic but said that St Modwen owned the freehold and if they were to adopt the area they would have to buy St Modwen out which they were not prepared to do."
Home owner Chris Harlan-Marks, 41, a special needs teacher, said: "It can’t be right that we have to pay a full Council tax and the parish levy and then pay extra for these facilities on top, facilities that anyone can use.
"Given the work they do, the amount they charge for small things is unbelievable. It is just a rip off."
This is a scam and it is an increasing problem across the country
Mike Pattison
At any angry meeting of residents in November 2019, the developers promised that the fees would not exceed £120 but their latest demand was for £176.
One 66-year-old resident said: "Of course this is not fair. This is a public area, not a gated community so we should not be paying extra.
"The road I live on is down to the residents to maintain so if anything goes wrong we have to fix it"
Mr Pattison pointed to the playground as an example of how residents pay through the nose.
"The Parish Council have a playgroundand it costs us £85 a year to maintain. We pay First Port £420 to maintain the estate’s playground.
"The reason is that the Parish pays for one inspection by ROSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) a year and I, as Chairman, check it once a month.
"First Port have insurers who insist on four ROSPA inspections a year. The irony is that in the last four years that they have been inspecting, six faults have been found and all of these were found by parents rather than ROSPA.’
First Port said: "As the appointed property manager, we are responsible for the maintenance of specific communal areas of the development, to ensure they are kept safe and in good condition for the residents that use them.
"The costs of maintenance works are covered by the service charge, which is carefully budgeted every year to cover the work there is to do and the expected costs of maintenance.
"When purchasing a property, buyers should be made aware of any management arrangements and subsequent charges.
"We would advise buyers to seek the relevant advice from their conveyance solicitor and/or the selling party prior to purchase."
