New build house service charge for stream

[summer78]

Hi would love some advice if anyone has any suggestions. We have just put a deposit (that is refundable) down on a lovely 3 bed semi we have had a 10% loan agreed from the housebuilder. Our deposit is refundable if we are unable to sell our current property or if we fail to get the mortgage as its in principle only. Property due to be ready to move into by end of july.

The builder has been honest from the start that there is a monthly management fee / service charge to a company called Trinity for the maintenance of a balancing pond / water culvert to the sides of 6 plots only. Our plot is within this so we would incurr this charge. This area consits of wild grass area inflows and outflows. We have been told that the local authority has adopted the water culvert to the side of the 6th plot but its our responsibility to pay for the bit in front of our house.

My question is could we petition the council to cover our bit as its not private land and the rest of the hundred or so houses on the estate will have access to this it seems unfair that my block of 6 have to pay £49 a month for its upkeep. No one else on the estate has this charge. Its benifiting the whole estate as its purpose is to stop flooding so why would our little block have to pay for the whole thing?

Also what is to stop the management company hiking the price up in year two?

Thanks so much for any advice

[nem39esis]

£49 a month is a lot, id want to see a breakdown of how they come to that figure. Local councils and the water authorities will normally adopt surface water and foul systems. If im right in what your saying, the builder installed some drainage system which outfalls to a pond. The pipes to this pond would normally be adopted but ponds etc normally are not. The council could take it on and you should ask if discussions have been had with the council regarding adoption of it and why they would not (is it not to a specification they wanted prehaps) Its pretty silly for a developer to build something and expect residents to pay for its maintenence, what happens if this maintenece company dissapears or goes bankrupt, what happens then? it blocks up and floods your home? That pond should be designed to certain standards, ask what they were. 1 in a 100 year storm events is the norm.

I wouldnt be happy knowing the council wasnt maintaining it, there would be hardly any work to do and definatley doesnt amount to £300 a month, theyd probably only visit once a year or when something goes wrong and what if one house doesnt pay or moves out, does yours go up? anything within your land is your responsibility, anything outside is not. Id ask some serious questions to the developer as this could cost you a lot of money, especially if something goes wrong. If you did go ahead with the purchase, know that something like this would put many a buyer off and likely to reduce the resale value of your home, you should consider that with any offer you put in, maybe consider lowering it, you have good reason too. Theres lots of guidance around, maybe first call would be to call the local council and maybe the NHBC. Good luck