Posted by David on December 21, 2007, 5:55 pm, in reply to "Managment fees from R&R"

So – for a 2 bedroom charthouse flat, a demand for just under £3500 for 6 months of service and a plan to replace the lift one day. Oh yeah, and for "immediate payment". Merry bloody Christmas. Last time there was a big thread about service charges, the directors agreed that some warning should be given to lease holders when big rises were coming. I guess that has been ignored. Demanding over £1700 for the replacement of the charthouse lift, plus suggesting there will be an extra demand of around £600 per year every year until 2012 is way, way out of line. Leaseholders cannot be expected to swallow such demands without any notice. These vast expenses relate to long-term assets that should be financed over a good proportion of their working lifetime and NOT in advance of even getting a quote for the work. Come on directors - think! In a real company, you don’t go off to the shareholders and demand money when new assets are needed. You have to plan the finances accordingly so the cash flow doesn’t get crippled. That means looking at long term asset financing if the cash reserves cannot, or should not, pay for the asset. I strongly suggest that leaseholders pay their service charge on time but withhold this obscene advance payment for the lift replacement until a better plan is discussed. David

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