Residents question value of home fees
MORE homeowners on a new estate say they are paying "extortionate" maintenance charges for services they are not receiving.
The Sentinel reported last week how residents of Burslem's Sadler's Park pay more than £1,000 a year for maintenance, but could not work out where the money was going.
Now people living in the Lock 38 apartment complex, pictured, on the former Tywfords Ceramic Works site in Shelton New Road, Cliffe Vale, say they are also receiving an inadequate service.
Mainstay Residential, which undertakes work on both the sites, said it was only an agent acting on behalf of a residents' management company which ran the maintenance scheme.
The Sadler's Park and Lock 38 housing complexes were built by Countryside Properties, and residents pay a charge as a condition of buying their home. It covers services including cleaning, grounds maintenance, call-outs and building insurance.
James Sheldon, aged 23, of Hartley Court, is unhappy with the standard of services for the £690-a-year maintenance charges to live in Lock 38, which he pays in two, six-monthly instalments.
The technical support worker at Vodafone said: "The windows are filthy, the bins are disgusting because they haven't been cleaned and the walls in the communal areas are all marked.
"The security door to the electricity meter was broken for more than two months before it was repaired.
"There's never any salt in the salt bins and the car park was like a death trap during the bad weather. Two weeks' ago there was a car fire on the car park and glass from this still hasn't been cleared up.
"It is a disgrace and appalling to expect people to pay a mortgage payment plus bills and also pay this amount of money for work which clearly isn't being done."
Baker Joe Bradbury, aged 23, also of Hartley Court, had to fork out £300 in repair bills following a water leak after the company refused to meet the bill, even though he also pays £700 a year for maintenance. He has now told Mainstay he is with-holding his fees until the service improves.
He said: "The leak came from the flat above where the occupant had already withheld his charges. So they refused to do anything for my apartment as he hadn't paid.
"Besides this, they never clean the hallway which has started to smell and the windows get cleaned twice a year. I just don't know what we are getting for our money."
A Mainstay Residential spokesman said: "It is not appropriate for us to comment."
5 Comments
by Mr Jones, Sadlers Park Burslem
Monday, March 01 2010, 5:44PM
“Only just got round to reading this after a freind told me it was in the paper a few weeks ago. I live on Sadlers park another estate managed by mainstay, the service is dreadfull and the total cost per year is more than my council tax and energy bills combined! it totalled over £500.00 this period and we are expected to pay for 6 months in advance as a block payment. Considering the area was built with affordable housing in mind I struggle to see where the 'affordable' part comes into play with these service charges. MAinstay reportedly made £2.5million profit last year and we currently can't do a thing to stop them taking advantage of us and continuosly increasing their prices to feed their pockets. I as per every other resident on both sites am also disgusted with them on both their level of service and ridiculous fee's which are devaluing our properties. Big thanks to the sentinel anyway for publishing this article and lets hope the publicity will be a leap towards getting rid of Mainstay.”
by Julian, Lock38 Cliffe Vale
Thursday, February 25 2010, 8:56AM
“Well, I have just had my half yearly service charge bill through for £463, what this is paying for I do not have a clue. there are 18 apartments in my block so each year Mainstay are recieving over £16500 a year and for what. It's a rip off. I live on my and am having to use a credit card to pay for this bill, it's a disgrace. I also recived another letter yeaterday from Mainstay which was a letter detaling my proportion of deficit, that stands at £327!! So now I have to pay them nearly £800. I'm utterly disgusted and don;t really know what to do about these charges. Something has to be done.”
by Katie, Lock 38
Wednesday, February 24 2010, 5:21PM
“I live at lock 38 on Tattershall court, we pay £77 a month service charge! which is collected from us every 6 months..
I agree with the story we are being totally ripped off. Me and my partner brought this property on a first time buyers initiative, we have a joint income and find the service charge too much.
I purposely left a hand print on my window before the window cleaners came and it was still there after they had been.
The grass at the front of our flat is all dead and yellow...
We are being totally ripped off by a greedy management company who are not doing there job properly, I would strongly advice against buying a property here as you will be skint after paying all the charges and also in negative equity.. Thank you Country Side properties you have done a real good job helping out first time buyers... NOT.
We are stuck here for the foreseeable future unhappy and both working full time to pay our bills and SERVICE CHARGES!”
by gaz, bradwell
Monday, February 22 2010, 9:49PM
“You have my sympathy pal. Although my issue differs from yours the point is the same.
I rent and i am charged service charges that my landlord enjoys adding too. I pay council tax as do you, but i am now paying my landlord extra charges to "take care" of my neighbourhood. And guess what, We never see them. Its just another charge payable by benefit so the majority of tenants couldnt care less. I have worked and paid tax for 25 years and i am worse off than those who have not. With the cost of buying a property out of reach of most young people in this area, and with the rising cost of council housing for the rest of us, we may find that to "afford the rent" will become "dss only" . I have a petition on the No 10 web site asking for a review on the whole issue of service charges because as you are finding they can do what they like, and get away with it.”
by James Fairclough, Lock38 Cliffe Vale
Monday, February 22 2010, 8:28PM
“i am currently a ressident at Lock38 in Cliffe Vale, and have been for over 2 years. I am a single male with only one income. When purchasing the property i saw it as an ideal oppurtunity to get on the " property ladder" at an affordable price. When i first moved here i knew there was a management fee, and i had budgeted for such charges as they were barely affordable. i had a monthly payment plan agreed with mainstay and was paying it happilly by DD. When the annual fee was due for renewel i was quite happy to just keep paying. I then received a letter demanding approximetly £550 within a few days. as i did not have this money to hand i then had to apply for a credit card to pay the outstanding balance! the whole point of by a countryside property was to live in affordable housing and avoid getting in to more and more debt! i appreciate that owning your own property is expensive and strains your bank ballance, but mainstay seem to want to push you until you break. there is a lot of residents here who are struggling to meet the charges that mainstay are trying to sap out of us, and to be honest not one person i have spoke to can understand what our money is being spent on. I was told by mainstay when i first questioned the charges, that any monies not spent would be reimbursed to us.....i have never received any money back, and if there is any money left over, it seems to go in to the subsidenece pot??? is this not what the ground rent is for at £150.00 per year??? it is just rediculous and they should be sacked from managing our estate. I cant remember the last time i saw anyone carrying out any work on our site. We are just throwing our hard earned mony down the drain in to mainstays bulging bank account! where will this end.....100 apartments empty, after the bailifs have cleared us out.......what a great example and insperation it is for young proffesionls to move out and fend for themselves! it is absolutely discusting, and there should be a law against daylight robbery, and extorsion.....regards, Mr James Fairclough Lock38 Cliffe Vale.”