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Management company has failed to maintain area around housing development and has now sent large backdated bill: can we enforce a change in the terms of the lease
I am a home owner who has recently been handed a large backdated bill from a company that manages and maintains of the area in which I live. They have neglected the majority of their services for over two years with no communication to inform us of this. Payment to them is tied into the Lease terms with the Developer (Bellway Homes) based on a percentage of the overall costs. However, finding it difficult to understand the legal terminology in the Lease terms and conditions, I am unsure whether or not they are legally entitled to issue a sudden backdated bill for services which they have clearly neglected for so long. They have admitted to a very small amount of neglected services, and omitted this small part of the service charge, when in fact the vast majority of their services were neglected. Added to this, the fact that their breakdown of services/costs applies mostly to the blocks of flats in the area and not to the quadrant of houses where I live. In short, the houses are being forced to pay for services they are not receiving. It seems, in order to be fair, a change to the Lease terms for those living in the Housed site would need to take place - is this unheard of?
Bellway Homes can collect up to six years' back rent/service charges but any service charge demanded must be properly incurred for the benefit of the properties in the estate. Bellway Homes cannot carry out unnecessary works which would improve their investment at the cost of the residents. As you say, each property's share of the costs should be set out in its Lease and Bellway Homes should be asked to provide a full breakdown of the calculation of the share demanded from you if they have not already done so.
If you feel they have not acted responsibly as Landlords or you feel the shares defined in the Leases of the flats and houses are now inappropriate (possibly because of changes in the management or physical details of the estate) you could take matters further either yourself or as a group of residents.
You will need detailed legal advice if you propose to proceed with this. If you come back to me indicating you want to take a look at the possibility I will get one of our property legal team to contact you.
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