HorNet – Stop the Rot! Adopt the Lot!

A resident from the Midlands writes:

We are a group of 6 Freehold homeowners on a larger estate who are trapped and forced into paying variable rentcharges. We are solely responsible for our little area in our TP1. 

When many of us purchased our homes the risk was hidden from us and we weren’t informed. 

We have disputed these charges for years and the company have never provided evidence of costs, evidence of works and yet the invoices continue to roll in with no supporting information. The road was adopted in 2011 – how is it possible for our invoices to increase to this extent without some form of evidence!

We argued constantly that something was wrong until a friend of an owner audited the accounts themselves and found significant anomalies. When we highlighted those anomalies, we are brushed off with generic, unsupported claims. 

The last 3 years invoices now being over £1000 each and the company ignore any attempts to investigate and fix. Our presumption is that the problem has become so big and gone on for so long, no one wants to admit or help us fix it. 

I have included our very first budgets we have on record and one of our most recent, alongside the area we pay for. There are very obvious concerns and something is fundamentally wrong when invoices reach this amount. This pattern has gone on for years.  

People might look at this invoice and think, surely there is more to it. But no, there’s not. You might question why are they paying for Buildings Insurance? We did too and were told “oh it’s just the accounts”, but this is all we get. All the questions Hornet readers might be asking themselves looking at these, we have asked them all. 

Yes, we urgently need the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and the upcoming Commonhold Act 2026, but today we have absolutely zero protections. They could invoice us for tens of thousands tomorrow due to a mistake and there would be nothing we could do about it. 

HorNets would say you need more than the limited regulation and redress measures in the LAFRA. STOP THE ROT – ADOPT THE LOT!

Only a truly gutsy and determined person is able push on with the fight – we applaud and support her. At least 10 years is the answer, and it’s not over yet! None of this would have been necessary if the estate had been adopted in the first place.

Ten years on read Louise’s story here or by clicking on the photo. It is significant that there were leasehold houses on this development which when residents like Louise purchased their freehold, they were “out of the frying pan into the fire” and were just at the start of their problems over estate charges.