We live in an in-fill developemtn of 7 houses built by a small local builder. When we bought the house 7 years ago the builder suggested that he would setup a company to own the access road then transfer this company to the owners taking a 1/7th share each.
Well after 7 years it looks like he has finally got round to it and we got a letter from a solictor asking if we wanted to do it and if so it would cost approx £100 per household for the solicitors to setup the company, transfer the land deeds and whatnot.
Now when we bought the property we agreed that we were jointly responsible for upkeep / maintenance costs on the access road along with the other houses and we've done this informally so far.
So my question is whether we should be concerned that we are becoming liable for anything major that we weren't liable before.
ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?
We also used to have responsibility for the sewage and groundwater systems onsite, plus the two pumps that sent it to the mains, but Wessex Water took that over in 2015 thanks to EU legislation that wouldn't let it stay in our own hands. If we'd been negligent, it might have affected the public sewers, or something similar. We're happy, as the cost of servicing and the cost of saving up to replace the pumps every 10 years or so was high.
Now all we pay for is insurance against people having accidents on the common parts, the fee for filing our accounts and any repairs to the roadway or pavement required to fix trip hazards, etc.
The council won't adopt our little road because they have no need to take on extra responsibilities if we're doing it ourselves. Our official address is still the old house address on the public road.
We all have a Covenant with the management company and jointly with each of the other houses which restricts us from doing certain things and we've agreed to do other things. Nothing odd. For example, we can't keep caravans or mobile homes or boats on our (small) drives. We can't keep chickens (!). We must keep garden areas as gardens (no bricking them up and parking extra cars at the front). If you want to sell, you won't be able to if you haven't followed it. New owners won't get the land registered in their name by the Land Registry if they don't sign the covenant and agree to abide by it.
It's not too onerous and works. But we're only 6 houses. Prior to that I lived on the Isle of Dogs with 25 freehold houses and 300 leasehold flats in blocks. The management company for that had a terrible time and was an expensive nightmare. 7 houses should be OK. PM me if you want to know more.
We are already jointly liable for maintenance jointly as part for the property deeds for the actual houses so sounds like we will end up in a similar position just needing insurance and nominal fees for administration.
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You can get caught out with certain things if you don't sort it out properly (for instance friends of ours can't get gas or fibre-optic broadband because the road hasn't been adopted by the council).
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All you need is for a big accident to be caused by a pothole and you'll need massive levels of public liability cover.
And absolutely guaranteed - one of the 7 will refuse to pay their bit for premiums / maintenance etc etc. Maybe not the current 7, but the next person to move it.
https://speakerimpedance.co.uk/?act=two_parallel&page=calculator
Sewers and groundwater systems should already have been taken over by the local sewage provider - is it Wessex Water in Southampton too? Whoever sends your house a bill for waste water should be able to tell you - it's them or no-one.
Our shared roadway and pavements are brick blocks and no drains. Rainwater drains through the cracks between the blocks. We don't get potholes. In 2019, we did a small (£1K) repair to several trip hazards and a couple of sunken areas. The company we hired lifted, filled, replaced and levelled them. That was the first repair since construction in 2010.
Our insurance renewal last October cost £490 (shared between us all) and that has £5M in public liability insurance.
The point about non-payers is good. We've been OK here, but at our previous East London estate, there were lots of non-payers in dispute with the management company about the level of repair and decoration (or lack of it) and used that as an excuse not to pay. They were all leaseholders in flats complaining about the common areas and roofs in their blocks, though. Freeholders in their houses dealt with their own maintenance and only paid a share of the costs for the common parts. Like where I am now.
The Ts & Cs for that estate were written in 1987. In this one, written in 2010, everyone is obliged to pay first and dispute later. Failure to pay win a reasonable timeframe (40 days, I think, from memory), for whatever reason could even result in the management company locking someone out of their house until they've paid what they owe. The management company could even sublet the property to someone else. That, apparently, is written in law. Which was a surprise when I found out....
We have a board with unpaid volunteer directors, and it is not onerous. The directors occasionally get a working party together for minor seasonal tasks. All but one of our residents cheerfully stumps up each year, but the contribution is of course voluntary.
Having said all that, if you can get your local council to adopt the road it will save you the hassle.
But our space is far, far cuter! :-)