We value your privacy

We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience, serve personalized ads or content, and analyze our traffic. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to our use of cookies.

Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

  • Cookie
    rc::a
  • Duration
    never
  • Description

    This cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks.

  • Cookie
    rc::c
  • Duration
    session
  • Description

    This cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks.

  • Cookie
    cookieyes-consent
  • Duration
    1 year
  • Description

    CookieYes sets this cookie to remember users' consent preferences so that their preferences are respected on their subsequent visits to this site. It does not collect or store any personal information of the site visitors.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

  • Cookie
    perfectportal-session
  • Duration
    4 days
  • Description

    This session cookie stores temporary data to maintain user login status or preferences while navigating the website.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

  • Cookie
    __utmz
  • Duration
    6 months
  • Description

    Google Analytics sets this cookie to store the traffic source or campaign by which the visitor reached the site.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

  • Cookie
    __utma
  • Duration
    1 year 1 month 4 days
  • Description

    This cookie is set by Google Analytics and is used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the JavaScript library executes and there are no existing __utma cookies. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.

  • Cookie
    __utmc
  • Duration
    session
  • Description

    The cookie is set by Google Analytics and is deleted when the user closes the browser. It is used to enable interoperability with urchin.js, which is an older version of Google Analytics and is used in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine new sessions/visits.

  • Cookie
    __utmt
  • Duration
    10 minutes
  • Description

    Google Analytics sets this cookie to inhibit request rate.

  • Cookie
    __utmb
  • Duration
    1 hour
  • Description

    Google Analytics sets this cookie, to determine new sessions/visits. __utmb cookie is created when the JavaScript library executes and there are no existing __utma cookies. It is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Skip to content

Clear Advice Feels Better

What is a Management Company and Service Charges?

01772 555 176
Request a Callback Vincents Solicitors
Select date DD slash MM slash YYYY

Please press submit to tell us that you’re happy for us to contact you. We will only use the information you give us to contact you.
Home > Conveyancing Advice > What is a Management Company and Service Charges?
Residential Property Advice

What is a Management Company and Service charges?

Almost all apartments and some houses (whether freehold or leasehold) can be subject to the payment of service charges.  For an apartment this would cover the cost of maintenance and repair of any common areas in the building and insurance payments.

For a house, especially when a relatively new estate, the service charges would cover the cost of maintenance, repair and insurance of any common areas, sometimes the roads and footpaths if they are not maintained by the local authority, or a play area built as part of the planning conditions of the estate.

A management company is under an obligation to keep accounts and provide accounts to you annually to show what payments have been made and what your service charges will be for the next year.

The responsibilities of the Management Company would be outlined in the title documentation. The cost of service charges depends on the amount of maintenance done on the estate or block if it is a flat so there is no way to estimate what these would be without sight of the Management Pack when the contract document is received.

Invariably whether or selling or buying a property with a Management Company, there will be additional charges involved.

If you are selling then your buyer will require sight of the Management Company pack which will contain all the requirements of the Management Company, insurance details and notice fees. On a sale this must be obtained by the seller and can cost anything up to £400 to provide.

On a purchase your solicitor will, following completion, be required to give notice of change of ownership to the Management Company and there is generally a fee payable for this. Again until the Management Pack is received this figure would be unknown but is likely to be in the region of £200.

Meet our team of experts

Residential Conveyancing

June Caunce

01 / 015
Call today 01772 555 176 Email junecaunce@vslaw.co.uk

June Caunce is Head of Residential Conveyancing and is part of the Senior Management team at Vincents. She also runs Vincents Chorley office.

Read June’s full biography here.

June Caunce, Vincents Solicitors
Residential Conveyancing June Caunce
Jemma Lloyd, Vincents Solicitors
Residential Conveyancing Jemma Lloyd
Luke Robinson, Vincents Solicitors
Residential Property Luke Robinson
Clear Advice Feels Better

Frequently asked questions

A right to buy purchase is when you are exercising the right to buy your existing rented property from the Housing Association or local authority you are renting from.
When a property is purchased in more than one name there are two ways to hold the property in trust: Beneficial joint tenants which means the property is jointly owned and on the death of one the property is automatically owned by the survivor Tenants in common which means the property is owned by the parties in whatever shares they decided ie 50-50, 60-40 but when one party dies their share of the property must be dealt with in accordance with their will or the laws of intestacy, there is no automatic ownership by the remaining parties. Sometimes the division of ownership for tenants in common is more complex than merely a percentage split for instance if one person puts a larger deposit into the property than the other. In such a case we would recommend a Declaration of Trust be entered into between the parties. This document can be as simple or complex as necessary to reflect the wishes of the parties buying the property. There are additional fees for the preparation of a Declaration of Trust.
A remortgage is the transferring of your mortgage from one lender to another usually to get a better rate of interest. Once your new mortgage offer has been issued, we would obtain copies of your title, and a repayment figure from your current lender. Provided there are no unusual requirements in your new mortgage offer we would then apply for that mortgage advance, repay the current mortgage and pay any balance to you if appropriate.
Sometimes it is possible to buy a property which is shared ownership which means you buy a percentage share in the property and rent the remaining share from a Housing Association who own the remaining share. The percentage purchased can start at as little as 25% and you have the ability in the purchase to buy additional shares (called staircasing up) in the future should your finances allow. What percentage you could initial purchase would be dependant on the requirements of the seller. If you are buying an existing property which is shared ownership and advertised with an Estate Agent you would need to approach the Housing Association who own the remaining share to get their approval of you as a buyer. What this would entail would depend upon the terms of the initial shared ownership scheme. Some shared ownership houses are built as such because the property is in an area where it is difficult for first time buyers to get on the property ladder and in these cases it is likely that you must have some connection to the area.
When someone dies their property will either need to be sold or transferred. If the property has been left to a named person in a will then a form of Assent is prepared which is a document the Executors of the deceased estate sign to put the property into the name of the beneficiaries.. If the property is to be sold then the sale will be by the Executors who take out the grant of probate of the deceased person. Whilst the property can be advertised and a sale agreed it is important to note that the sale cannot complete until the Grant of Probate has been issued. We work alongside our own Private Client team as well as other firms of solicitors in these matters.
Taking the right advice and doing as much preparation in advance of the auction date is always advised. When you buy or sell a property at auction, unlike in a normal situation, there is no opportunity to ask questions of the sellers as once your bid is accepted and the hammer falls then the agreement to buy and sell is binding and a completion date is set. If you pull out of the purchase at this stage you will forfeit your deposit and be open to further action from the other party for compensation. Ideally you should ask us to check over the auction pack before the auction takes place so that it can be checked whether there are any title problems or other things that need to be drawn to your attention before you make a successful bid. If you require Vincents to check the auction pack and provide a report to you on the legal title then we would ask for a payment of 50% of our normal fee plus vat.  Should your bid be successful then upon completion the other 50% of the fee would be payable.
A transfer of equity is when a property is transferred from one name to another/one name to two/ two names to one. It is a simple process of putting an additional name on the title or removing a name. However if the property has a mortgage on it and this mortgage is not being repaid then you would need first to approach your lender to obtain their approval to the transaction. Once the lender agrees and the matter completes the person being removed from the title would also be released from the obligations under the mortgage.
Once you have instructed us, we will open a new file and issue our client care documentation for you to sign. Your client care pack details many important points relating to your matter, which include the scope of our instructions and estimated legal costs, our service and terms of business, data protection form and anti-money laundering forms. You will also be requested to provide ID and source of funds documentation, if applicable.
You need to speak to a firm who has experts in dealing with whatever particular problem that you have whether that be Divorce, Writing your will, Conveyancing or something more specialist like Medical Negligence Misdiagnosis Claims or Trade Marks and Patents. At Vincents we have specialists across 7 locations who are approachable, knowledgeable and speak in plain english. Try and call us today and find out if we are the right fit for you.

Conveyancing Client Reviews

Clear Advice Feels Better

Conveyancing Testimonial

Clear Advice Feels Better

Good morning,

I just wanted to send an appreciation email! People are often quick to complain but not as quick to give appraisal.

This is the second time that I have used Vincent’s solicitors and I have yet again been very happy with the service received. Any queries I had were always answered efficiently & I never felt that I asked too many questions (or that they were silly to ask!). Nothing was too much trouble. Joe, also a great point of contact with again great communication and always very helpful.

Thank you so much for making this a stress free process, and I will continue to recommend Vincent’s Solicitors & the team there.

Happy Monday & have a great week!

Kind regards,
Jessica

J Leech, Lytham Lytham Residential Conveyancing Test

Stay in the loop

Latest Industry news and insights

Court of Protection Garstang Private Client
Nicola Hayes and Lisa Lodge, Vincents Solicitors

New Court of Protection Team

Continue Reading
Commercial Property Family Law News Poulton Preston

Double delight for Vincents two newest solicitors

Continue Reading