Posted 2 days ago

Asked to pay for communal garden bins for Mews...

This is bit of a unique situation. We own a freehold in a Mews of about 20 houses (I think a mix of freeholds and leaseholds). The Mews is well-maintained with a service charge that covers maintenance of the gardens, lighting and the car spaces. Our house and our next-door neighbour (currently rented) don't pay the service charge (I think around £700-900 year). I'm guessing because our house was built a bit later, off to the side a bit, and don’t get a car space.

Our council now wants to charge a fee to collect garden waste. The group in the Mews have asked us to pay for 2 out of the 6 bins the Mews needs, which costs about £120 annually. The other 4 will be covered by the service charge. Their rationale for us paying is we don’t contribute to the service fee, and that they can’t easily contact the landlord next-door. I do see some logic to this, as we do benefit from the maintenance and if we said no and wanted to use garden waste bins we would need to buy a bin anyway (£80ish) - but we only clean our tiny terrace once a year.

We want to keep the peace so might go back and suggest we’re happy to split the cost of the 2 bins with our next-door neighbour as that seems fairer? Or just order 1 bin from the council and be done with it.
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  1. aLV426's avatar
    The thing is once you start paying into maintenance or a service charge you will no doubt be expected to contribute in other fees as well. It sounds like a few people are miffed that you don't pay a service charge. Personally I wouldn't get involved or feel obliged to contibute. I assume you don't benefit in any other way?
    builtdifferent's avatar
    Author
    Yeah correct. We only benefit because there is a communal road/garden in front of our property which is being maintained by the service charge (we dont pay that)
  2. Dyslexic_Dog's avatar
    Why would you contribute to the service charge when you're a free holder, unless the leaseholders are maintaining your property for you I don't see any reason for you to chip in, and as above once you start they'll expect you to pay for everything and any subsequent rises in their service charges.
    Oh, and does your username relate to your property?
    JimboParrot's avatar
    Freehold houses on estates/mews do pay service charges.
  3. abigsmurf's avatar
    As the other poster mentioned, paying this will set a precedent, you'll soon find them asking to cough up for repairs to pot holes etc.. You're not part of the leasehold are not paying the service charge and are not using the services, if there are issues with the maintenance, you have no say or rights .

    6 bins is a lot, just how big is the garden that it fills up 6 bins all year around? I'd imagine if they only get filled at spring/summer they could probably be composting a good portion of the waste.

    Benefitting from the area around you looking nice does not mean you should pay for it when you have no say and receive none of the services people are paying for it receive. Would you demand your neighbour pay half towards a new lawnmower because of him benefitting from how nice your lawn looks?

    You can pay it if you want to keep the peace but it's cheeky of them to even ask and I'd wager they're going to keep asking for more.
  4. mutley1's avatar
    i had a freehold house on a local council estate and i was charged a service charge even though my house was freehold. they called it maintenance contribution, so you are lucky that there is no charge to your property.

    it would be fair to be pay for one bin as we live in a freehold property and we still have to pay for garden waste bin collection. not sure the logic of you having to pay for 2 bins just because they can't contact the other freeholder next door?
  5. Azwipe's avatar
    My answer would be very short and ends in off. The cheek of some people
    MadeDixonsCry's avatar
    I thought your answer would be just your username.
  6. AWard911's avatar
    If there are 20 properties in the mews and 6 garden refuse bins are going to be purchased at £120 total cost?....surely the maths would be £120 ÷ 20 = £6 or are you saying that 2 bins is £120 so 6 bins would be £360 which would mean £360 ÷ 20 = £18 per property.
    If you're going to use the bin then £6 or £18 seems like a reasonable price to pay vs £80 for your very own bin. But asking you to pay £120 for 2 bins is not reasonable as it is not proportionate.
    builtdifferent's avatar
    Author
    Yea the latter is correct, not proportionate at all. The logic is we aren’t paying anything towards the service charge: gardening and other maintenance etc. And this is a way for us to help out
  7. Timbonagasaki's avatar
    I'd say it is the responsibility of the maintenance company to dispose of the waste and that should be included in their fee. Where I live you have to buy a bin for your green waste and then pay a yearly charge. So who will be buying the bins, and whose bins have they been using up to now? What if someone moves and takes their own bin with them?
    cainer1's avatar
    I'm wondering if a business (the maintenance company) are allowed to dump stuff in council bins that are provided for private waste,

    Could it be that once a company charge a fee for doing the work then it becomes commercial waste? (edited)
  8. HellRazer's avatar
    No. Just buy your own bin.
  9. JimboParrot's avatar
    Can you find out who the management company is and get a copy of the accounts - you might well find there is a moderately large sum of money just sitting in the account (less of course what they 'cream off')? What exactly do they provide under the service charge payment?

    If you put the name of the road/estate into the Companies House register if should come up with the limited company that has been set up with the residents as directors so you could possibly get all the information regarding the account balance from that.
  10. Bbqueue's avatar
    If it was an even split then maybe, but their random £120 charge? Not on your life!

    If you barely create any "green waste", can't you just get rid of it yourself?
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