by, Peter Hayman
Thurstan’s Rise residents should by now all have received a letter hand delivered by GreenSquare Accord, outlining the current situation regarding the maintenance of the public open spaces on the estate since its completion, and their proposals for future charging for this ongoing maintenance.
Their letter raises several points of concern, and TRRA Chair, David Barnham, has already contacted GreenSquare to seek clarification regarding the schedule of works and a breakdown of the costs associated with each of the areas to be maintained, and how and when they propose to carry out the outstanding work.
David has also requested that GreenSquare agree to regular meetings to ensure that outstanding and ongoing works are being carried out satisfactorily, and that residents are receiving value for our money.
As a result of David’s request, the documentation the company has provided so far is (to say the least) minimal, and leaves several questions to be addressed. GreenSquare emailed David three documents, one of which was a very outdated site plan (which I have not uploaded to the website as we are probably all familiar with the areas of the estate for which they are responsible). The other two documents are, a ‘Maintenance Schedule’ itemising the various areas to be maintained, and a ‘Public Open Space Estate Rentcharge Breakdown’ – which you can view by clicking on the green title above. (I have not uploaded the ‘Maintenance Schedule’ either – as it forms the first three columns of the ‘Rentcharge Breakdown’.)
The GreenSquare letter refers to documents which should have been provided to all buyers, one of which was a schedule of the maintenance charges, which obviously would increase over time, to account for inflation – which has once again raised its ugly head with a vengeance! The ‘Rentcharge Calculation’ is explained in Schedule 4 – Part II of these documents and, from a copy (kindly provided by Rob and Deb Rogers), I have transcribed below the relevant parts.
Schedule 4 – Part II
1. In this Part II of Schedule 4 the following expressions shall have the following meanings:
1.1 “the Review Date” shall mean 1st April in every year commencing on 1 April 2016 (the “First Review Date”) and Year shall mean a year commencing on 1 April of that year
1.2 “RPI” shall mean the United Kingdom General Index of Retail Prices (or in the event that such ceases to be published (as to which the Management Company’s decision acting reasonably shall be conclusive) or if the said Index or the basis on which it is calculated or published is altered to a material extent (as to which the Management Company’s decision acting reasonably shall be conclusive) then the Management Company may give written notice to the Transferee of some other equivalent published index of general prices or the value of money as a substituted index and in that case the substituted index so selected shall thereupon be the RPI).
1.3 “New Rentcharge” shall mean the Rentcharge increased pursuant to paragraph 2 hereof on each Review Date
2. On each Review Date (except for 1st April in the years 2020, 2026 and 2032 and every sixth anniversary thereafter where the New Rentcharge for the year commencing on those dates shall be the Rentcharge for the previous year plus £25 instead of indexation) the New Rentcharge shall be calculated by increasing the Rentcharge immediately prior to the relevant Review Date by that percentage which represents the percentage increase of the RPI from the value of the RPI published for the September immediately prior to the previous relevant Review Date (or in the case of the First Review Date the value of the RPI published for two months prior to first plot completion) to the value of the RPI published for the month two months immediately prior to the current relevant Review Date PROVIDED THAT the Rentcharge may never be less than the Rentcharge immediately before each Review Date. The reviews outlined above can be summarised as follows:
2.1 Year 1 – £110.00 per annum
2.2 Year 2 to year 5 – New Rentcharge (calculated per annum) as determined on 1 April each year in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Schedule
2.3 Year 6 – The Rentcharge for the previous year plus an additional sum of £25.00
2.4 Year 7 to Year 11 – New Rentcharge (calculated per annum) as determined on 1 April each year in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Schedule
2.5 Year 12 – The Rentcharge for the previous year plus an additional sum of £25.00
2.6 Year 13 to Year 17 – New Rentcharge (calculated per annum) as determined on 1 April each year in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Schedule
2.7 Year 18 – The Rentcharge for the previous year plus an additional sum of £25.00
2.8 Year 19 to Year 23 – New Rentcharge (calculated per annum) as determined on 1 April each year in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Schedule
2.9 Year 24 – The Rentcharge for the previous year plus an additional sum of £25.00
2.10 Year 25 and thereafter – The New Rentcharge as determined on 1 April each year in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Schedule save for the sixth anniversary of Year 24 and each multiple of six years thereafter when the Rentcharge shall be the Rentcharge for the previous year plus an additional sum of £25.00
3. Immediately following each Review Date the Management Company shall serve written notice on the owner of each Dwelling on the Estate specifying the amount of the Rentcharge then payable
4. The Transferee shall pay the Rentcharge for each Dwelling within the Property to the Management Company annually in advance on the 1 April in each year or (if later) if a New Rentcharge has been determined within 7 days after after the Management Company serves notice of the relevant amount after a Review Date and will pay to the Management Company on the date of this Transfer a proportionate amount for the current Rentcharge year from the date of this Transfer to and including the next 1 April.
5. For the avoidance of doubt where there is more than one Dwelling on the Property the Rentcharge sums in this Transfer will be due per Dwelling on the Property.
Schedule 4 – Part III – Management Company’s Covenants
The management Company shall provide the following estate services to a reasonable standard in relation to the Managed Land:
1. Maintenance of both landscaped areas and natural or hard landscaped areas and play areas including maintaining repairing and operating (including payment of all electricity charges) the lighting on the Managed Land (and including for the avoidance of doubt the external lighting to the extent the same is not adopted and maintained at public expense).
2. Maintenance of the private attenuation and drainage facilities located on the Managed Land including the permeable paving thereon
3. Maintenance and replacement of boundary features
4. Grass cutting and hedge cutting
5. Procuring such public liability insurances as are reasonably required in connection with the ownership of the Managed Land
6. To provide such other services as are reasonably required for the protection, maintenance and upkeep of the Managed Land as are required by statute regulation or other legal obligation
Having struggled to establish the basis for the Rentcharge calculation, I contacted GreenSquare who eventually provided this table, which is based on the figures provided by the Office for National Statistics under the heading ‘RPI All Items Index: Jan 1987=100’, (this can be viewed as a graph or as a table by clicking the appropriate buttons), and I have confirmed that the figures provided by GreenSquare are in accordance with the calculation method described in paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 Part II, above. For ‘non-mathematicians’, the percentage change is calculated as: (RPI Data 2 minus RPI Data 1) divided by RPI Data 1 and multiplied by 100. Simples!
It is interesting to note that a somewhat smaller figure would be arrived at, were GreenSquare to accept the findings of the Office for National Statistics and cease using the RPI indices which have been largely discredited as a reliable measure of inflation. (The full ONS report can be downloaded here.) (N.B. The foreword by the National Statistician is worth reading!) However, GreenSquare has indicated that they see no reason to change the basis of their calculations, ‘unless they are directed to do so’. [Ed: Well they would, wouldn’t they!]
GreenSquare intend to send letters to all residents shortly, confirming the reduced charge for this year. It is hoped that they will agree to a consultation exercise with the TRRA on behalf of residents before the full charge is applied from next April.