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Please use this topic to introduce yourself, what number you live at, tell us how long you’ve lived here etc – though there is no obligation to do so!
Please also state if you have any particular skills that can help organise a community response – are you a lawyer or do you have enough spare time to co-ordinate a response?
Hi, I’m Ross and I live at number 45 with my wife Kathryn and our son. I’ve been living here since 2016. I do IT for a living but I’m not a web developer which is why this forum doesn’t look so good, but hopefully its functional enough 🙂
Hi, I’m Natalie. I live at number 41 with my husband Ian and little boy. We moved to Groves Way in Jan 2021. I’m food stylist and Ian works in Marketing. Many thanks to Ross for setting this forum up. We’re so pleased to be part of a community of caring residents. Let’s hope we can find a good solution to all this Red Rock nonsense.
Hi, I’m Helen and i live at number 24 with my husband Alex, 2 year old son Bertie and 2 labradors (Berry and Crumble). I have lived here since 2009. Both me and my husband work in healthcare/pharma i work in marketing and Alex works in project management.
Thanks again Ross for setting this up – really appreciate it! if there is anything we can help with just shout.
Hi, I’m Russell and have lived at number 43 since 2007 with my wife, Emma and 2 children. I am a chartered surveyor working in the retail sector and my wife works in fashion.
Unfortunately I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the landlord does have the right to implement a service charge. When you bought your homes you will have signed a legal document called a TR1 form which transferred the title of your house to the purchaser. If you review this document Howarth have reserved the right to implement a service charge and therefore we are liable to pay. The revised figure of c.£370 doesn’t seem out of kilter given the size of the estate but my concern is that Howarth are not spreading the charge equally across all the properties. They agreed a service charge waiver with the Housing Association which means that those properties don’t pay the service charge.
The service charge is currently split between 31 houses whilst there are 43 dwellings on the estate. Under my TP1 document Howarth don’t have the right to do this as it states that the charge should be split equally between all the dwellings and I have challenged Red Rock on this point and suggested that Howarth have to pick up the shortfall and I am awaiting a response.
I’ll let you know if they deem to respond.
Hello,
My name is Alli Eustace and have lived at number 21 since 2007, originally with 2 of my 3 children and now with my partner Tim.
Thank you Ross for setting this up.
Am happy to pay a charge commensurate with the service we receive and agree there should be a fairer distribution of the charge amongst the properties.
I fail to see why some of the residents on the estate should pick up the slack for what seems gross mismanagement by the mysterious and now departed Howarth director, who appears to carry the blame for all Howarth shortcomings.Morning, I’m James and live at number 31 with my wife Jennie and our two girls. We moved to Groves Way in May 2020 and are both accountants by training, although Jennie now works in a primary school. Many thanks to Ross for setting this forum up as something needed to be done with Red Rock / Howarth Homes. We are not against paying a fair management / service fee for upkeep as when we moved in we were told a management company was going to be appointed, however Red Rock / Howarth Homes are in my opinion going about it in entirely the wrong way with back-dated invoices, unfair allocations and a complete deafness to valid questions that are being asked. We have correspondence between Howarth Homes and their solicitors and our solicitors from our moving in process confirming nothing was outstanding or due for the period before we moved in. We have sent this to Howarth Homes and Red Rock several times, but they continue to completely ignore it!
Hi Ross,
First of all, thanks for setting up this forum. My name is Burton I live at number 39 with my wife Caudeliya and two children Benjamin & Rachel. We have lived here since 2012. I agree that the charges should be equally distributed among all dwelling.
Again thanks for setting this up and taking initiative to move forward.Hi Ross,
My name is David, and like all other residents am grateful to you for setting up this forum.I am divorced and live on my own at no. 2, and in fact was the first resident to move in way back in 2006. I do lots of voluntary work, involving the elderly and those with learning difficulties, and thankfully these are now restarting after Covid. I agree that we have to pay a fair service charge, but only if the charges can be backed up by actual work done.
Hi Ross
My name is Jan (pronounced as Yan) and I live at number 12 with my wife Ann. We moved in 2007 and bought direct from Howarth so we know the work that has (and hasn’t) been done! We both are in the construction industry, which can be useful in knowing how much some of the work actually costs.
Thanks for setting this up Ross.Hi Ross,
Really appreciate you setting this up and bringing us all together on this topic. It has been ongoing for far to long now with no supporting documentation and a combined approach will definitely help.
I am Claire and live at number 20 with my husband Steve and 1 year old daughter. We have lived here 7 years. I am a finance and customer service manager for a pharmaceutical company and Steve is a car sales executive.
Whilst we agree to paying a service charge in the future, we would like it to be fairly allocated and have records of actual work done. The accounts provided have little details and have not been audited. We also have a legal letter we have shared with Red Rock when we moved in stating no service charges at that time. There is no actual contract on the service charge outlining what they will be doing.
Hi Ross,
Really appreciate you setting up this forum.
I live at number 35 with my wife Natalie and children Ollie and Freya. We have lived here since the Phase 1 development was constructed and purchased the property direct from Howarth Homes.
I work as an IT Director for a Global Pharmaceutical / Data organisation, with my wife Natalie working as a primary school teaching assistant. Working from home for the whole duration since the construction of the development has given me the insights on what Howarth has (and hasn’t) done during this time, giving me strong evidence to know that any historical costs are not applicable.
I like many have no issues with a realistic and fair service charge, but feel this needs to be clear on what we are paying for and currently this is not clear. I would also need to see clear terms and conditions that we are not going to hit with cost increases year on year once we sign up to a Service Charge.
Hi All
Sorry, very late to this!
I live at Number 47 with my wife Ammarah. We moved in during May 2017. I’m a finance director at a global print company and Ammarah is head of finance at a telecoms company (both qualified accountants).It was nice to meet people at the meeting earlier in the year, despite the circumstances! Always open for a chat…and/or a beer
Unfortunately we only had confirmation from the previous owners that no charges were in place when we bought the house, and no documentation from Howarth (not followed up by our Solicitor). I’m open to paying a fair and reasonable value but as raised by others, I think there are a few areas of clarity required including clarification of the households that are included. I’m still fairly sure that the gardening services are being done twice in the area outside of our house (presumably one company through the affordable housing and one through Red Rock). I queried this as I saw both turn up just days apart but never got a clear answer
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