Residents of a block of flats in Llwynhendy, Carmarthenshire, have accused property management company Principle Estate Management of treating them like account numbers rather than human beings after maintenance fees almost doubled in the space of a year. Mandy Francis, a resident and cancer survivor, said it was “stressful” when her fee rose from £1,360 to £2,647 and residents were disappointed by the state of communal and outside areas of the block.
Maintenance fees, paid by leaseholders to the freeholder for upkeep of communal and outside spaces, rose from £1,080 in 2019 to £1,360 the year after and then to £2,647 this year. Residents have described the areas as “disgusting”.
Principle Estate Management, which is responsible for looking after the building, has not commented on the situation and the maintenance fees reportedly rose due to the fire alarm system being replaced and high inflation.
According to the Leasehold Advisory Service, most flats in the UK are leasehold, meaning that although residents own their flat for a period of time, they do not have any ownership of the building and pay the freeholder – the owner of the building – via a managing agent for the upkeep of communal and outside areas, including painting the building and cleaning.
A leasehold reform bill has been presented, which aims to improve home ownership and deliver 990-year lease extensions in England and Wales, as well as banning leasehold houses. However, the bill does not ban leasehold flats and Nia Griffiths, MP for Llanelli, has expressed concerns about a lack of transparency in the proposals
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