Sorry Guys if I'm not being clear and thanks for helpful comments. We bought the house in October last year in a cul-de-sac estate and it is listed as a freehold property. We were asked to pay service charges of £470 to an Estates Management company called Aston Rose for the following year and we did. The gardens in the communal areas were being maintained periodically and suddenly stopped in January this year. There was no communication at all and nobody in the estate seem to know what happened. Then in July, we received a letter from a new Estates Management Company called Sterling Estates stating that they have replaced the previous company and then asked us to pay more fees. I responded with questions asking: - what services do they perform for the fees that we pay? - do we get our fees reimbursed for the past 6 months where no work was done? - who appointed them in the first place? They did not answer my questions but simply asked us to pay the extra charges. We then went around the estate asking neighbours. Most of them were renting so didn't have a clue but one particular neighbour, Irina, told us that another neighbour called Graham is the Director of Pembroke Management Company who is managing the estate and she has been 'helping out' on the affairs. She explained that: - we won't be able to get any of our fees back as they have been spent paying the new estates company - we are legally obliged to the pays otherwise we would have difficulty selling our property in the future As mentioned in my first thread, we were not convinced by her explanation. There are a total of 24 households paying £470 a year which totals £11,000. Why do we not have a say in matters relating to the estate, e.g the appointment of estate management company and what their services cover? Also, since no work has been done since January until now, why won't we get reimbursed for the fees already paid? We also pay council tax, should the council be responsible for matters such as litter collection and maintaining street lights and repairing of roads? Sorry for the long lists of questions but this is all very confusing for me and would appreciate your advice. Many thanks as always!

Thanks both for the helpful comments. It confirms my suspicion of illegal behaviour. I am pretty sure that there's no ground rent but I will contact the developer to find out more details. In the meantime, can I refuse to pay anymore fees? Also, can anyone recommend where I can get some free legal advice on this. Thanks again for your help - much appreciated!

I'm posting this message and would be grateful for any advise on this matter. Thanks! We purchased a terraced house in a cul-de-sac last October and promptly paid the annual estates mangement fee of £470 promptly. However, from Jan - present, no work has been done including garden maintenance. In July, we received an email from the new Estates company informing us that they have been appointed to replace the old company and asked for some more money. I emailed back with the following questions: 1) Who appointed them? Why wasn't there any communication/consultation with us (the landlords) on this matter? 2) How will we be reimbursed for the fees paid since no work has been done for the past 8 months? 3) What are the services that are covered by the fees? We also pay council tax, should the council be responsible for matters such as litter collection and repairing of roads? We received a non-commital response which didn't answer our questions. After speaking to some of our neighbours, we realised that one neighbour set up a management company who has been managing the past and present estates company. When I posed the questions as above, she responded as follows: a) it is a legal requirement to have a management company in the estate, otherwise, we will not be able to sell our property in the future 2) we will not be able to re-coup any of the fees as the money has been given to the new estates company 3) If we refuse to pay anny future fees, we will face legal consequences We feel very unsettled with the response as it simply doesn't make sense and feel strongly that there should be more transparency when managing these affairs. There are a total of 24 units who pay the annual fee of £460 each which total an amount of £11,000 and it seem a very large fund to be handled by a single person with no consultation whatsoever. Please can I have some advice on what are our rights on this matter and where do we stand. Is this neighbour acting suspiciously? Can we refuse to pay anymore fees? Thanks!