Planning Residential or not?

[Wheels60]

Hi again TB,

 

It gets more complicated! Yes my property is "Landlocked" as all access roads to it are owned by a different landlord, we have a maintenance agreement with that landlord to pay maintenance for the roads and for other l"Leisure Ground" that he owns which we are allowed to use.

 

Now the complicated bit. The roads are not gated and access is free to the public. That landlord also owns and leases a couple premises to businesses. There is a Shop, and a Pug and Restaurant here. Both these businesses are open for anyone to use, so members of the public enter the site regularly on a daily basis. That was one of the questions I raised at one point. How can a Landlord charge residents and property owners a maintenance charge for using the access roads, and yet at the same time allow the general public to use the self same access roads free of charge?

 

The Landlord also provides a car park (for which part of our maintenance charge pays for it's upkeep) which the general public can use free of charge to enjoy the use of the shop, pub and restaurant, and the leisure ground including a fenced off dog walking area. None of it makes sense to me.

[Wheels60]

Forgot to mention - yes right to access is in my deeds.

[ThedaBara]

So you're paying for the upkeep of someone else's track, even though proportionally, they use it far more than you do… I had this same problem with my neighbours and in the end I just stopped paying as it wasn't fair that they churned it all up with their numerous events and trades people…What happens if you stop paying? They can't stop you from using it as it's on the deeds… TB

[ericsbrother]

what you pay is supposed to be proportional so if it costs £2000 a year to maintain the roadwayand his businesses do 95% of ther damage then your share is part of the remaining 5% . try and get an agreement via a surveyor but if you cant then the leasehold tribunal can become involved

[Wheels60]

Hi again TB and ericsbrother, thanks for your continued interest guys,

 

Well it is a proper tarmacced road, although there is no surface water drainage and that regularly causes problems of large puddles and little rivers. The owner claims that if I dont pay the maintenance he has the right to stop me using it for access to my home even though I have "Right of Access" in my Deeds. I did argue that point, but the owner said the charge included maintenance of all the Leisure Ground as well. I argued that I don't and can't use any of that because I am severely disabled and a full time wheelchair user. He said that was not a relevant argument because the roads and leisure ground could be used for the benefit of any visitors I may get. The fact that all this is freely available at no charge to the general public was of no consequence as far as he was concerned.

 

So what happens if I don't pay? I can't see how the landowner could enforce his threats, but in several cases the landowner has taken others to Court and the Court has ruled in his favour. He did take me to Court when I originally refused to pay, but it looked like he was going to win and in the end we went to Arbitration and came to a private agreement. Part of that Agreement was that I had to keep it confidential. So I can't reveal the details. All that I can say is that for me it was a better outcome than it has been for many others. Some of whom have even been forced to sell their properties to settle the arrears and Court costs.

 

To address "ericsbrother's" point about the payment being proportional. This would be very difficult to establish. First, I have had sight of the landowners accounts. It seems he claims for everything including the kitchen sink. Over £1,000 for telephone bills. Four full time staff even though those are employed looking after another of his sites as well as this one. The other thing is that on this site there are approximately 300 proper brick and block built properties all constructed to a standard under Building Regulations as suited to "Full Time Residential Occupation" which are all freehold, and another 200+ Park Homes which stand on land the landowner still owns and are leashold so they pay ground rent as well as the maintenance charges.

 

That is complicated enough, but in addition, the maintenance charges are not consistent. They vary. A good proportion of the owners of properties like mine (block built and suited to full time residential use) have formed an Association and signed a Covenant with the landowner. I am not a member of that Association for reason that one of the criteria for joining is that they will only accept members who have signed and will provide copy of the covenant - as my Agreement is different and "Confidential", I can't show it to them, so they refused my application to become a member.Those that have signed such covenant pay a lower amount. I think in the region of £350 per annum. Those that refuse to sign the covenant pay at least twice as much, and to further complicate matters, those that live closer to the entrance of the site pay a different (lower) amount again. I have no idea how much the Park Home owners on leased land pay, but I hear that it is substantially more than the members of the Bungalow Owners Association pay. Sort that lot out !!!

 

It's all a mess innit?