A guide for freehold homeowners paying service charges.
Some private estates have both freehold houses and blocks of leasehold flats. All homeowners will be expected to pay for the upkeep of the communal areas on the estate.
The communal areas may simply be private roads; but they can also include landscaped gardens, electric gates, street lighting, refuse areas, sewage pumps and TV aerial systems.
This Advice Note looks at the rights of freeholders who pay service charges and rent charges on private estates. Unfortunately, they do not share the same protections as leaseholders.
