Frequently Asked Questions

Your service charge is your legal apportionment of the share of the costs incurred in the day to day running costs of your development. This includes maintaining, renewing, replacing and insuring the communal areas and structure of your building in accordance with the terms of your lease.  Costs are necessary for cleaning the communal areas, ground maintenance, lifts maintenance, lighting, security, heating, risk assessments, repairs and maintenance in shared areas.

We understand that on occasion there may an issue with either repairs or management of your building and service charge is withheld. We would actively encourage open communication with the management team to ensure quick resolution. If there is no due legal cause to not pay your lease required service charge, the building may fall into disrepair and we have obligations to seek service charge through legal means. Withholding payment can put you at risk of court claims, legal fees and possible forfeiture of your lease.

An estimate of service charge expenditure is produced every year via a budget detailing services and maintenance anticipated and costs, it also details your apportioned share of such costs.

If your building is owned by a freeholder / landlord, a regular (often annual depending on the specifications of your lease) ground rent is paid to them to pay to occupy the land on which the property in built on.

Following the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, ground rent has been effectively abolished for most new buildings constructed after June 30th 2022. This states new long residential leases can only charge a ‘peppercorn’ ground rent, essentially means no ground rent at all.

Aside from the Budget, year end accounts are completed to reconcile income and expenditure. Year end accounts identify if the Budget has been underspent or overspent. In either case, a balancing credit or a balancing debit will be applied to the leaseholders account to balance the spend.

A Section 20 Notice is a legal document that a landlord must serve on leaseholders to inform them of their intention to carry out major works on the building, such as repairs, replacements, or improvements, where the cost of the work will exceed a certain threshold (usually £250 per flat), and gives the leaseholders a chance to comment on the proposed works before they commence. Costs are generally above what is accounted for in the Budget and leaseholders will often need to pay towards the works or service. The Section 20 Notice allows residents to have input and control over the planned major works.

RICS stands for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It’s the professional body that regulates and accredits professionals in the construction, property, land and infrastructure sector. We are proud to be accredited members. The scheme also provides protection, for example, whereby a RICS regulated company is unable to repay a clients funds, up to the limits and exceptions set out in the scheme rules.

You can contact your managing agent to enquire if they have a copy. We can also download a lease for you for £25.00 if we do not hold a copy. Otherwise you can contact Land Registry to download a copy. A lease is a contract you will have entered into when purchasing your property. It contains all the information regarding what you can or can’t do to your flat. Very old leases can be tricky to comprehend as tend to be almost written in Old English! If you are finding it challenging, please drop us a line and we can decipher the language for you. Please contact either your property manager or [email protected].

As a leaseholder, you need a management sales pack when selling your property. It provides crucial information to potential buyers about the ongoing costs and legal obligations associated with owning a leasehold property. For example, service charges, ground rent, building maintenance plans, and any restrictions on the property, allowing them to make an informed decision about purchasing and ensuring a smooth transaction with their solicitor. If you are selling your property please contact [email protected].

Unless the lease specifies otherwise, annual service charge is not refundable from the managing agent when the property is sold. Your solicitor and the buyers solicitor will need to agree payment apportionments at the time of the sale and agree to a retention fund if necessary. This will help deal with the periods you’ve paid for but will not own the property and for any bills which might come up for your period of ownership but aren’t invoiced yet e.g. the year end accounts / debiting balancing charges. This is a matter for your solicitors to deal with and agree to outside of Eight AM as your managing agents.

If your property is a leasehold, please refer to your lease. Often it will state pets are prohibited or you need to apply for permission via the managing agent or Freeholder. Please contact [email protected].  

If your property is a leasehold, check your lease terms and conditions. Some leases require either management company or Landlord consent. If your lease allows subletting, please contact us – we will send you a form to complete and issue you a subletting license for the processing fee of £75.00 (inclusive of VAT). Please contact [email protected]. 

A demised issue will be one inside your property i.e. everything beyond the front door, and a communal issue will be everything beyond your front door from communal hallways to outdoor landscaped areas. There will always be certain nuances depending upon your Lease / Transfer which should always be checked for absolute clarity. Communal issues can be addressed via service charge funds. Demised issues (unless the issue is from the main fabric of the building that is affecting your property) usually affect only one leaseholder and is confined to their premises.

As a leaseholder, your front door likely needs to be inspected as a fire door because in most multi-occupancy buildings, including flats, the front entrance doors are considered crucial fire safety features and must be regularly checked to ensure they meet fire resistance standards and can function properly in case of a fire. Due to their importance in protecting lives, it is imperative that fire doors receive regular inspections. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which came into force on 23rd January 2023, have made it a legal requirement for responsible persons for all multi-occupied residential buildings in England with storeys over 11 metres in height to undertake quarterly checks on all fire doors in common areas and annual inspections on apartment front doors.

Whilst it would be wonderful if we all had the same social values, the basic fact about human society is we don’t, someone’s beautiful cheese can be another person’s nostril nightmare. One of the first steps to take is to check the TPI policy on anti-social behaviour which outlines a set of rules and procedures designed to address and manage disruptive/ nuisance behaviours. Please talk through the issues with your management company especially if you have evidence of breaches in lease regarding behaviour. If the behaviour is illegal or intimidating, the first port of call is the authorities and to diarise incidents. Also, if you notice a frequent person/s who does not have a fixed abode using the communal areas, please advise your property manager, but also please notify the police and local council. Whilst the Police cannot always move someone on, they can assist, along with the Council, in ensuring the relevant authorities are aware so shelter and hostel arrangements can be made.

We work with our close partner PropCall (www.propcall.com) who cover all our out of hours requirements

Complaints Handling Procedure

Eight Asset Management Date Protection and Data Security Policy

Eight Asset Management – Money Handling Policy