It’s important to work out the cost of retirement when you move; we hope this information will help you understand the costs of living in a Beechcroft retirement community.
Most Beechcroft houses are freehold but some homes are sold with a 999-year lease to protect the quality of your development in years to come. If your home is leasehold, you will be required to pay ground rent – and your sales consultant will let you know how much this on your development.
Leaseholds allow us to put certain covenants in place to ensure that the landscaped setting and the communal areas may be maintained to the highest standards. We do, however, give our leasehold owners an opportunity to buy the freehold.
Service charges are also payable at every Beechcroft development. When you reserve your new home, your sales consultant will provide you with a breakdown of the services charges and will explain each element.
In summary, the service charges cover the cost of the estate management including cleaning of the communal areas, any maintenance work, the upkeep of the landscaped setting, heating, lighting and water charges associated with the communal areas and the cost of any maintenance agreements in place for lifts.
The charges also cover some of the things you would have been paying for in your own home, including the upkeep of your private garden, buildings insurance, and external window cleaning. There will also be a ‘reserve fund’ – an amount of money set aside for future works.
If you eventually decide to sell your Beechcroft home, you are free to sell it on the open market, provided your buyers respect the requirement for at least one owner to be over the age of 55, on a retirement development. If you or your heirs sell your home, surrender the property, enter into an equity release scheme or sublet it, Beechcroft does not demand ‘exit fees.’ Many specialist retirement developers charge ‘exit’ fees of 1% to 3% of the sale price; these are also referred to as ‘departure fees,’ ‘deferred management fees,’ ‘transfer fees’ or ‘contingency fees.’
“Although Maryland Place is a delightful place to live, I wouldn’t have moved here if I couldn’t have brought Swanley with me. There aren’t many other pet owners living here at present but some of my neighbours have animals to stay for a week or two when friends and family go on holiday - and it’s nice for them to be able to do that.”
, St Albans
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