31 White Lion Place

The management company responsible for Beechcroft developments is ELM – Ethical Leasehold Management Limited – which has over 50 years’ experience in managing developments for the over 55s. 

Service charges on a Beechcroft development 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 cleaning fund.  There will also be a ‘reserve fund’ – an amount of money set aside for any future works such as decorating and repairs. When you reserve your new home, you’ll be given a breakdown of the service charges and your sales consultant will explain each element.

At Beechcroft most houses are freehold but some are sold with a 999-year lease.  Whether you buy a leasehold or freehold property, you will be required to pay service charges. This is because the services and facilities provided on each development by the non-profit making Beechcroft Foundation are available for all owners and the costs of these are shared between those owners.These shared services and facilities may include, for example, the landscaped gardens, lighting, heating and water in the communal areas including the communal lounge and guest suite and costs associated with employment of the estate manager. 

There are several reasons why private gardens are maintained on a Beechcroft development:

• The majority of Beechcroft customers make the decision to move home because they are no longer able to maintain their gardens but, at the same time, the garden is the thing they miss most when they move home. It is a benefit to be able to own a home with a manageable garden maintained by the estate management service.  
• A high proportion of our customers buy Beechcroft in order to ‘lock up and leave,’ spending time travelling or living at a second home in this country or abroad. These homeowners need the peace of mind that comes with knowing they will not return home after several weeks or months away to find their gardens knee-deep in grass and weeds.
• It is important to Beechcroft and to those who live on a development that the whole development, including both the landscaped setting and private gardens, are maintained to a high standard, that the original planting schedule is respected and will mature over time.

ELM reviews the service charges each year on each development, taking into account how much has been spent in the current year and any known changes, increases or decreases in costs. Armed with this knowledge, ELM drafts a service charge budget and sends this to residents in advance of the annual budget meeting.

The annual budget meeting is an opportunity for residents to tell ELM if any areas of the budget need changing.  All residents receive at least 14 days’ notice of the proposed meeting which will also provide an important opportunity to discuss with staff and other homeowners the services received and any changes or improvements that residents would like to see.

ELM tries to equalise expenditure from year to year and works hard to minimise service charge increase.  Service charges, however, need to take account of inflation and other increases in running costs.  Many of these cost increases are not within the gift of ELM – such as the price of utilities. The costs of repairs and maintenance can vary widely and it is to be expected that costs will increase faster than inflation as the buildings age.  With this in mind, ELM aims to build an adequate ‘reserve’ or ‘sinking’ fund to meet the major and, sometimes, unforeseen maintenance costs that may occur with any building.

ELM bases the contribution to the maintenance reserve fund on a forecast of future maintenance costs prepared by an experienced surveyor and will always agree planned maintenance programmes with residents.

It is important to ELM – as well as to residents – that service charges do not vary greatly each year.  Whilst ELM cannot predict future increases, the company is careful to budget prudently from the outset to avoid significant variations where possible.