Family's Dream on Hold as Service Charge Triples
A young family from Surrey finds themselves trapped in a financial nightmare, unable to sell their leasehold flat after their annual service charge skyrocketed to a staggering £7,500. Sam and Evangeline Thorn, both 33, have been forced to put their life plans on hold, including hopes for a second child, due to the exorbitant fee.
Plummeting Property Value and Stalled Lives
The couple purchased their two-bedroom flat in the Park25 development in Redhill for £245,000 in 2018. At that time, the service charge was a more manageable £2,800. Despite having their property valued at £300,000 last year, they have received no offers, even after slashing the asking price to just £220,000—lower than their original purchase price.
Sam, an account manager, and Evangeline, an events coordinator, have had around ten viewings, but potential buyers lose all interest upon learning about the service charge. "Every single person who liked it... didn't want to go for another viewing," Sam revealed. The situation has left them in a frustrating limbo. "We're ready in our lives to have more children but we just need a bigger place," he said. "Our mortgage advisor said 'that's fine, just sell it'... and we physically can't sell it."
To afford the charge, the family has cut back on luxuries and cancelled holidays. "It's not even worth budgeting anymore," Sam lamented, highlighting the unpredictable nature of the costs.
Boiler Breakdowns and Budget Blowouts
Their flat is managed by property management firm FirstPort. The development is heated by a communal network powered by gas and biomass boilers, the costs of which are included in the service charge. FirstPort states that 51% of the service charge is spent on energy, citing an aging, inefficient system and rising biomass fuel costs.
However, Sam remains sceptical. "If you take that away, we're still left with a bill of just under £4,000 a year for things like cutting the grass and lift maintenance," he argued. He also reported receiving a notification that the management went £80,000 over budget on general maintenance alone. "It's just figures they seem to pluck from thin air," he claimed.
In a statement, a FirstPort spokesperson said the cost pressures were "outside of our control." The company noted it had received a share of a £3.5 million Government grant to improve the network's efficiency and is exploring options like recycling waste heat from a data centre. They also stated they have met with residents and their local MP to improve transparency.
For the Thorn family, these assurances offer little comfort as they remain stuck, their dream of a larger family home feeling further away than ever.
