Residents at Cwrt Sant Tudno, a seafront retirement apartment complex in Llandudno, are facing service and building charge increases of between 18 and 21 per cent, according to a pensioner who lives there.
Peter Thompson, 77, who owns a flat at the Clarence Road development, said he and his neighbours were shocked to receive notice of the imminent rise in their monthly charges. The apartments are managed by First Port, an independent later living development provider offering assisted services to residents who require them.
Mr Thompson said some residents of the 66 apartments are on fixed incomes and will find it difficult to meet the additional costs. His own monthly bill has risen from £808.69 to £957.53, an increase of £148.84.
Residents feel 'held hostage'
Mr Thompson, an RAF veteran and former civilian police trainer, has lived at the apartments for 14 months. He returned to the UK after living in America following the death of his wife, and bought his flat for about £140,000.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "Residents have little choice in this matter and feel they are being held hostage by this decision. Being on fixed incomes, many will struggle to find the extra sums demanded."
"I am fortunate that I can find a way to pay the extra but some here will suffer to do so. It is absolutely disgraceful."
Stormy residents' meeting
At a meeting on August 20, residents raised their concerns with a representative from First Port. Mr Thompson said around 40 residents attended the meeting, which he described as "rather stormy". Many others were unable to attend because of the short notice.
He said: "The upshot of it all is that the property has been underfunded for a decade and more. In order to update costs of staffing, etc and to put funds towards a contingency fund for things like window replacement, furniture replacement, new carpeting and lift maintenance, we, the current residents, must pay because of the negligence of others."
Mr Thompson questioned why First Port did not finance these deficits and pay to balance the new budget instead of off-loading it on residents in sudden huge increases in monthly fees. He also revealed he had put in writing his query as to why the contingency reserve had doubled from £20,000 to £40,000, why the communal cleaning area charge had gone up from £1,800 to £4,800, and why the housekeeping budget was up from £26,968 to £41,000.
First Port responds
A spokesperson for the property management company said: "We are committed to providing value for money for home-owners, and service charges are set to reflect only the actual costs of managing and maintaining the development and the day-to-day services that help make Cwrt Sant Tudno a safe, well-maintained and enjoyable place to live."
They said a residents' meeting was recently held to consult home-owners on the budget for the forthcoming year, providing them with an opportunity to share their views and ask questions. During the meeting, they explained that the proposed budget reflects a detailed review of current expenditure and anticipated future costs, including staffing, day-to-day services and increased contributions towards reserve funds for future major works.
These include the resident-requested window replacement work as well as the lift refurbishment. The company also noted that the staffing budget had been reviewed to better reflect actual operating costs and avoid deficits arising from under-budgeting in previous years. The rise in the communal cleaning budget was said to represent a reallocation of costs, rather than a significant increase in cleaning provision.
The reserve fund, built up through service charge contributions and held separately for the development, is being accumulated in anticipation of planned improvements, including a lift refurbishment and resident-requested window replacement. The company added that direct debit payment arrangements were available to help residents.
