Retirement flat residents 'disgusted' by fee hike

Susannah Walaitis moved into her two-bedroom flat in 2018.

A group of pensioners say their plans for a happy retirement have been ruined after fees were hiked on flats they bought in an independent living complex.

The leasehold residents live in two-bedroom apartments in Village 135 in Wythenshawe, Manchester.

In April, service charges and ground rent increased by 19% to almost £7000 a year, which one residents says has caused "worry and stress".

Landlords Wythenshawe Community Housing Group (WCHG) said the hike was needed to pay off a backlog of costs that had grown due to inflation.

Susannah Walaitis is a leasehold owner-occupier at the 135-bed apartment block on Hollyhedge Road.

The 70-year-old said the hike, which saw her paying £582 a month, had caused her "physical and mental worry and stress", and put pressure on her finances.

"We’re not getting this increase in our pensions, we have to deal with the cost of living like everyone else," she told BBC Radio Manchester.

Ms Walaitis, who said she was "disgusted" by the increase, pleaded with her landlords to "get your act together".

Lucy Tan moved to Manchester to be closer to her family.

Lucy Tan, 78, agreed with the sentiments of Ms Walaitis.

She moved into her apartment in 2018, and said she was impressed when she first saw the property.

"I thought, wow, it is really beautiful."

But the 19% increase this month left her "lost for words", she said.

"We feel the charge is unfair," she said, adding leasehold residents had to pay for the upkeep of a building where everything was built "not to standard size", meaning costs went up.

The service charges in the flats pays for things like staffing, cleaning, gardening and energy bills in communal areas.

Paul Seymour, an executive director at WCHG said the 19% rise was needed to pay off deficit in the service charge that had grown after years of high-inflation.

The residents had been billed annually, but there had been a shortfall after costs increased above what was expected, he said.

Mr Seymour said he hoped a increase of this size "will not be imposed in future years", with inflation falling.

The Village 135 apartment block on Hollyhedge Road was built in 2017.

'Huge bills'

Sebastian O'Kelly is from the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, a charity which campaigns to reduce the service charges on blocks of flats.

He said the Grenfell Tower disaster was a watershed moment for the industry which "put the spotlight on blocks of flats up and down the country".

"There's been huge bills for remediation, waking watch and professional fees for building safety issues."

The campaigner said this had "concentrated the minds of anybody living in a block of flats".

"How vulnerable they are when it comes to major bills and how imbalanced the powers are between them and the freehold owner."

Sebastian O'Kelly founded The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership.

At the opening of Parliament in November, the King announced government plans to strengthen the law around leasehold properties and to tackle "the exploitation of millions of homeowners through punitive service charges".

A spokeswoman from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: "Charges like these are completely unacceptable without proper justification.

"That is why we are committed to strengthening protection for leaseholders, and are bringing forward reforms through the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill."